Support for Garrison Theatre to continue as community input grows

March 10th 2017

Shetland Charitable Trust and Shetland Arts will continue their support for theGarrison Theatre until at least 2020 when the current arrangements will bereviewed.

Shetland Charitable Trust and Shetland Arts will continue their support for the Garrison Theatre until at least 2020 when the current arrangements will be reviewed.

In the meantime, a special group, The Friends of the Garrison, will be created to explore ownership, management and funding models to secure the long-term future of the 112-year-old, 280-seat theatre.

These developments follow on from the work carried out by a Steering Group set up by the two trusts along with representatives of Garrison user groups.

At the conclusion of the County Drama Festival last night Martin Summers, President of Islesburgh Drama Group, said: "As some of you may know a number of regular users of the theatre including Shetland County Drama Festival, Open Door Drama, Islesburgh Drama Group and the Shetland County Music Club have been part of a working group that has been exploring the future of the Garrison Theatre.

“I am delighted to report tonight that both Shetland Arts and the Shetland Charitable Trust [have] agreed to continue to support the development and maintenance of the Garrison up to the end of March 2020 … I am sure that's worth a round of applause.

“We will continue to work with both Shetland Arts and the Charitable Trust to secure a sustainable legacy for our wonderful theatre of generations to come.

“Moving forward it is essential that all drama groups and our wonderful audience join together to showcase the impact and need for amateur drama in this fantastic community resource."

The aims of Friends of the Garrison will be to:

Work with Shetland Arts to provide a range of volunteering opportunities to increase community involvement;
Act as a sounding board for new pricing models for the hire of the Garrison that will enable Shetland Arts to invest in the development of drama for the benefit of the whole of Shetland;
Develop a strategy for expanding and diversifying the use of the Garrison.

The Steering Group commissioned a survey in late 2016 and the results, together with details of the new volunteering opportunities and the Friends of The Garrison group, will be published in the near future.

Bobby Hunter, Chairman of SCT, which owns and maintains the building, said: “Trustees were very clear that funding for maintenance of the building should continue, while the new group builds upon the excellent work of the Steering Group.

“It’s evident that there is a lot of support for the Garrison in the community, and I believe the way forward is for the community to take a greater stake in its operation and management.”

Bryan Peterson, Head of Creative Opportunities at Shetland Arts, which manages the building, added: “It’s been very constructive to work with the Steering Group over the past year and there’s been real progress made in developing a shared vision of the future of the Garrison. I look forward to seeing the energy and enthusiasm of all the venue’s supporters being channelled for the benefit of the theatre and drama development in Shetland.”

Testimonials

The funding COPE Ltd receives from the Shetland Charitable Trust supports us in many ways. It allows us to develop and maintain a strong foundation to our core business and assists us to provide on-going employment skill development opportunities to people with disabilities living within Shetland. COPE Ltd highly values the support provided to our organisation by The Shetland Charitable Trust.

“The substantial grant made to us by Shetland Charitable Trust every year allows us to provide first-class facilities and dedicated staff to underpin sporting success among people of all ages and abilities in the islands.”

Having this core funding from the Charitable Trust means that we can use that money where we need it at any given time. It's multi-year funding which really takes the pressure off. To have the funding to keep going is really important as it is improving the lives of disabled folk in Shetland.

The funding that we get from the Charitable Trust pays for part of staff support and matching with other funders. Without local funders we wouldn't have national funders, and without either of those funders, we wouldn't be able to do this, so funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust is incredibly important.

The funding Shetland Arts gets from Shetland Charitable Trust is about making sure the organisation can thrive, access other funds, and deliver on behalf of the community of Shetland. Our funding from the Shetland Charitable Trust really helps us with our conversations with national funders because it shows that we're working on behalf of what the local objectives and priorities are.

The Access to Leisure scheme was introduced to allow folk to be able to get access to classes and activities for a lower cost. I feel that the SRT play a critical role in every community across Shetland and that's all down to the funding of the Shetland Charitable Trust that we're able to maintain that.

Unpaid carers do an amazing job looking after people 24/7 in their own homes, keeping them living at home safely, and they really need help to do that. Thanks to the funding from Shetland Charitable Trust, we've been able to employ a deputy manager, recruit more care attendants, and provide overnights. We're also really grateful for the funding because it means that everybody can get the service for free.