Theatre group granted funds

A theatre group based in St. Andrews that works with young people will benefit from a £1,000 donation from our North Scotland branch.

Ashley Foster, a spokesperson for the organisation, said: “We have just taken over the lease of a building and we intend to use these funds for furniture and wheelchair ramps.

“We provide extra-curricular theatre arts classes to children and young adults and have spent the last twelve months securing our own venue, but we now need to make it more accessible. We will also be looking to make it more accessible to those with sensory impairments too.”

Many of the children that have attended the youth theatre have gone on to train professionally at institutions such as Trinity Laban and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. They also managed to keep all of their staff in work during the Covid-19 pandemic without any support from the government.

Building Futures will deliver more than £1million to good causes across England, Scotland, and Wales. The initiative aims to support community groups working with under-18s across three categories – education & arts, health, and sport.

A total of 128 grants of £1,000 will be awarded across our 32 regional businesses to improve local facilities and the delivery of vital community projects.

Three initiatives will go on to win £100,000 each through a national online public vote. The winners will be named at a gala dinner for finalists in November.

In each sector – education & arts, health, and sport – as well as the £100,000 first prize, there will be a £50,000 second prize and a £20,000 third prize, whilst a further 87 shortlisted projects will each receive £5,000.

James MacKay, Managing Director of Persimmon Homes North Scotland, said: “Building Futures is all about supporting young people in our area, and we are absolutely delighted to be supporting the work of Byre Youth Theatre Limited.”

“We’re accepting entries to the scheme until the 15^th August, so we’d urge more people to apply by visiting www.persimmonhomes.com/charity .