Dear Sir,
I had the privilege recently of visiting a new photographic exhibition at Greenfield Arts for the first time. Where I learnt, from an impassioned talk, from a former Headmaster, that this integral facility had been funded some twenty years ago with Arts Council funding, amongst others, (including Aycliffe Town Council), separately beyond the educational provision.
It now appears the excellent space is to be lost and to be subsumed into the overall teaching space, leaving the charity which ran the centre so successfully, for so long, to be either homeless or defunct. With the historic precious public investment in Arts provision in the town being lost without any compensation.
The quality of the work produced and encouraged through out-reach is impressive and it seems a tragedy that such established and successful grass roots, cultural opportunities are to be extinguished.
This is a plea for this long history of local engagement and access to be continued, not terminated, in these purpose designed premises with public lottery money continuing to be applied to their original, intended, continuing, successful purpose!
Yours in hope,
Hugh Massey