Scotland's Capital Theatres get support for heritage properties

The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund is to give £168,000 to Capital Theatres to help maintain its three heritage venues.

Scotland’s largest theatre charity, Capital Theatres, looks after the 1,900-seat Festival Theatre, the 1,300-seat King’s Theatre and the 155-seat The Studio which are home to 700 performances annually.

The funding will be used to keep the buildings in a safe condition whilst they remain closed by meeting electricity, gas, IT, insurance and maintenance expenses and contribute a small amount towards staff costs.

The charity, which is reliant on ticket sales and trading income, lost 90% of its income when it was forced to close by the pandemic. £2.5 million worth of refunds have had to be processed and a further loss of £2.3 million will result from the postponement of the Christmas panto.

It employs 230 people in Edinburgh offering a range of cultural events throughout the year.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund's Heritage Emergency Fund has a value of £50 million. It is already closed for applications.