Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

 

STATEMENT

THE GEORGIAN HORSE CHALLENGE

It is with great regret that the Theatre Royal has taken the hard decision not to go ahead with the GEORGIAN HORSE CHALLENGE, the epic endurance ride by artistic director Colin Blumenau to raise money for the theatre’s production funds.

Despite over nine months of planning and the support of a number of organisations and interest from horse lovers and enthusiasts, the lack of success in finding major sponsorship to cover the major operational costs for the project has threatened our ability to raise the funds originally envisaged. Coupled with the pressures faced by philanthropic giving generally, caused by recession and global economic uncertainty, the Theatre feels that the ride poses too great a risk to contemplate at this time.

Every year the Theatre Royal raises around £200,000 towards its ongoing programme of theatre and creative learning work, through sponsorship and individual fundraising. That target continues into 2012/13 and beyond, and all available efforts will be focused on this target.

In reaching this decision Simon Daykin, Chief Executive, says “It has been Colin’s long held ambition to ride this endurance route, and both he and his horses were primed and ready for the challenge. However, our strong sense is that the country’s financial health is not robust enough to provide the level of funds envisaged; we just cannot take on additional risk when we have to concentrate all our resources on trying to thrive in these straightened times. We are therefore very saddened that we have to ask Colin to unsaddle his steeds and bring the project to a close, but we have to be realistic. It’s now essential that we redouble our attentions on our core work as a quality producing theatre.”