News

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch has been awarded a grant of £350,000 by Arts Council England towards QNew, an exciting programme of building improvements which will allow the theatre to make high quality theatre in developed spaces. Only a small number of applicants nationally have secured this funding, which is highly competitive especially in London, and recognises the important work Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch does. The Theatre has been fundraising towards plans to innovate and renovate the iconic building for artists, participants and audiences alike, assisted by the introduction of a 65p QNew Transformation fee per ticket. This came into effect on the Theatre’s 65^th birthday, Friday 21 September. Since then, generous customers have already helped the theatre raise a public contribution towards QNew, in just over a month, of £6,481. The funds will contribute towards supporting a number of exciting projects throughout 2019. If all the £1million required is raised, these will include:

• Equipping a new dedicated rehearsal facility on site for the first time in the Theatre’s history
• Dedicating a bespoke new space for the Theatre’s expanding range of learning and participatory work with the local community
• Creating a special room for local and regional artists to try out new ideas
• Building a new look ground floor Bar to complement the busy Café
• Making front of house and backstage much more accessible to D/deaf and disabled people
• Replacing outdated equipment so that it’s cheaper and safer to run
• Installing better air conditioning in the foyer so everyone can be comfortable all year round
• Ensuring the roof and exterior of the Theatre are weather proofed for the future

Douglas Rintoul, Artistic Director at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch said, ‘We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Arts Council England and to all our loyal customers for their generous support for this important QNew project. QNew is an exciting new vision and long overdue bit of love for our wonderful building, ensuring it's used by more of our community and enabling us to make the best work that we possibly can.’ Joyce Wilson, London Area Director, Arts Council England said: ‘QNew is an exciting moment for the London borough of Havering. The improvements to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will help it to expand and diversify both its participants and audiences, and this is very good news for local talent and the community. This work is crucial to the theatre realising its plans for the next decade, and will help to improve its accessibility.’ The Arts Council England’s Small Capital Grants help ensures their National Portfolio Organisations have the right buildings and equipment to deliver their work and become more sustainable and innovative in business. These Small Capital Grants allow organisations to consolidate and improve existing arts and cultural facilities and equipment, make energy efficiencies and develop digital technologies. For more information about QNew visit queens-theatre.co.uk/qnew/q-new-transformation/