Clive Lewis For Norwich South
Today, I joined five other MPs who represent constituencies with large and successfull regional theatres in writing to the Minister for Digital and Culture to push for more support for such venues.
In March, these theatres saw their income reduced to effectively zero overnight as they don’t have the cushion of existing grant funding that their publicly funded peers do. They are also likely to be one of the last sectors to get fully up and running again; it’s unlikely to be financially viable for them to operate while complying with the necessary social distancing measures.
This means now, more than ever, they need support from the government to survive. Large-scale emergency funding should be made available to these organisations that have delivered maximum public value with zero cost to the public purse.
We have requested a joint (virtual) meeting between the minister, MPs and theatre representatives, and I will continue to do what I can to help Norwich theatres and the wider industry survive this crisis.
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You can also support the Norwich Theatres Crisis appeal to help secure the future of by donating here: https://norwichtheatre.org/norwich-theatre-crisis-appeal