The Theatres Trust’s Theatre Improvement Scheme has a focus for each year of its 3-year funding cycle. 2021 has a theme of ‘Improving Environmental Sustainability’.

The purposes of the Theatres Trust Charitable Fund are:

o To promote the advancement and improvement of general education in relation to all aspects of the dramatic arts, and
o The development of public appreciation of such arts, particularly by promoting the maintenance, use and better protection of theatres and places of entertainment for the benefit of the nation by all charitable means.

The Theatre Improvement Fund provides grants of up to £20,000 to UK theatres that can show how a small intervention can have a big impact on reducing its theatre's environmental impact. For example, by (please note this is not an exclusive list):

o Building management systems.
o Installing more efficient water heaters.
o Installing new windows, and
o Replacing an existing roof with a green living (or sedum) roof.

To be eligible, applicants must:

o Demonstrate that they run a year-round programme of live performance, of no less than 30 performances a year.
o Have a bona fide UK charitable or not-for-profit legal structure and be able to provide certified or audited accounts for at least two years.
o Operate a theatre that achieve excellence through their producing and programming or architectural significance, and
o Own or manage theatres with titles or signed leases of more than 5 years on buildings in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

During the year ended 31 March 2020 the Trust awarded 40 grants totalling £313,425.

Further information, guidance and details about how to apply is available on the Trust’s website, where details of its other grant programmes can also be found.

The next application deadline for the Theatre Improvement Fund is Monday 6 September 2021.