The Plough Arts Centre’s Chair, John Eeles has just announced “Following a consultation period during the summer, it is with deep regret that trustees of the Registered Charity have been left with no choice but to make 15 highly valued members of staff redundant, as the only course of action likely to give the organisation a fair chance of survival in the medium term. Many of the staff have been long serving and through no fault of their own have now lost their jobs which is distressing for all concerned.”
Treasurer Frances Lloyd noted that “with the furlough scheme ending on 31 Oct, no guarantee of further emergency government funding and zero chance of being able to safely offer the usual packed programme, it was clear that without staff redundancies the organisation would quickly go out of business”.
Despite being reduced to a skeleton staff working minimal hours, The Plough has promoted a very successful festival of socially distanced open air theatre with 22 performances taking place at six North Devon venues with several sellout shows and huge demand for a ‘Folk with Soul’, an open air music event at The Big Sheep on 11 Sept with 100% local artists. The charity has also resumed a programme of activities at [email protected]’s and set up a range of online arts projects, including a lockdown community photography project, a Ploughcappella singing project, an innovative dance film and many other activities, thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
Sharon Dixon, The Plough’s Welcome Manager at [email protected]’s said “[email protected]'s, Barnstaple, have been working hard with our event and workshop providers to programme 'socially distanced' activities. These are proving incredibly popular with some events selling out quickly. [email protected]'s is also available to hire for meetings and weddings. Please email [email protected] to discuss your requirements and our COVID-19 plans.”
Director Richard Wolfenden-Brown added a further note of optimism for the future.
“We can’t wait to welcome people back as soon as it is feasibly possible. Once it is safe and financially viable to reopen our base at The Plough Arts Centre we will do so. We are aware that many arts & community groups are desperate to restart their activities at The Plough. We are looking at early November, subject to successfully dealing with all the known constraints and finding new ways to deliver a dynamic arts and community programme. This will likely mean a limited programme initially, as we all grow in confidence to rebuild the programme and embrace social distancing. During the year to 31 March 2020 The Plough welcomed 39,842 people to films and live events and over 100,000 through the doors of its various venues and via its online arts provision. It will clearly take time to get back to those levels, but a recent extensive survey of Plough customers showed that 75% were looking forward to coming back, so consequently we are determined to reopen The Plough just as soon as we can.”
The Plough has incurred ongoing buildings costs during the enforced closure and is waiting to hear if emergency applications to the Lottery, Arts Council England and Torridge District Council are successful, before deciding on the ideal date for reopening. Meanwhile it has launched a ‘Re-Open The Plough’ fighting fund towards reopening costs. An open-air ‘Folk With Soul’ fundraising music event at The Big Sheep on 11 Sept will aid this fund and a special online film starring Plough artists will be released next week to support The Plough and North Devon Hospice. In addition, Plough Supporter Andy Oliver is running the London Marathon to support The Plough. Details are all on The Plough’s website.
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Richard Wolfenden-Brown, Director