South Hill Park’s reopening

ABRACKNELL-BASED arts centre is welcoming customers back to its restaurant and amphitheatre, following three months of closure due to the pandemic. South Hill Park Arts Centre reopened The Atrium

Bar & Restaurant for take-out service on Saturday, July 4 and its dine-in service on Thursday, July 16.

The venue marked the return of the eatery with entertainment from funky jazz rock band Eat at Joe’s on Saturday, July 18.

And following government guidelines which allow outdoor theatre to open, South Hill Park will host a performance of Wind in the Willows in its amphitheatre from Friday, August 14 until Sunday, August 16.

The centre’s gradual re-opening follows a period of financial difficulty due to Covid-19 which caused it to lose 86% of its income overnight.

This forced South Hill Park to launch an emergency fundraising campaign on Friday, June 12 which so far has raised over £55,000 along with the Government’s grant and loan package for the Arts industry.

Chief executive Craig Titley said: “South Hill Park welcomes the Government’s grant and loan package on behalf of the arts industry.

“It is definitely a positive step forward, but the devil will be in the detail.

“The fund aims to protect the ‘crown jewels’ such as the Royal Albert Hall as well as local venues but even £1.57bn will only go so far.

“What that means for South Hill Park we are yet to find out. If the Arts Centre is eligible an application will be made, but there are no guarantees of success or how much we can apply for and whether it will be enough.

“It is therefore essential that we continue with our own fundraising campaign to secure South Hill Park’s future.”

To donate to the South Hill Park fundraising campaign log on to southhillpark.org.uk/donate.