The Witham Board of Trustees announce that the Investing in The Witham arts, culture and community centre in Barnard Castle has raised in excess of £42,121 in 30 days , thanks to a huge effort by trustees, staff, volunteers, supporters and visitors.
The Investing in The Witham campaign has seen supporters investing to build a financial future for The Witham. The campaign has included a wide variety of events and activities to help achieve the target including:
- a volunteer-led Morrison’s Bag Pack which generated over £570 on Saturday 1st September;
- the donation of goods for sale in the shop including artworks, scarves and jewellery that have the dual benefit of increasing donations but also, increasing the range of goods for sale;
- individual campaigners contributed with sponsored challenges including Café Manager Suzanne Wallace 15km sponsored run, Marketing Manager Sarah Gent’s Creative Chalk Challenge and former Audience Development Officer, Maddy Sutton undertaking a sponsored Peak trek.
On 9 September a variety evening, Sunday Night at The Witham which raised more than £2000 through ticket and programme sales, the raffle and the auction of a watercolour painting kindly donated by artist Chris Mouncey. The evening was hosted by TV Antiques expert David Harper and featured performances from Star of Britain’s Got Talent ‘Mimic Men’ Cal Halbert, international dramatic coloratura soprano Penelope Randell-Davis, singer singwriter Toni Sidgwick, The Castle Players, musicians’ Jane Ford and Nicky Tulloch, virtuoso ventriliquist Eileen Thompson and young harpist Joshua Greenwell.
As the campaign demonstrates, The Witham has built a strong reputation, providing a rich and varied programme of quality performances and visual arts, as well as offering activities for all age groups – from toddlers through to elderly people, from families through to people who live alone.
All of this costs money and public funding is tight. There is an on-going programme of fundraising activities to ensure the Investing in The Witham is an enduring campaign. The focus is also on corporate sponsorship and grant funding in order to ensure The Witham has a sustainable future on Barnard Castle high street.
“Our heartfelt thanks to all who have supported this campaign – from the board of trustees, the staff, volunteers and visitors, everyone has pulled together to achieve this remarkable result. It has been truly inspirational to be a part of this team of people working to ensure that Barnard Castle has an arts, culture and community centre long into the future.
Shelagh Avery, Interim Director of The Witham arts centre
The Investing in The Witham campaign continues.