Theatre bar 'gutted' after being denied £200k funding for disabled access

Owners of a popular theatre in Manchester said they are 'gutted' after the venue was turned down for Arts Council funding to improve access for disabled people. Simon Naylor, creative director of 53two, said that plans to extend its theatre space and put in a ‘Changing Places’ toilet facility, one of only a handful in the city, will be put on hold after the bid for £200,000 was turned down.

He said he is 'angry' at the application process, which he labelled 'inaccessible'. The Arts Council replied that they had received a high number of applications and they had to make some 'tough decisions'.

“We raised £240,000 ourselves, through a crowdfunder, through grants and hard fricking work from the brilliant people of Manchester, and that’s been great, and it allowed us to do the first arch, and the 85-seater venue and café,” Simon said.

“It seems to be for the Arts Council it would be a no-brainer, but perhaps that’s naïve. It would have made us the only independent, wheelchair accessible city centre theatre, which in itself would be spectacular.”

53two, which was founded on its inclusivity for both disabled artists and disabled patrons, wanted to increase the size of the theatre space to 150 seats, as well as adding the enhanced toilet facilities and making the theatre dressing rooms fully accessible to disabled artists too. “I’m angry at their application system, it’s not designed for artists and it’s completely inaccessible,” he said.

The Arts Council said: "Demand for the Capital Investment Programme was extremely high and we received a large number of both Expressions of Interest and applications. We had to make tough decisions, but we awarded funding to applications that most closely meet the criteria and made the