Arts partnership scoops funding
Altwood: Venue will create hub with Slough arts centre
Norden Farm says it is ‘delighted’ after announcing plans to team up with another arts centre in Slough thanks to a generous investment from a national arts body.
The Altwood Road venue will be partnering up with The Curve after receiving nearly £1million in funding from Arts Council England (ACE).
The funding of £977,046 will be delivered across three years from 2023 to 2026 and will support a new partnership between Norden Farm and Slough Borough Council to develop The Curve as a ‘key cultural community hub’.
The Maidenhead venue aims to increase access to the arts for people in Slough – which has been identified by ACE as a key priority area – with a focus on children, young people and families.
Norden Farm added it will work with its partners to reach disadvantaged people, with free programmes on offer led by experienced practitioners.
Projects are set to include commissioning a new virtual reality (VR) experience and new shows for family audiences.
Speaking to the Advertiser
following the announcement of the funding, Norden Farm’s chief executive Jane Corry explained more about what the extra cash would achieve.
“This is a three-year project which will enable Norden Farm to support our neighbours in Slough to develop The Curve as a thriving cultural community hub,” she said.
“There will be some money coming to Norden Farm to manage the project – the reason why that is useful for us and Maidenhead is that it will contribute to our rising operating costs and help us fill our funding gap.”
Jane added that the team at Norden Farm are predicting their bills to increase by £25,000 per year amid the cost-of-living crisis.
She said that the Maidenhead venue has a ‘really organic’ relationship with The Curve and already provides technical theatre services for the Slough centre.
“It is an extension of what we have been doing, and this award just allows us to do that on a much bigger scale,” Jane added.
Slough Borough Council has been hit by a series of financial struggles, with the authority plunged into millions of pounds worth of debt.
Jane said this means that there are no funds to offer arts entertainment to residents of Slough and this investment from ACE would aim to enhance this.
“They are really limited in what they are able to do,” said Jane. “So the opportunity to help our neighbours with that generosity, I think is a very Maidonian thing.”
The chief executive added that Norden Farm is ‘well connected’ with all of the Berkshire arts venues as they all look to manage rising costs and limited funds.
“We are delighted to be a part of this exciting project and we know life is really tough out there for everybody and we hope, through the work we achieve, we can bring some light into people’s lives,” she said.
The money was received as part of the Investment for National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) and Investment Principles Support Organisations (IPSO), run by ACE.