Brighton Dome Supporters Almost Triple Crowdfunding Target To Overcome Covid-19 Losses

Wednesday, 28 October 2020 13:46

By John Warburton @Warblefly

Brighton Dome, before Covid-19, during Jazz Re:Fest 2019 (Photo: © John Warburton)

The arts charity Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival — which also runs much council-provided music education in the city and East Sussex — has thanked crowdfunding supporters for raising almost three times their financial target.

In 42 days, 963 donors contributed to the final total which was initially set at £25,000, when it launched on 8 September as part of the nationwide #SaveOurTheatres campaign.

The community appeal featured rewards for supporters to purchase, including art prints by renowned artists and designers from Brighton Festival's archive.

Following Brighton Dome's closure in March and the cancellation of Brighton Festival 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisation lost 67% of its self-generated income through ticket sales and events.

The charity said its 1,800 capacity Concert Hall, at present, can only offer vastly reduced attendances of socially distanced performances and the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatres are undergoing major refurbishment until autumn 2021.

As the pandemic's restrictions took hold, staff asked the public if supporters could help raise funds towards the additional £250,000 needed by the organisation to recover over the next year.

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said:

"The public's response to our campaign has surpassed all our expectations and our thanks go to everyone who has contributed through donations, as well as the heart-warming messages that have kept us going during the closure.

"We couldn't have done this without the generosity of the artists and designers who gave permission for us to reproduce their work and to local businesses for their time and effort.

"This financial help, together with the award we received from the government's Cultural Recovery Fund, means we can be optimistic about bringing arts and culture back to the venue and the wider community in the future."

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival is a registered arts charity which states its aims as being "to champion the power of the arts, to enrich and change lives, and inspire and enable artists to be their most creative."

It operates three venues, an annual arts festival and two music education services (Brighton & Hove Music & Arts and East Sussex Music), teaching 14,000 children across the region.

Each year Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival presents over 600 events spanning music, theatre, dance, comedy, literature, spoken word, visual arts, film, digital and more as part of its year-round programme as well as producing the internationally acclaimed Brighton Festival in May.