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Sterts Arts and Environmental Centre have been awarded £300,000 of government “levelling up” money in recognition of its service to rural communities.

 

Sterts Arts and Environmental Centre, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, will use the grant to rebuild its theatre, which had to be demolished earlier this year after suffering structural damage caused by severe weather.

 

Announcing the Community Ownership Fund (COF) award, Jacob Young MP, Minister for Levelling Up, explained that the scheme is designed to “help save community assets at risk of loss and to empower communities to shape the things that matter most to them”.

 

“We are delighted that Sterts’ application has been successful,” said Mr Young. “It will help to save this treasured community asset and to support the ambitions of the community.”

 

The next phase of the development will be to engage a local architect to look at a wide range of options for an all-weather, year-round venue, combining state-of-the-art materials and design with exceptional environmental credentials. 

 

Sterts chairman, Nick Hart, praised the dedicated staff and volunteers who ensured the venue continued to function as a venue this summer, despite losing its roof, and the team who worked on the successful application to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

 

“I am beyond excited,” he said. “First, my thanks to the very extended team that enabled company secretary Sarah Pym and myself to put the bid together. No email went unanswered, no request was too awkward, and although I never dared think we would get it, the combined strength of ‘Team Sterts’ shone through the whole application.”

 

Mr Hart added that a new, purpose-built theatre building would be more in keeping with Sterts’ rural setting. Durability, flexibility and environmental flair will be at the heart of the design, and the aim will be to spark creative imagination in audiences, practitioners, participants, and the wider community. The COF funding will also enable the charity to employ a full-time manager to realise the ambitions set out in a new five-year business plan.

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Sterts Arts and Environmental Centre, situated on land previously used as a pig farm in the village of Upton Cross, near Liskeard, has been a mainstay of Cornwall’s creative scene for almost 40 years. Founded in the 1980s by school teachers Ewart and Anne Sturrock, it grew from modest ambitions into a major venue with an all-weather canopy, café and art gallery. Over the decades, the venue has welcomed an eclectic mix of professional touring theatre companies, musicians, authors, poets, dancers and visual artists.

 

More recently, the focus has been on youth theatre, with hundreds of young people getting their first taste of performing and tech opportunities by working on large-scale musical productions, gaining valuable professional mentoring and technical support. 

 

“After some very difficult times, with the pandemic and the loss of the canopy, thanks to the generous support of the government’s Community Ownership Fund all those involved in Sterts are now looking forward to a very successful future,” added Mr Hart.

 

For further information and interviews, contact: Nick Hart email: chair@stertsarts.org

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