How not to say thank you to key funders!

To celebrate being successful in our latest funding bid to the Culture Recovery Fund - to help us cover costs over the winter, and plan for 2022, I thought it would be fun to make a short video from the front of the Victoria Hall on a Saturday evening just at the end of rehearsals for our final Christmas booking for 2021……..

It turned out not to be so!

Attempt one, I stumbled my words. Attempt two, (after much muttering and re-writing of notes) was asked directions by a passer by. Attempt three, a short pause in rehearsals leaving me chatting away about live music in the Main Hall - in front of a very quiet Main Hall. Attempt four, inexplicably raised volume of traffic noise and on-street chatter…. and so on. So with mask donned I tried again inside the foyer, equally unsuccessfully! (though I was pleased to be able to direct people to toilets and open the doors (twice) for set up teams).

Clearly not destined to be star material, I will just keep this a short and sweet post of thanks to all our grant funders this year, but particularly the Cultural Recovery Fund who have helped us through some of the most difficult months in the life of this beautiful heritage building. Not just with some of the substantial core costs, but with funding to help us to re-open more safely, with new equipment so we can offer hybrid and more technical events, furniture that can be more easily stand up to the rigours of our new cleaning routines, helping us to make some key improvements to the building, giving additional training and skills for the staff team, and resources to plan ahead so we are ready for a new year….. and maybe by this time next year I will have learned how to pull together a wonderful thank you video as we welcome in more cultural events!!

In the mean time…. thank you Culture recovery fund, you have given us opportunity to work towards a brighter future!