Banburyshire arts centres turn red as part of the #LightItInRed campaign to support the events industry

Both The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury and The Theatre Chipping Norton took part in the campaign, which saw their arts centres lit up in red on the evening of Monday July 6.

The Mill Arts Centre said: "We welcome the government’s recently announced support for the arts, which we hope will go some way to alleviate the difficulties faced by the sector.

"While we remain closed for the time being, we’re very much looking forward to welcoming you back to The Mill once it is safe to do so."

The Theatre Chipping Norton said the following on Facebook about their participation in the campaign: "We will be joining together with events venues and production companies all across the country to turn our building red. This is to highlight the dramatic situation that our industry is currently in, and encourage action from our government to help."

Early in the lockdown The Theatre Chipping Norton launched the ‘Head above Water’ fundraising campaign to help it financially survive the coronavirus pandemic.

People can donate online through the following web link: https://www.chippingnortontheatre.com/head-above-water or by calling the theatre's box office on 01608 642350.

The Light It In Red event, organised online, is a national campaign aimed at lobbying central government for extra assistance to ensure the events industry can recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Light It In Red campaign was a joint project created and managed by a Shipston-based company, Clearsound Productions Ltd, in partnership with the Backstage Theatre Jobs forum.

The campaign saw more than 600 event and theatre locations illuminated.

*A message from the Banbury Guardian Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.