UPDATE: At the Chancellor's Spring Budget 2024, Theatr Clwyd was awarded £1.6m for their redevelopment.
Vale of Clwyd MP, Dr James Davies, has hosted a reception on behalf of Theatr Clwyd in the House of Commons to highlight to MPs and Peers the hugely important impact the theatre has on its audiences across North Wales and North West England, and to inform of the current major redevelopment works taking place.
The iconic Mold theatre is currently undergoing redevelopment work which will cost £49m.
£47m has been secured from private funders, leaving a funding shortfall of £2m, which even with further value engineering means a minimum of £1.6m is required in additional funding.
On February 22nd, James, who is the Conservative Candidate for the new Clwyd East constituency, which includes Mold, hosted a reception on behalf of Theatr Clwyd which was attended by the Arts Minister, the Rt Hon Lord Stephen Parkinson. He spent time with Liam Evans-Ford, Executive Director and joint CEO at Theatr Clwyd, discussing the works and the funding shortfall.
Commenting after the reception, James, said:
“Theatr Clwyd is a very well known and successful facility in Mold and has been open since the 1970s.
“In recent times it was deemed to be nearing the end of its life, so the redevelopment will enable it to continue to make and deliver world class productions and be a cultural beacon for the local area.
“Those at the theatre have worked incredibly hard over recent years to secure £47 million towards the costs of the redevelopment, and since July I have been in discussions with the theatre management about the remaining financial support they need.
“I was very pleased to host their reception at the House of Commons where they were able to showcase all that they do, and I was very grateful to the Arts Minister, the Rt Hon Lord Parkinson of Whitely Bay, for saying a few words at the reception on the important impact of Theatr Clwyd in North Wales and North West England, nationally and internationally.
"I will continue doing all I can to help ensure the theatre secures the remaining £1.6m needed to complete the refurbishment."
Speaking at the event, Lord Parkison said:
“I’ve been learning about the hugely important impact Theatr Clwyd has in the local communities in Wales, but also for audiences across the border in England as well and what a launchpad it is for so many careers.
“There’s so many brilliant shows that tour around the UK, telling really important stories and new writing, creating jobs, because there are a variety of jobs that go into putting this together. Not just the ones we see on the stage, but all the jobs that are backstage, from building, accountancy to IT, to prop making, to costumes, to so much more. Part of the booming creative industries and the arts we have right across the UK, which the Government is really keen to support; one of the Chancellor’s five priority areas for the economy.
“It has been brilliant to hear today about what Theatr Clwyd is doing to help turbo-charge that.”
On completion of the redeveloped building, annual revenue will increase to £10m with a minimum of an additional 60 permanent jobs created.
To access James's Theatr Clwyd campaign page, click on the following link: https://www.jamesdavies.org.uk/campaigns/theatr-clwyd-redevelopment
