Delivered 21 April 2021
Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.
By The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre
Help us to carry out a viability study on reviving the former theatre as a multi-purpose arts/cultural venue, creating new opportunities and benefits for the local community.
Streatham Hill Theatre is a dormant 2,800 capacity, Grade II listed building. We want to reawaken this iconic building, return it to its former glory, and create new opportunities for the local community. The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre propose a multi-use arts and cultural venue by re-opening the auditorium and activating the ancillary spaces to create a vibrant and sustainable arts venue supporting a creative community. This project will fund a professional viability study developing proposals and options for a sustainable business model for generations to come. It will include modelling of revenue, capital restoration, and reopening costs. It will also work with the heritage of the building which has Asset of Community Value status. Should we not reach our target funding by the closure date then this Spacehive will be closed and no pledges collected. However, you can still donate directly via our website. Any over-funding will be applied to other parts of our campaign.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
The building is a ‘sleeping beauty’ listed by The Theatres Trust as one of the theatre buildings in the UK at greatest risk. Reawakening it for the benefit of the community will provide for better and new experiences in the area. It will provide a space for culture, enterprise and growth in Streatham, challenging perceptions and attracting new investment to the area - adapting to rapidly changing trends in the experiences people seek and ways businesses and artists operate. Our vision is to meet these demands by creating the place to go for a great arts/cultural/entertainment experience, combined with a much-needed co-working space for new/small businesses and artists. We have support from local people and organisations, our local council, and national arts and heritage bodies. We have set up an architectural advisory panel of professionals to provide help and support us. The venue could be run by a commercial operator, a charitable organisation or a partnership between both.
Steps to get it done:
The Theatre opened on 20th November 1929 and recently celebrated its 90th birthday. It is now waiting for a new generation of arts and culture lovers to take it forward to its centenary and beyond. The national 'Theatres At Risk' register states it is "one of the best-equipped in London outside the West End" and "one of London’s most lavish ‘sleeping beauties’ and the last theatre designed by W G R Sprague, the architect responsible for some of the most beautiful theatres in London." A galaxy of stars of yester-year who have performed there including Paul Robeson, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sir Michael Caine and Dame June Whitfield. The theatre closed on 9th June 1962 reopening as a bingo venue. The bingo closed in 2017 leaving most of the building disused (apart from a 24/7 slot machine lounge), but the stage, auditorium and much of the equipment remain preserved. More information about our project is at www.streathamhilltheatre.org where you can join, support and help our campaign.
Gallery
Journey
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Hi everyone, you will be receiving messages from GoCardless as they collect your pledges. Unfortunately they have used the wrong organisation name (Poroban Ltd) but don't worry the funds will come to the Friends, as indicated in the payment reference which starts FRIENDSOFSTR. Thanks for your support and don't forget to join us at our next campaign meeting and AGM.
Thanks to your great support we reached the target before the deadline! Since then we have been working with the Mayor of London & the GLA to make arrangements for their pledge to be paid – it will be released in stages. Meanwhile your pledge will soon be taken by Spacehive – watch out for messages from them. And Lambeth will be releasing their pledge too. In recognition of your support, we have made you a member of the Friends – there’s no charge for membership. We have also put you on our email list for our regular newsletters with updates on the progress of the study project and the wider campaign. An archive of messages is available at www.streathamhilltheatre.org/news. If you find you are not getting those newsletters, you can sign up to the list at www.streathamhilltheatre.org/join. If you want to unsubscribe from the email list at anytime you can click the link in any of the messages you receive. We also hold regular fortnightly online campaign meetings which you are very welcome to join in – details in the newsletters. The next one is also our Annual General Meeting where we elect our committee, and we will also be voting on charity status. We are working on a tender to send out to potential providers for the viability study, and thanks to a grant from Theatres Trust we can extend the scope of work to include an economic impact assessment to help show the benefits a revived building can bring, especially as we exit COVID-19. Thanks once again and watch out for updates on saving Streatham Hill Theatre.
Whoop, 440 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
Wow, we hit the target early! Thanks to everyone who has supported the campaign and pledged so far. The target has been a bit of a moving one as it includes estimated Spacehive platform and transaction charges which depend on the number and size of pledges, so a new pledge can change the target making it difficult to hit exactly, but thanks to those who tried that! We'll continue to keep the crowdfund open until the target date as any overfunding beyond the target can be used to support the campaign and go towards future phases, such as an Economic Impact Assessment to show the benefits to the local economy from regenerating the old theatre as a new arts and cultural centre. AND IN BREAKING NEWS we've have heard from Lambeth that they are giving £7,500 towards the campaign which is a great boost. Thanks to everyone there who has been helping us. More to follow.
How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees) £34,697
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Target (inc. fees) £34,697
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VolunteerOffers
The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre has been formed to focus the campaign to save the building for future generations, and bring it back into cultural use for the benefit of the local community. This could, for example, be in partnership with a commercial organisation or a community-led initiative.
The Friends already have support of local residents, businesses and community organisations, and a diverse range of artists and performers. In addition, we are already working with theatre heritage organisations such as the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) and the Theatres Trust.
The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre is an unincorporated association governed by a constitution and will be seeking incorporation as a charity in the near future.
Project Owner: The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
