News Story
The Theatre has been an established charity and company since August 1974, and as you can imagine, a lot has changed during those 50 years. As we approach our 50th anniversary year we have reviewed our charitable objectives and are looking to amend them. The Theatre has grown from an original focus on Theatre: producing it, receiving it, engaging the community in participating in it, bringing more culture to a rural area with little cultural provision. We now wish to highlight more of the reasons we do that; the huge impact the arts can have on good physical and mental health by attending, volunteering and participating with our work. The way we can bring together our communities with intergenerational projects, reminiscing and understanding the place we live, binding our community together with shared experiences and the educational results not just in understanding and appreciating the arts more, but also in anti-bullying work, helping young people transition to secondary school, and providing assistance to those people and families most at risk in our communities.
We also want to secure our future in the town and hope to grow our charitable work in line with the rate that our community is growing. To facilitate that we will at some stage require new premises to accommodate more workshops, classes and community work. The new objectives also ensure that this future is well defined and stated as a purpose of our charity.
Both the current objectives and the proposed new objectives are included below. We would value any comments that any of our community wish to make regarding this proposed change, which will be put forward for a vote at our AGM on Tues 5 Dec. Any comments received before then will be shared with our Trustees and Members of the Company prior to that vote.
Please email [email protected], General Manager and Secretary of The Theatre.
Charitable Objectives
Current Charitable Objects
To promote, maintain, improve and advance education, particularly by the promotion and production of educational plays and concerts and the encouragement of the arts, including the arts of drama, mime, dance, singing and music and for the improvement of the taste and appreciation of the said arts of the public particularly the inhabitants of the village of Chipping Norton, Oxford and surrounding areas and for the advancement of knowledge of the said arts by children within the said arts by children within the said areas.
Proposed new Charitable Objects
To further or benefit the public particularly the inhabitants of the town of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire and surrounding areas to include but not by way of limitation elderly persons, younger persons and people with less engagement in arts and community activities without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious or other opinions in a common effort to advance education:-
- By associating together the said inhabitants and the local authorities, voluntary and other organisations; and
- By the promotion and production of educational plays and concerts and the encouragement of the arts, including the arts of live performance and drama, dance, singing, music, literature, film and participatory activities and for the improvement of the understanding and appreciation of the said arts and for the advancement of knowledge of the said arts within the said areas; and
- By supporting good physical and mental health; and
- To provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants including in relation to the above matters.
In furtherance of these objects but not otherwise, the trustees shall have power:
To establish or secure the establishment of a community arts venue and to maintain or manage or co-operate with any statutory authority in the maintenance and management of such a venue for activities promoted by the charity in furtherance of the above objects.