Grant to keep arts centre as 'asset for community'

The Erin Arts Centre hosts a gallery, cinema and performance space

A £50,000 grant to "boost creativity" at an arts centre will help to make sure it remains a "valuable asset to the community" in the years to come, its creative director has said.

The lottery trust funding for the Erin Arts Centre, which has been running from more than 50 years, is set to be distributed over two years.

Pip Rolfe said it would be used to part-fund the salary of a creative administrator to boost the profile of the venue, a role currently held by Louisa Thomas.

Mr Rolfe said the support had enabled the centre to "plan for the future with confidence" and "build resilience" as to what it could offer audiences.

Set back from the promenade in the seaside village, the space hosts a performing arts venue, a cinema and a gallery which often displays the work of local artists.

'Cultural landscape'

Mr Rolfe said Ms Thomas had developed the centre's publicity profiles, allowing it to "communicate on a level that befits the broad and exciting range of work" delivered at the centre.

The role had become "essential in the continuing evolution" of the facility, he added.

The money was provided by the Manx Lottery Trust, which manages the government's Dormant Assets Fund by awarding grants of up to £75,000.

Trust chairman Sarah Kelly said the centre played "an important role in our island's cultural landscape".

Providing the funding would ensure the team could "confidently pursue its mission" of enhancing the venue's "capacity to deliver exceptional cultural experiences for the Isle of Man", she added.