Forest Forge Theatre in Ringwood hit by double funding blow

AN innovative theatre company is scrambling to plug a funding hole after being told it will not get any Hampshire County Council capital grant in 2020/21.

The news was given to Ringwood’s award-winning Forest Forge Theatre just weeks after it was awarded £30,000 from the authority for the upcoming financial year from the same pot.

In a double blow, the theatre has also learnt that it will get £20,000 funding from New Forest District Council for 2019/20, £12,000 less than it had asked for.

HCC annually donates money to arts companies including Forest Forge under its recreation and heritage investment fund grant.

However, in a recent decision report, HCC said it planned to make “significant changes” to culture and community grants for 2019/20 onwards to help it make £80m of cuts over the next three years. That included cutting all the support to some groups, such as Forest Forge.

It added there would be a new recreation and heritage community fund set up, which would provide arts groups with one-off grants to fund projects that would enable them to become financially sustainable or which provide community benefit.

Forest Forge chief executive and creative producer Sharon Lawless said she was “upbeat” and had already held talks with a number of parties about funding solutions.

The cut was not “unexpected” news and her understanding was the company may still get some financial support from HCC but in a different way.

“We are delighted with our core funding grant of £30,000 from Hampshire County Council this year,” Ms Lawless said.

“Our understanding is that next year Hampshire County Council will still be supporting the arts with their new grant system through capital grants; these will support organisations for specific items rather than core funding. We are grateful for their continued support,” she said.

Alternative funding sources have already been discussed by the theatre’s board. At a recent town council meeting, Ringwood county councillor Michael Thierry said the issue needed to be sorted, adding “It will be quite serious. It is a significant amount of money.”

Based at Endeavour Business Park, the company was established in 1981 by Karl Hibbert and celebrated its 21st birthday last October.

Recent productions have seen it tackle sensitive subjects such as legal and illegal immigration, as well as perform in the open Forest, collaborate with the travelling community and take productions to local schools.