Suffolk Theatre Over The Moon

The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft is 'over the moon' to receive grant from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme The popular Suffolk local community venue has received a grant of over £240,000 from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme to develop its building and support more local people.

The Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft is 'over the moon' to receive grant from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme

The popular Suffolk local community venue has received a grant of over £240,000 from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme to develop its building and support more local people.

The Seagull, which has operated out of a converted School building in Morton Road Lowestoft since 2007, was awarded the grant to allow it to build a new accessible workshop space at the rear of its building, convert the existing workshop into a new accessible studio space and add a new toilet block and technical control box.

The project, which will take place over the next 18 months, will boost the Theatre’s ability to cater for more vulnerable people and increase accessibility for those who wish to access the arts but have additional needs. As part of these 2021-22 and 2022-23 grants, over £22.7 million has been awarded to 66 cultural organisations across the country.

The Capital Investment Programme aims to help cultural organisations across the country transform their buildings and equipment so they can operate safely post-pandemic, improve access, seize technological opportunities, and reduce environmental impact. From Barrow-in- Furness to The Isles of Scilly, the organisations receiving funding share a vision to build a fit for the future cultural sector, which all members of their communities can access. Seagull Manager, Karen Read said, “We are over the moon to be chosen as one of only 11 theatres to be given funds in this round of capital investment. We are proud that Lowestoft is now being recognised as a cultural destination worthy of investment. We have all worked so hard to build our lovely little venue alongside our amazing team of volunteers and performers and this grant is just the recognition that everyone deserves. Most importantly though, we are excited that our building will be able to offer more support to more local people, and we will be able to use this investment to further enlarge our extensive community support programme.”