Dear all,
You may have been recently shoved a pen and paper and asked to sign to save the Brampton theatre from closure.
Firstly many thanks if you did sign, there’s a dedicated team of people working behind the scenes who are relentless in there attempts to save this wonderful space.
And that’s it really it’s a fantastic space I have only preformed there myself once and the venue is custom built for intimate involving pieces of theatre and music, and is a valuable space not only for the theatre clubs but for a community that can celebrate the arts in this close to home theatre.
For many years (although im not sure how many) it has been part of raf Brampton this is now closing and plans being drawn up for the use of the buildings and land.
None of these currently look at the theatre as a space to be saved for the community and surrounding areas.
It draws many similarities to the st ives corn exchange that with the help of local people was saved from demolition and is now a thriving space for community groups and the like it is now used on a day to day basis providing local charities a home and bringing back the old indoor market…its benefits for the area continue to grow.
We held a meeting on the 10th March to discuss the future of Brampton Park Theatre.
At the meeting, some critical next steps were identified and an action team was set up. Our first meeting as an action team is set for 21st March, and our first task is to secure assistance with the preparation of a business plan. If anyone knows of someone who may be able to help us with this, we would be very grateful as none of us is a finance whiz!
Other news includes a letter that has been sent to the District Council by the Theatres Trust.( As the national advisory public body for theatres, The Theatres Trust is concerned about the possible loss of this community and theatre facility, along with the implications that this decision could have on the ambitions in achieving goals within your Core Strategy) It confirms that Brampton Little Theatre will be added to the Theatres at Risk register in July, and asks for a meeting to discuss the plans for the theatre. These people have heaps of experience in saving and fighting for theatres which are under threat of closure. It’s great to have them on board!
Work continues on the business plan. There is a lot of information to be gathered and we’re not there yet. But of course, I’ll keep you posted.
Oh – and there is still time to write to the Parish Council to register your feelings, if you haven’t already done so. I know that every email they get is circulated to all councillors and that they are being counted and compiled to be used in future discussions. The address is [email protected].
Our only chance therefore of influencing the (already half-written) design brief, is to produce a well-written, watertight business plan which demonstrates both that the building is structurally sound (there is some concern about the foundations apparently) and can be insured; and that it can generate enough revenue to offset all running costs, so that it is not a burden to the taxpayer.
We therefore have two critical tasks. One is to raise awareness of our support for the theatre – and I thank all of you who have already written to the parish clerk (the volume of emails received was mentioned at the meeting). To this end, I have prepared a petition (attached). Last night two sheets of it were filled within half an hour. If everyone reading this was to print a copy off, get just one page filled in and return it to me, we would have 2000 signatures. So please, if you can, print it off and get your family, friends and neighbours to sign, take it to work – anything you can. If we can prove there is popular support it will really help our cause.
But most importantly we need a sound business case. Kevin Connor is doing his best to pull this together at the moment, but by his own admission this is not his area of expertise, so he is pretty much making it up as he goes along, and furthermore he is about to go to the States for a week and it urgently needs to be completed. If there is anyone out there who can look over what we have so far and give any kind of help or guidance on producing a business case that will stand up to scrutiny, please let me know as soon as possible. You could make all the difference between our campaign succeeding or failing!
Thank you all once again for your continuing support. Keep spreading the word – the fight is heating up!
For more information on how to get involved email or write to - Caroline Harbord [email protected]
Secretary, Brampton Park Theatre Company
Address for returning petitions:
Caroline Harbord
30 West End
Brampton
Huntingdon
PE28 4SD
You may have been recently shoved a pen and paper and asked to sign to save the Brampton theatre from closure.
Firstly many thanks if you did sign, there’s a dedicated team of people working behind the scenes who are relentless in there attempts to save this wonderful space.
And that’s it really it’s a fantastic space I have only preformed there myself once and the venue is custom built for intimate involving pieces of theatre and music, and is a valuable space not only for the theatre clubs but for a community that can celebrate the arts in this close to home theatre.
For many years (although im not sure how many) it has been part of raf Brampton this is now closing and plans being drawn up for the use of the buildings and land.
None of these currently look at the theatre as a space to be saved for the community and surrounding areas.
It draws many similarities to the st ives corn exchange that with the help of local people was saved from demolition and is now a thriving space for community groups and the like it is now used on a day to day basis providing local charities a home and bringing back the old indoor market…its benefits for the area continue to grow.
We held a meeting on the 10th March to discuss the future of Brampton Park Theatre.
At the meeting, some critical next steps were identified and an action team was set up. Our first meeting as an action team is set for 21st March, and our first task is to secure assistance with the preparation of a business plan. If anyone knows of someone who may be able to help us with this, we would be very grateful as none of us is a finance whiz!
Other news includes a letter that has been sent to the District Council by the Theatres Trust.( As the national advisory public body for theatres, The Theatres Trust is concerned about the possible loss of this community and theatre facility, along with the implications that this decision could have on the ambitions in achieving goals within your Core Strategy) It confirms that Brampton Little Theatre will be added to the Theatres at Risk register in July, and asks for a meeting to discuss the plans for the theatre. These people have heaps of experience in saving and fighting for theatres which are under threat of closure. It’s great to have them on board!
Work continues on the business plan. There is a lot of information to be gathered and we’re not there yet. But of course, I’ll keep you posted.
Oh – and there is still time to write to the Parish Council to register your feelings, if you haven’t already done so. I know that every email they get is circulated to all councillors and that they are being counted and compiled to be used in future discussions. The address is [email protected].
Our only chance therefore of influencing the (already half-written) design brief, is to produce a well-written, watertight business plan which demonstrates both that the building is structurally sound (there is some concern about the foundations apparently) and can be insured; and that it can generate enough revenue to offset all running costs, so that it is not a burden to the taxpayer.
We therefore have two critical tasks. One is to raise awareness of our support for the theatre – and I thank all of you who have already written to the parish clerk (the volume of emails received was mentioned at the meeting). To this end, I have prepared a petition (attached). Last night two sheets of it were filled within half an hour. If everyone reading this was to print a copy off, get just one page filled in and return it to me, we would have 2000 signatures. So please, if you can, print it off and get your family, friends and neighbours to sign, take it to work – anything you can. If we can prove there is popular support it will really help our cause.
But most importantly we need a sound business case. Kevin Connor is doing his best to pull this together at the moment, but by his own admission this is not his area of expertise, so he is pretty much making it up as he goes along, and furthermore he is about to go to the States for a week and it urgently needs to be completed. If there is anyone out there who can look over what we have so far and give any kind of help or guidance on producing a business case that will stand up to scrutiny, please let me know as soon as possible. You could make all the difference between our campaign succeeding or failing!
Thank you all once again for your continuing support. Keep spreading the word – the fight is heating up!
For more information on how to get involved email or write to - Caroline Harbord [email protected]
Secretary, Brampton Park Theatre Company
Address for returning petitions:
Caroline Harbord
30 West End
Brampton
Huntingdon
PE28 4SD
| petition.doc |
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