Plastic Sheets Shop Protective Screen Grant

While many businesses that had been closed due to Covid-19 pandemic were able to re-open in July, many theatres and museums have been unable to welcome visitors back in sufficient numbers.

In many cases, arts venues are either charities or not-for-profit and operate on a very small budget. With reduced revenues for the foreseeable future, there is a real danger that many beloved arts locations could be lost without proper support.

As an international supplier of protective screens, Plastic Sheets Shop wanted to help. That’s why we launched a Protective Screen Grant in August to help venues safely reopen by providing £2,000 worth of protective screens and related products. We are now delighted to announce the chosen venues which will share the grant: Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester and Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

Jonathan Opdam

Perspex screen on a base in waiting room

Standing perspex screen on base

About the venues

 

Lyric Theatre – Belfast

Founded in 1951, the Lyric Theatre is Northern Ireland’s only full time producing theatre. With two performance spaces available, the 389 seat Danske Bank Stage and a 170 seat studio space, the Lyric Theatre is able to consistently put on a wide range of performances and events to suit all tastes, whether it’s a family musical or a new and exciting play written by homegrown talent.

“The Lyric Theatre in Belfast is hugely grateful for this private fund award of £1000 towards equipment costs associated with re-opening the theatre to the public in the near future. As the key producing theatre in Northern Ireland, we form a part of one of the hardest hit sectors of the country during this pandemic, and as we are facing further funding struggles along with uncertainty around when we can open our doors again, gestures such as this go a long way to helping us get one step closer to getting back to work. Thanks to all at Plastic Sheets Shop for this award.”

Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

An independent venue located in Manchester, Hope Mill Theatre was founded in 2015 by Joseph Housten and William Whelton. Inspired by London’s theatre scene, the venue’s aim is to create an inclusive space for both audiences and artists looking to share human stories and experiences through a wide range of musicals, plays and concerts. The venue has a capacity of up to 120 guests and is also available to hire for private functions, weddings and productions.

Joseph Houston, Artistic Director and Co-founder of the venue said;

“As you can imagine opening in a Covid world, comes with its challenges, the main one being the equipment needed to be able to open safely. This also comes with great extra expense which at this time is also a burden on the venue. Grants like this are vital in helping up to be able to open safely and welcome back audiences to our wonderful venue.”

“We hope that this grant can make a small difference”

“Many beloved small venues around the UK are forced to operate on small budgets year after year, but with the challenges of cancelled productions and reduced capacity, Covid-19 could result in permanent closures.” said Plastic Sheets Shop Managing Partner Jonathan Opdam.

“We hope that this grant can make a small difference for Hope Mill Theatre and the Lyric Theatre, helping them both to maximise their capacity based on current guidelines and bring performances back to the stage as quickly and safely as possible.”

Our PERSPEX® protective screens range can be found here.