The Plough Arts Centre’s Chair, John Eeles has just announced “It is with real sadness and regret that the trustees of The Plough Arts Centre, which is a Registered Charity, have today been forced to issue 'warning of redundancy' notices to our loyal staff.”
The venue in Great Torrington, which has thrived since 1975 was forced to close temporarily on 17 March due to the coronavirus outbreak. Along with many other arts charities nationally, its income collapsed overnight and despite some emergency government funding, the ending of the furlough scheme on 31 Oct coupled with no likely safe reopening date in sight, has left trustees with no choice but to place staff on warning of redundancy.
There will be a period of statutory consultation with staff during which alternatives to redundancy will be explored, but the likelihood is that there will be some redundancies. Nine local trustees of the charity are working tirelessly to save the organisation and to find a way to make sure it can reopen at the earliest opportunity, when it is both safe and economically viable to do so. Treasurer, Frances Lloyd struck a note of cautious optimism; ‘we have applied for a major grant from the National Lottery and await further details on the government’s recently announced £1.57 billion Arts Support Package, which we hope will filter down to small rural arts centres’
Director Richard Wolfenden-Brown commented ‘having just recovered from financial challenges earlier in the year, it was devastating to be suddenly forced to close. As most of our income is generated through the box office we have been disproportionately impacted by closure. Other arts organisations who are lucky enough to enjoy regular core funding from district, county and arts council, have been more able to survive the temporary closure of their premises, though clearly the vast majority of arts charities are struggling at present. Despite the current crisis we are determined to make sure The Plough survives and warmly welcome all offers of help, of any kind, to make that a reality. We will be back!’
One positive development is that following government guidance on outdoor events, The Plough has been able to arrange a last minute Open Air Theatre Season with socially distanced performances taking place at several beautiful North Devon venues. Five professional theatre companies will be bringing productions to North Devon on 15 dates in August and September. Tickets will be available shortly via the Plough's website. Last year over 6,000 people attended The Plough’s open air events sponsored by Bond Oxborough Philips, so the charity is delighted to be able to offer some open air culture as a beacon of hope for the future of the arts in North Devon.
Plough Chair John Eeles is encouraging all who value the Plough to spare the venue five minutes of their time; “Plough audiences and participants can help us by telling us when they will be happy to return to the venue. That is vital information. A short survey is waiting for your valued comments on our website and we will be emailing the link to those on our emailing list.”
N.B. No further comments will be available until after the consultation period.
Richard Wolfenden-Brown, Director