Supporting Voluntary and Community Action
acta began in 1985, growing out of a very successful youth theatre group, Kids Theatre, which ran from 1982. Of the founder members, only Neil Beddow, Artistic Director, has remained with the company throughout. During Neil's work as a freelance drama worker he became aware of a huge interest in the idea of young people and communities creating their own theatre, and thus the idea for acta was born.
We are throwing a party on Friday 29th September at the acta centre in Bedminster. We're trying to reach as many people as possible to invite them along. Acta has worked with almost 15,000 people over the 21 years and we'd love to see them again and give them the chance to meet old friends. But it is a massive job to try and track down 21 years of acta participants, workers and friends. Please spread the word if you know anyone who we might have lost touch with.
acta began in the backroom of a house in Easton, and had a huge struggle for the first few years, trying to convince South West Arts and Avon County Council that community theatre was something worth funding! The whole Company operated for many years out of two classrooms at Lockleaze School, then at Hengrove School, and even at one stage, from a barn (Eastwood Farm) that it shared with Bristol City Contract Services, before finding and refurbishing the acta centre in Bedminster four years ago. From paying all workers £50 per week in the early years, to deliver as many youth theatre sessions as there were days in the week, the Company has grown to deliver a wide-ranging programme including neighbourhood arts, work with young people and learning disabled people. Acta now employs ten core team workers, and up to 60 freelance facilitators every year.
As with everyone in the voluntary sector, chasing the funding to do what we want to do, and what our participants want to do, is an ongoing challenge, which uses lots of our time and energy. We have an excellent record of fundraising from a wide range of different sources every year. We have never achieved the level of core funding we need just to exist, and so have always been dependent on project funding. Some things never change! But the world in which we live has changed significantly. In the eighties and early nineties, it often felt like we were a lone voice espousing the virtues of accessible participatory theatre, the educational impact and regeneration potential of our work and the creative potential within everyone. Now everyone agrees how participatory arts can transform people's lives, and our challenge is to ensure the quality of the work that is being delivered.
We receive core funding from Arts Council England South West, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council, which equates to about 25% of our total turnover. The rest of our funding is restricted income for project delivery, and most of this comes from various lottery funding bodies, as well as government initiatives e.g. single regeneration budgets.
Our current business plan states that we are aiming to "do less better". Our programme has always been somewhat determined by where the project funding exists, and this is partly why we are still here 21 years later! The more core funding we have, the easier it is for us to deliver the projects that we believe are most exciting and will have the most impact, and ensure we deliver them to the best of our abilities.
Voscur is an invaluable resource for acta to easily keep in touch with local voluntary sector developments. As an arts organisation, we take part in a wide range of arts networks, but it is so important that we know what is happening beyond the arts world!
Email: info@acta-bristol.com
Tel: 0117 953 2448
www.acta-bristol.com
If your group would like to be profiled in a future Voscur newsletter or on our website, please contact Sophie Mellor at the Voscur office Tel. 909 9949, or email: sophie@voscur.org