18 August 2021

Further Emergency Scottish Government relief funds awarded to Falkirk Town Hall

Falkirk Community Trust is delighted to announce that Falkirk Town Hall (FTH Theatre), has received further funding of £45,832 in the latest round of emergency Covid-19 funds from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland.

The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund (PAVR) is helping performing arts venues to remain solvent, return staff from furlough, and enable new artistic commissions from freelance artists (link to full story).

Alongside this announcement we are also delighted that, following Nicola Sturgeon’s confirmation that most Covid restrictions in Scotland will end with the country moving “beyond level zero” from 9 August, we are delighted that after 17 months of closure that we are now planning to reopen Falkirk Town Hall (FTH).

It is vital that the venue remains a centre for cultural activity in the Falkirk Council area and as such, at this time, The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund will enable FTH to

• develop exciting programmes that will resonate with our audiences and welcome them back to the theatre;
• once again provide the space and resources for local voluntary and professional arts sector groups for their activities and productions;
• assist in maintaining the venue’s financial viability and provide opportunities for our programming, technical and front of house staff to continue to develop and support creative production;
• establish and implement operating procedures for re-opening FTH.

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “I am delighted that this vital funding is reaching the culture sector, which has endured some of the most challenging restrictions over the past 18 months. It’s exciting that the sector can now plan for full reopening. The communal experience of being part of an audience cannot be replicated, and it has been sorely missed since the start of the pandemic. The move beyond level 0 will allow the sector to reopen fully, but I know that it will take some time to rebuild. This funding will play a key role in stabilising many venues and businesses as the sector begins to recover.  The Scottish Government has provided almost £175million of emergency support to the culture, heritage and events sector since the start of the pandemic, and I look forward now to working with the sectors to build for the future.”

Falkirk Town Hall is one of 331 cultural organisations and performing arts venues across Scotland have received a total of £17million in the latest round of emergency Covid-19 funds from the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland.  A list of all the organisations can be found on the Creative Scotland website.

Lesley O’Hare, Culture and Libraries Manager said: “I am delighted that we have again been successful in securing this vital funding from Creative Scotland.  This money is a real lifeline and will enable us to retain our technical and front-of-house teams and allow us to prepare for relaunching our wide-ranging theatre programme.  Although we’ve adapted to continue to engage with our audiences online, there is no substitute for a live performance.  We are excited to be planning to reopen at last, but we are still mindful of our duty of care, so will have rigorous procedures in place to keep our audiences and staff safe.”

Joan Parr, Interim Director of Arts and Engagement said: “Our first priority continues to be supporting the recovery and renewal of Scotland’s art and creative sector as Covid-19 restrictions are eased and the sector can open up again more fully. Nevertheless, we remain acutely aware of the critical challenges faced by so many cultural organisations, and we know how vital this funding is in continuing to help protect jobs and support the sustainability of a sector that has felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic so significantly.”