ABS Anniversary Fund Series – August: Square Chapel Arts Centre
Congratulations to Square Chapel Arts Centre who are the August recipient of the ABS anniversary fund!
The ABS Foundation and our charity partner Community Foundation for Calderdale will be supporting 12 different charities who deliver vital services in Calderdale. Every month, between May 2019 and April 2020 the ABS 19/20 fund will make an award to one fantastic local charity.
Who Are They?
Square Chapel Arts Centre is a multi-artform venue located in Halifax. In 1989, due to be demolished, the grade II listed building was saved by a group of six passionate locals with a view to creating a thriving community hub.
Like ABS, they are in their 30th year! The organisation has grown to become a nationally significant arts centre, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, and one of the largest cultural providers in the Borough.
What Do They Do?
In 2015, The Arts Centre launched The Calderdale Young Shorts programme which challenges social exclusion and provides opportunities for traditionally ‘hard to reach’ groups bringing diverse and high-quality performances through education.
What Will They Do With The Donation?
The grant will make it possible for the arts centre to introduce 130+ children (aged 9-11) to playwriting and arts.
The team will work with five classes, each class will receive two workshops led by Beacon Actors, learning the fundamentals of short plays including:
- What a play is
- How to create characters
- What is a plot and how to create one?
A selection of plays will be chosen from each class and members of Beacon Actors will have four days to put a show together, mentored by CTS staff alongside the staff team and facilities of Square Chapel. Then they will be performing at two different venues.
They hope to achieve:
- Increasing the abilities of children to take part in playwriting
- Teachers gaining new creative approaches to learning
- Increase confidence and aspiration by seeing their work showcased in professional venues
- Supporting schools to come together to support each other’s work
- Develop skills as workshop leaders, costume makers, stage managers, technicians, directors.
Building A Future
Calderdale Young Shorts still need funding to ensure the project remains accessible to schools. Not only would they be able to run the project in Calderdale, they would be able to expand into other locations to a much wider audience.
The £10,000 would give them the resource to kickstart this process and benefit thousands of children/ young people across the country.
Adam, head of development at Square Chapel Arts Centre comments: “When we heard about the ABS Anniversary Fund we immediately felt this was a fantastic opportunity for a local foundation to support a project that will benefit young people from the community in which they work. It’s always refreshing to see a local company with such a strong commitment to the principles of philanthropic giving.”
Dave Lees, trustee of the ABS Foundation and director at ABS UK said of the recent donation, “Square Chapel is a prominent landmark in the Calderdale area and is a fantastic space used by the whole community. What potentially the community doesn’t see is the hard-work that goes on behind the scenes at Square Chapel in making sure they are giving back to the community. This is evidence by the Young Shorts program and we are delighted to support them so they can continue with this unique project,”
If you’re a charity in Calderdale and like what you see, check out our blog post introducing the fund and to find out how you can apply.
You may also be interested in: