Sterts Theatre Arts and Environmental Centre receives lifeline

The Sterts charity, which is responsible for the theatre and studio buildings on Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall, has been given a stay of execution after a member offered a loan of £20,000.

In September the Sterts Community Interest Company, its operational arm, went into voluntary liquidation leaving a number of creditors unpaid.

The Sterts Charity is still functioning but before the loan offer was made it asked members at its AGM if it too should go into administration owing to its current deficit of £12,000.

Member Vickie Bishop, who offered the loan, said: "I've kept the doors open and what it means is that for the next five months they [theatre groups] can use the facilities there."

The Sterts Community Interest Company has refused to comment since it went into voluntary liquidation, however, the separate organisation the Sterts Charity held its AGM last week.

Trustees told members three investors were in negotiation about taking on the theatre acting as a limited company but the trustees would not disclose the names at this stage because of confidentiality reasons.

Members were also told the 2025 accounts showed a deficit of £130,000 and that there had been a big drop in income by 62% and an even bigger drop in donations by £92%.

Bishop said when the new administration took over operations two years ago "we were categorically told that am-dram wasn't part of their plans".

She said: "And I had particularly had an interest in bringing the youth theatre back.

"It never happened they talked about it and they talked about having various groups I wonder how much of it was just to tick boxes for funders."

Bishop said "there was a will" to keep the theatre and studio open.

"The community want it, you only had to look at the people that were at the AGM and the enthusiasm and the number of people that were volunteering to do things.

"Nobody wants it to fail, even if they're cross about what happened in the past, nobody wants Sterts to close forever; nobody wants to bring the curtain down so to speak; we all want it to succeed."

Nick Buckland, chair of the Sterts Charity, said: "At the moment we are balance sheet solvent because we have a big asset in the site.

"We're running very close to the limit in terms of our operational funding and that's really what we're concerned about as trustees.

"But with the offers of help we've had we should be able to continue to work in a good way for the next few months."

Buckland recognised that Sterts needed to have more community engagement which he said "was partly lost in the past".

Asked about why the CIC went into voluntary liquidation he said it was really a case of the number of tickets being sold and there were bids for funding "that didn't come off, it was a combination of factors".

"We can get it back to an even-keel if we get the right support now, " he said.

He said he believed Sterts could be saved.

"Oh, I hope it can, I wouldn't be here if I didn't think that.

"I've been involved in quite a number of things were we have turned it around and I hate losing," he said.

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