Sage £1m boost
VENUE GETS CASH BOOST - BUT NEEDS MORE AID TO STAY AFLOAT
A NEW £1m boost for Sage Gateshead has ‘delighted’ the hard-hit music centre - but it says it still faces the challenge of raising the same amount again to keep its recovery plans on track.
The Sage announced on Tuesday its longtime supporter The Barbour Foundation made the “extraordinary” award in the hope of encouraging others to support its ongoing public appeal.
The world-class music centre launched a ‘crisis, recovery and renaissance’ appeal last summer with the aim of raising £3m over three years to help ensure the charity’s survival following the enormous impact of its pandemic closure, when it projected losses of £10m - leaving it at a financial cliff-edge.
Local businesswoman and philanthropist Dame Margaret Barbour, who features in The Chronicle’s Most Influential list, is a founder patron of the Sage and was quick to support its appeal, again as its patron - as was music superstar Sting.
Now she is keen to make a further show of support through the charity foundation she chairs during what she calls “very challenging times” for the Sage.
Dame Margaret wants to encourage others to give generously to the appeal and said: “The Sage Gateshead holds a very special place in the region, offering such a wide variety of music.
“I hope our donation will enable audiences across the North East, nationally and internationally to continue to enjoy the wonderful programme of entertainment it has to offer.”
The Sage has said it is “delighted” at the “extraordinary grant of £1m” to help towards its recovery, which still has a long way to go despite a £1.8 award last October - and a £3m loan in April - from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
In February it also received £875,000 from the Weston Culture Fund to support its online and youth work which it has continued throughout its closure.
The centre, which last week hosted its first music of the year with live-steamed classical performances, says it still faces “significant financial challenges” as its long recovery process gets under way with the aim of restoring its knock-on benefits to the local community and wider economy. Following the success of the appeal’s first year, which saw the initial £1m raised with the help of 7,500 people from the North East and across the world, 2021 brings the second of the three £1m targets.
Sage managing-director Abigail Pogson praised the “wonderful” support of the fund-raiser and said: “I hope existing and new donors will support us through this next stage.”
She added of The Barbour Foundation’s grant: “This donation will help enable us to get back to making music, for and with people across the region.
“We want to place music and creativity at the heart of the North East’s recovery and future and this grant will help us to do that.”
The venue has to raise “a very substantial sum,” she said, to realise its plans for this year and next and to safeguard the charity “under very difficult financial conditions.”
Ms Pogson said: “The Government’s Culture Recovery Fund has helped us and this grant from The Barbour Foundation takes us another big step towards what we need for this year but we now must turn to our crisis, recovery and renaissance campaign to raise a further £1m.”