Chichester theatre and art gallery should get council funding extended
Councillors have recommended that grants given to a theatre and art gallery in Chichester be extended for four years.
The Festival Theatre and Pallant House Gallery have received cultural grants of £187,500 and £130,000 respectively since 2018, which are due to expire on March 31 2026.
During a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday (July 8), members recommended that the same grants, plus inflation, be offered for four years, starting in April 2026.
John Cross, cabinet member for culture, sport & place, said: “We’re trying to give some sort of stability to these two organisations as we move forward into a unitary authority.”
Economic assessments showed a net economic output for the theatre of £26.6m and £7.1m for the gallery, supporting 486 jobs and 135 jobs respectively.
This means that, for every £1 provided by the council via the grants, £141 was generated for the economy by the theatre and £54 by the gallery.
Social impact assessments were also carried out by the theatre and gallery to demonstrate the community benefit of the venues, their events and activities.
Mr Cross said the two venues were ‘anchors to the whole of Chichester’ when it came to bringing in tourism, describing the number of visitors from outside the district as ‘astounding’.
In 2023, the theatre sold more than 330,000 tickets, 70% of which were bought by visitors from outside the district. As for the gallery, more than 57,000 people visited during that year, 85% from outside the district.
The final decision on whether to bring in the four-year grants will be taken at the next meeting of the full council on Tuesday (July 15).