Whenever it's raining and you go and see a production at Salford Arts Theatre there's always buckets out in the foyer to catch the water seeping in from the leaky roof. Yet this is one of Salford's most iconic places.
The Salford Arts Theatre has a huge heritage both in its current and past buildings, dating back to the birth of acting careers for the likes of Sir Ben Kingsley and Robert Powell. The Theatre is based less than a mile from MediaCityUK where money is being chucked at new glass buildings – but here it's the other side of the Salford story.
Now parents of kids who attend Salford Arts Theatre's drama workshops, plus other supporters, have gathered together to try and do something about it, and have organised a Raise The Roof fun boxing night at The Willows on 20th October.
"Mike and Cheryl at The Weaste pub really started it off" explains Roni Ellis who runs the Theatre "They started doing football cards for us to raise some money, and then came up with the idea of doing a boxing night. The Willows have kindly given us the room for free, people have given us raffle prizes, and we aim to sell as many tickets as possible to try and hit our target."
The Theatre has a total goal of £15,000 for a complete makeover, but the priority is the £6000 it needs to sort out the roof. Already, the foyer is being given a facelift by supporters volunteering their time plus the materials to make it happen.
"We've just got the lease from Salford Council and we're staying for at least ten years" adds Roni "But we took on this building on the premise that the Council doesn't help us in any way shape or form. The roof is a major priority and we said to parents and kids that we work with that if we don't get it done this winter we would be in a really vulnerable position."
The fundraising ideas and support took off from there and the Boxing Night at The Willows will hopefully begin by getting the roof sorted.
RAISE THE ROOF FOR SALFORD ARTS THEATRE
Fun Boxing Night
Thursday 20th October 2011
The Willows £10/£5 kids
Tickets available from the box office at Salford Arts Theatre, or from the website www.salfordartstheatre.co.uk
For further details e-mail info@salfordartstheatre.co.uk
Or phone 0161 925 0111
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