Name: Robin Hood Pantomine
Start: 2024-12-10
End: 2024-12-10
Location: Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

PRESS RELEASE 2 April 2021

SUTTON COLDFIELD TOWN HALL TO RECEIVE OVER £34,000 FROM SECOND ROUND OF THE GOVERNMENT’S CULTURE RECOVERY FUND

Royal Town’s Heritage Arts venue among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
This award will allow the December pantomime to progress and event sales to recommence.

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, an Edwardian arts venue in Birmingham, has received a grant of £34,400 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen. More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including the charitable trust-run Town Hall in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

The venue, which is currently being used as a vaccination centre for the NHS, will now be able to recommence planning of its 2021/22 shows and room hire. The staging of ‘Cinderella’ had been in jeopardy with not enough reserves to support the production of the show, which is key to the venue’s financial sustainability. As a result of the grant, the Trust can return more staff to work, enabling the venue to market its autumn programme, which starts in September with the sell-out Gary Powndland comedy show.

Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”

The Town Hall’s Managing Director, Julie Rennison, said:

“This funding is crucial to our recovery, as it takes months behind the scenes to plan and market our programme – particularly the pantomime. With this support, and with confidence in a return to full houses once vaccinations are complete, we have a much better chance of a successful relaunch in the autumn and a welcome return of our traditional Christmas shows.”

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.

We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”

The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.

PRESS RELEASE 1 February 2021

A new site for Sutton Coldfield’s Covid-19 Vaccination Programme has been launched today, Monday 1^st February.

The significant development in the roll-out of vaccines at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall has been the result of collaboration between Sutton Coldfield Group Practice, University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) Trust, Summerhill Services Ltd, Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (BSOL CCG), Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and the Rt Hon. Andrew Mitchell MP.

Sutton Coldfield Group Practice has been granted permission by NHS England to change their designated Covid vaccination site from the Falcon Lodge Medical Centre to the Edwardian venue in King Edwards Square. This will allow the Falcon Lodge site to return to surgery use, with its final vaccinations taking place on Sunday 31^st January. This move will enable the team to deliver more vaccines per week.

Dr Jean-Claude Desveaux of SCGP said “Both vaccines -Pfizer and Astra Zeneca ‘Oxford’- are very effective and which one given on any day depends on the deliveries we receive.

“We have a wide pool of vaccinators including retired doctors and nurses, paramedics, nurses seconded from different organisations, physios, podiatrists etc to enable us to continue to deliver medical services from our individual sites. The site will be active for 9 hours per day 7 days a week vaccine supply permitting.”

Vaccinations are allocated according to NHS and Government guidelines and visitors will be contacted by telephone for their appointment. Those without an appointment will not be admitted.

Those attending for vaccination do not need to purchase a ticket in the Birmingham City Council pay and display car park which is opposite the Town Hall on Anchorage Road. Adjacent to the BCC car park, The Townhouse has also granted free parking for people attending for vaccination.

Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council is co-ordinating the volunteer steward roles to support the vaccination programme, details of which can be found at Sutton Coldfield Together.

Councillor Simon Ward, Leader of Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council said,

“Thanks to a monumental effort by the SCGP team, many thousands of vaccinations have already been given at the Falcon Lodge Medical Centre. Adding our iconic Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on board as the central vaccination centre for our royal town will increase both the number of jabs delivered to the residents and the speed at which they can be administered. Crucially, it will make residents across our community safer more quickly. Throughout the pandemic the Town Council has stood ready to provide whatever support and assistance residents need and is delighted to again offer this practical support to our local NHS, GPs and residents in this next stage in the fight against coronavirus.”

Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP said “ As the National vaccination campaign gathers pace it has always been clear that our Town Hall is the right and best location for our Royal Town . I am proud that working closely with Dr Rahul Daub our lead GP, the Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council, and the NHS locally and nationally we are now able to surge ahead delivering this life saving service for my constituents in our great Town Hall”.

Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust (BCHC) staff have also begun doing home visits to vaccinate our housebound patients who are not able to travel to any vaccination centres.

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall is an independent, charity-run venue. The Theatre has been closed to the public since March 2020, however it has operated as a Blood Donor Centre, Dance School and Food Bank Donation Centre during the pandemic. Food Bank donations continue at the far side of the building on Mondays and Fridays, 10am – 2pm.