I took the opportunity to ask Stuart Andrew MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society about the outreach work done by The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford into Stoke and Westborough.
It does this work without yearly funding from The Arts Council, which it used to receive before the way that organisations are funded switched to the National Portfolio Organisations arrangement. I asked the minister how groups that sit outside this list could be supported in the work that they do.
His response was that local authorities in other parts of the country have invested in the arts for this purpose and indeed Guildford Borough Council and Surrey County Council do support the theatre. But I will be looking to see whether there are examples of other models or partnerships that might be of benefit to the council, theatre and the communities it serves.