{"id":511,"date":"2020-10-16T16:43:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T15:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/?p=511"},"modified":"2020-10-16T16:50:20","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T15:50:20","slug":"local-theatre-increase-its-fundraising-target-to-stay-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/2020\/10\/16\/local-theatre-increase-its-fundraising-target-to-stay-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Local theatre increase its fundraising target to stay alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A local theatre has increased its fundraiser target after being saved from closure by its community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avenue Theatre, a volunteer-run local theatre-slash-cinema in Sittingbourne, created a gofundme donation page after struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They reached their goal of \u00a31000 within a month but increased that target to \u00a35000 after seeing coronavirus cases rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked about the difference this will make, Alison Spann, one of the staff members at Avenue theatre said: \u201cIt means that we can hopefully keep going long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They have taken significant financial losses due to suspended performances and cancellations like many other community theatres across the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/6d9deadd-e3da-412c-a4d9-042c7344dd53-1.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Avenue Theatre, Sittingbourne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A survey by a local theatre director found that <a href=\"http:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/2020\/10\/16\/director-claims-40-of-local-theatres-could-be-lost-by-spring-2021\/\">40% of community theatres <\/a>could close if unable to open performances to bigger audiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ms Spann explained that they received a grant from the local council to get back up and running with government guideline measures. However, the revenue they gained since opening from sparse events, venue hires and film screenings were not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ms Spann added: \u201cSocially distancing has really decreased how many tickets we can sell obviously and our income from hiring is down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subgrey productions is a theatre company who were due to perform at the Avenue Theatre in April but had to reschedule their performances due to lockdown. The director of the company, Paul Slaughter, said he had started using the theatre for rehearsals and as a base of operations after seeing how important it was to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Slaughter added: \u201cThe Avenue Theatre is the unknown quiet hub of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is glad to hear that the venue was able to be saved, adding: \u201cThe Avenue Theatre has an awful lot to offer the community. I believe in it and I will do whatever I can to help it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A local theatre has increased its fundraiser target after being saved from closure by its community. Avenue Theatre, a volunteer-run local theatre-slash-cinema in Sittingbourne, created a gofundme donation page after struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. They reached&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[]},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions\/554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}