Next year will mark Clonter’s 50th Anniversary, and we want to make sure it is the best year yet, but in order to make it to 50 we need your help.
For 49 years Clonter has provided a cultural destination in East Cheshire, offering an increasingly rich and diverse programme of live music for our local community, as well as Talent Development opportunities for young people in both our region and throughout the UK, through our Emerging Artist and Education Programmes. 32,776 children and teachers have been able to take part in our education outreach alone since 1990. This year 2,014 children and teachers, and 237 creative practitioners – of whom 55 are emerging artists, are due to take part in events at Clonter.
Dementia friendly Musical Teas with songs from the shows also play an equally vital role in keeping our most isolated audience members entertained and connected.
The UK Government has yet to fulfil its promise to make up for the loss of the £163m subsidy from Creative Europe, the EU programme supporting the Arts.
A 34% drop in Arts Council funding for opera alone in the UK has resulted in poverty of opportunity for emerging operatic talent educated in the UK along with other creative practitioners, who are now leaving the country in droves with many leaving the industry for more financially secure jobs. The skill sets required for opera are the same for performative art forms across the board.
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There is also a serious lack of resources for the Arts in education and a lack of provision for the growing number of home educating families. The number of young people taking Arts GCSE subjects since 2010 has dropped by 44%.
Clonter is currently hosting 8 Theatre Arts Days for 412 children and 64 educators. The future is bright for the creative arts in the UK, if only the imagination, enthusiasm and creative collaboration, displayed in these workshops is allowed to develop. The creative arts used to be the fastest growing industry in the UK and this will not continue unless investment is made in grassroots organisations who are experienced and able to offer progressive performance opportunities, as well as a variety of accessible live theatrical experiences. Allowing children to fulfil their creative potential is vital for their future careers and personal development, irrespective of whether they wish to pursue a career in the arts or not.
Tickets are free for anyone 26, or under, for all Clonter events in the auditorium this year, enabling them to experience high quality live music of all genres.
The stimulation and enjoyment of live musical entertainment is proven to enhance our health and wellbeing.
If you enjoy coming to Clonter and would like to support our work, you can do so by contributing to our URGENT Let Us Be 50 Appeal either by making a donation here, or by becoming a Friend or Patron. If you are interested in sponsoring an event or could introduce Clonter to other charities who share our aims, please email appeal@clonter.org.
Any funding raised will help us be able to celebrate Clonter’s 50th Anniversary and continue to provide a nurturing and supportive place for emerging talent to flourish and entertain our audiences for generations to come.
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