Manchester’s Contact Theatre has launched a £20,000 fundraising campaign to buy essential equipment and outfit creative spaces for music, drama and leadership projects.
The campaign follows the construction phase of the £6.75 million project to extend and refurbish the iconic Contact Theatre. Now, the organisation has now launched the ambitious, urgent fundraiser to kit out the building before reopening at the end of September 2020.
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The Contact Theatre in Manchester was first established in 1972 becoming a famous landmark on the Oxford Road corridor as well as a leading UK theatre and arts venue, promoting youth leadership and creativity.
After completing construction work to expand and refurbish the theatre in July 2020, they are now creating an environment to put young people at the heart of the organisation. They are looking to raise £20,000 before reopening for socially distant participation and creative activities with performances scheduled to start in 2021.
Part of the money raised will go towards completing a purpose-built recording studio for young people’s music and media projects. The new music studio will double the size of the previous one and will be fully soundproofed and technically equipped for the first time in its history. This will enable even more young people to take part in free music workshops and develop their talent with professional musicians.
This space will be made available both to participants in Contact’s many projects and courses, and other groups and individuals within the local community. Contact has continued to run online courses for budding musicians throughout lockdown, and the finished studio will let participants complete the songs and works that they have been creating at home.
Donating £20 will buy a mic stand, and donating £100 will put a microphone in that stand, which will allow the voices of young people across Greater Manchester to be heard.
The fundraiser will also go towards properly fitting out and equipping a brand new rehearsal studio, which will be available for Contact’s Young Company to create new performances and shows. CYC usually perform three entirely new public shows per year, both at Contact and other cultural spaces around Manchester, which in recent years has included Manchester Art Gallery and the Science and Industry Museum. In addition, other young artists will be able to hire these spaces to work on and showcase their performances.
Funds raised will also help finish a brand new Arts, Health and Science space, the first of its kind in a UK theatre. This space, supported by Wellcome will bring young people, artists, healthcare professionals and scientists together to research and explore issues relating to young people and local communities, informing arts and wellbeing projects and future theatre productions.
Further information about donating to Manchester’s Contact Theatre is available via the Contact Theatre website.
