BP News

QMT ‘Youth Wing’ Appeal

Notice of E.G.M. Tuesday 30th October

Having already been given authority to draw up plans to provide a ‘Youth Wing’ at the Queen Mother Theatre, the Executive Committee has now reached the stage where it needs approval from the membership to go into the all-important phase of financing the project.

We now know that the planned improvements will cost in the region of £150,000. That figure is based on estimates at 2009 prices. To this end, it is proposed that the society should take advantage of the theatre’s 25th Anniversary celebrations next year to launch an appeal.

As with the original campaign to build the theatre, I am delighted that we have Christopher Mann on board as Appeal Director. He masterminded our highly successful fund-raising back in 1982. As then, we shall be inviting a number of prominent townspeople to sit on the Appeal Committee, to emphasise that this is very much a community project aimed, on this occasion, at providing improved facilities for young drama enthusiasts.

After several informal planning meetings chaired by Maureen Nobes and myself, we are now at a point where we need the authority of the membership to commit money to the project. For this reason, an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society will be held in the theatre at 7.30pm on Tuesday 30th October. The meeting will be asked to approve the following resolutions:

1. ‘As part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations of The Queen Mother Theatre in 2008, the Bancroft Players shall launch a public appeal for £150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand pounds) to provide a ‘Youth Wing’ within the existing theatre.’
2. ‘Coinciding with the launch of the appeal, the Bancroft Players will donate the sum of £20,000 (twenty thousand pounds) from their reserve funds, with the option of providing a further similar sum later on.’

We hope as many members as possible will come to the E.G.M. to hear about the latest proposals and to give their support to the resolutions above.