Bradford Theatres has been awarded a grant of £185,912 from the National Lottery
Heritage Fund for a three-year project, starting this month, to develop and deliver an
extensive heritage activity programme for the Alhambra Theatre and St George’s Hall
in Bradford.
The Alhambra Theatre and St George’s Hall, as well as being stunning, working performance venues, hold huge significance in the peoples’ history of Bradford. This grant will allow Bradford Theatres to work with community partners to unlock this heritage and explore not only the famous themes such as the long history of pantomime at Alhambra Theatre but also dig down to discover under-represented histories such as the Black, South Asian and LGBTQ+ heritage at these venues.
The programme will involve heritage tours and heritage workshops for communities, schools and colleges; events and exhibitions; new online heritage content for the Alhambra Theatre; and a volunteer programme. Activity will be led by Heritage Learning Officer Penny Green and a range of freelance specialists.
Commenting on the award, Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places said: “Culminating in 2025 when Bradford will be UK City of Culture, we are thrilled to receive this award from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for our project; Heritage Centre Stage which will support a range of people from across the Bradford district to engage with the heritage in our fantastic, historic venues, in a way which has real meaning to their lives.”
David Renwick, Director of England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added:
“We are delighted to support this project, which thanks to money raised by National Lottery
players, will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep. Heritage has a huge role to play in instilling pride in communities and boosting local economies across the North of England, and even more so in Bradford as it prepares to celebrate its status as the UK City of Culture 2025. We’re very excited to see how this fantastic project progresses.”
