GreyFriars Hotel in Colchester has today announced that they are supporting the Mercury Theatre, Essex’s award-winning production house, with a £100,000 grant to secure the theatre’s community engagement and placement delivery in Essex for the coming years.
Mercury Theatre is the artistic powerhouse in the East – a vital, vibrant, welcoming centre of culture for the people of Colchester, Essex and beyond. The award-winning theatre presented in the auditorium and studio transforms and enriches the lives of the local community. Through Mercury Productions and Mercury Originals they produce world-class theatre, reinventing familiar stories and conjuring up bold, new ones. Their talent development programme seeks out fresh voices and stories that encourage people to see through the eyes of others. The Mercury Theatre’s participation programmes connect communities and celebrate creative potential by providing people with everyday opportunities to be artistic and innovative.
GreyFriars is an exquisite, luxury hotel and dining destination located at the top of East Hill. Beautifully appointed with the customer’s comfort and convenience in mind, GreyFriars offers 5* service, luxurious rooms and suites, a choice of formal and informal dining, together with cocktail bar and lounges, large terrace and ample complimentary parking.
Over the next two years the grant will support the Colchester-based theatre’s bursary offering for their Mercury Young Company. Mercury Theatre believes as many young people as possible should have access to their creative activities and do not want someone’s financial situation to be a barrier to taking part. The MYC Bursary Scheme exists to enable participants to take part in activity provided by Mercury Theatre. These activities include the participation in workshops, after school and holiday programmes, courses and productions.
The grant from GreyFriars will also support Mercury Theatre’s creative engagement team to continue to engage with the hardest to reach and most marginalized groups across the Essex community – supporting people and groups through drama and arts-based activities to learn new skills, create community cohesion, reduce social isolation and improve mental health.
The Mercury Theatre will also utilise the grant to further engage with schools across the Colchester and wider Essex region, bringing the school curriculum to life through enriching drama and arts for all key stages.
Furthermore, GreyFriars’ grant will also allow the theatre to offer an 18-month paid Technical Theatre Placement, which will see a school leaver with aspirations to work backstage in theatre the ability to train whilst earning and working on the Mercury Theatre’s professional productions.
Steve Mannix, CEO of Mercury Theatre, said of today’s announcement, “We are over the moon with the support from GreyFriars. Together, we share a strong belief in the power of Colchester’s wider community. This partnership is a vital step in securing our community engagement and placement programmes for the years ahead. In these uncertain and often confusing times – especially for young people – this support enables us to keep investing in the next generation. It helps us provide safe spaces, meaningful engagement, and the life-changing skills that young people need to build brighter futures.”
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