September 2022 DLT awarded a grant from the Arnold Clark Community Fund.
Dudley Little Theatre is delighted to receive a grant from the Arnold Clark Community Fund, to help obtain new lighting and sound equipment. The grant has assisted with our switch to LED stage lighting fixtures which are both more versatile and more environmentally friendly, due to a lower electrical demand. The new lighting fixtures were in place in time for our September 2022 production of No S*x Please We're British.
Feb 2022 Theatres Trust lists Netherton Arts Centre 'At Risk'
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Dudley Little Theatre has the longest and most abiding kinship with Netherton Arts Centre of any group to have used the building in all its history, especially since it became a fully functioning arts centre in 1947. Dudley Little Theatre first performed there in 1947 when it first became known as the Arts Centre and was the last group to perform there in March 2020, days before the building closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dudley Little Theatre’s affinity with the Arts Centre is also somewhat due to several members having performed or worked there from the very early days, and in one member’s case, since the very start. Therefore, our members have an intimate working knowledge of the building and a long association with the town and local area.
Dudley Performing Arts, who had managed the building on behalf of the council moved out last year and left the building without any management. We put in a proposal in May of last year to ‘manage’ the building on behalf of the council and to draw in previous and new hirers for the building. Talks came to a full stop in December 2021.
It seems that the council do not wish to discuss any proposal other than a direct Asset Transfer. They do not want to be financially responsible for the building but, expect a local group or collection of local groups to take on the entire responsibility. (This would be financially impossible for many local groups let alone ourselves). We have only been provided with a sketch or outline of the costs involved in running the building, the council have declined to provide full accounts.
The council are not prepared to accept (in my opinion) that the performing arts in Dudley borough are slowly being squeezed into-non existence and neither do I feel they understand the importance of the cultural arts or the council’s responsibility to their residents to provide the means.
We have lost so many members over the last twelve months to other hobbies and other societies because we have struggled to find a replacement venue of similar size and cost. This is why we contacted the Theatres Trust for help who, felt that the building is now at risk and made the decision to include the building on its ‘At Risk’ register. We welcome this move because it means we can now discuss publicly the closure of the building.
Now, more than ever, people need to get out and be active in the community after the long months of Covid incarceration, all they will find will be empty buildings. NAC has now been unused for two years and the potential risk from just one act of vandalism could render the whole unusable
Personally, I performed on the stage at Netherton Arts Centre with my dancing school at the age of five and would, if it were open, be performing on it at the age of fifty. I am not the only one, there are many local residents and groups to whom Netherton Arts Centre is so very important.
Rebecca Clee
Jan 2013 - DLT awarded BBCCF Grant
Netherton based theatre group, Dudley Little Theatre, founded in 1947 from a drama group originally formed at St Thomas’s Church Dudley, is celebrating after receiving a grant from Birmingham and Black Country Community Foundation to support it in providing high quality live theatre as part of the rich cultural scene for participants and audiences throughout the community to access and enjoy.
John Lucock said “It is essential for the long term growth and survival of our company that we continue to reach out to anyone interested in theatre, either as participants in the many aspects of production, or as potential audiences. As a company we are committed to providing training opportunities for new and established members and I am particularly excited also,at this time, to be forging links with local colleges and to working collaboratively with them. Our recent grant from BBCCF will be an invaluable boost in the coming year and I would like to thank the foundation and the people of Birmingham, Black Country and district who have contributed funds”.
Yvonne Palmer, Director – Operations & Programmes of Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation said” We are delighted to be able to award this grant to Dudley Little Theatre and to support them in the work they are doing in their community. The Foundation is all about supporting local people to address local issues, by distributing money to people who really do and will make a difference for the future.”
Please contact Birmingham and Black Country Community Foundation to make a donation or apply for a grant. Tel 0120 322 5560, email:team@bbccf.org.uk or visit: www.bbccf.org.uk for more information.
For further information and interview opportunities please contact Chris Ridgeway, Publicity Officer: 01384 872583: christineridgeway337@hotmail.com
Notes to editor: Founded in 1995 and grant making since 1987, the Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation (BBCCF) is a charitable body funded by donations from local businesses and individuals, government grants and the National Lottery. BBCCF is a member of the Community Foundation Network, the national support agency for community foundations.