In a professional theatre company funding is crucial, as without money there can be no show. Therefore, if we were to take Fragment Theatre Company forward in the future we would need to look to alternative funding sources. One of the first places to look would be the Arts council England.
The Arts council is ‘committed to championing and developing the arts’ (Arts Council, 2017), and hence provides grants through the Grants for the Arts program. This is an ‘open access funding programme for individuals, art organisations and other people who use the arts in their work’ (Arts Council, 2017). They offer anything from £1000 to £100,000. As an emerging theatre company you can expect to apply for the lower end of this due to the size of the venture.
The grants are competitive and therefore when applying you need to tell them exactly how you would spend the money. Furthermore, if you receive the funding they check your final spending, so if you have asked for too much than your project is resultantly worth you will be less likely to be granted funding in the future. Such a process is therefore no easy feat, and hence must be undertaken with care in order to receive current and future funding.
Citations
Arts Council (2017) Arts Council England. [online] London: Arts Council England. Available from http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Grants_for_the_Arts_How_to_apply15k_and_under_September2016_0.pdf [accessed 23 March 2017].
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