Major funding boost for Playtrail '˜Final Curtain' project

The project by the Playtrail project, entitled ‘The Final Curtain’ has been awarded £9,960 from the Aviva Community Fund. This will see a ‘warm blanket’, in the form of a set of insulated, sound proofing curtains, created around the 200 seater amphitheatre at the Playtrail.

It was was only one of five winners in its category which had 142 entries from other groups and organisations. The projects initial application recieved 7,782 votes from the public, and it was then chosen as a winner by a panel of judges.

The £9,960 will allow the purchase of the insulated, sound proofed curtains, and all associated accessories. An additional £2,000 for installation and the purchase of gas heaters will be provided by the Liberty Consortium.

The existing amphitheatre was originally funded as a Legacy Capital Project during 2013 UK City of Culture and has developed into a truly community venue.

A spokesperson for the Playtrail said: “We utilise the amphitheatre many times of the year, this included our annual trip to the trail which is during learning disability week. This provided 400 young people with or without disabilities to come together and perform at a one day festival, we also showed our award winning production of ‘I am ME’ here twice to sold out audiences.

“This is a an educational written by young people with disabilities to highlight the negative attitudes, stereotypes and discrimination they face in society and promote a positive message of seeing the person first and not the disability, we also use this as an outdoor cinema area where we have showed films like ‘Frozen’ to sold out audiences.”