Shaftesbury Arts Centre

Established in 1957 in the old covered market at 13 Bell Street, in the centre of the medieval Dorset market town, Shaftesbury Arts Centre (01747 854321) is widely recognised as one of the best volunteer membership-led arts centres in south west England. How To Find Us

Its regular, varied and lively year-round programme of amateur and professional plays, films, art, photography and craft exhibitions, workshops, and training courses draws people from far and wide including Wiltshire and Somerset. It is also increasingly taking the arts out into the community.

This website tells you all the need to know about what it does and when, who to contact and where, how you can get involved, the people behind it, and what it hopes to do in future. www.shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk

Opening Times

The box office is normally open from 10.30am to 12.30pm daily, except Sunday, and from 10am to 2pm on Thursdays.  It is also open from 10am to 2pm on the second Saturday of every month for 'Souper Saturday'.

Fundraising

Shaftesbury Arts Centre has been at the heart of the North Dorset community for over 50 years, providing a place of entertainment for the region and a resource for the community to develop, pursue and promote their artistic and cultural interests. The Centre hosts a varied and lively year-round programme of theatre and live performances, drama for all ages and abilities, films, art, photography, craft exhibitions and other group activities.

SAC is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, run wholly by volunteers drawn from its membership. It receives very little public subsidy so we rely on the generosity of our patrons, members and supporters to help keep the centre running.

If you enjoy visiting the Centre and would like to support our continued existence then there are a number of ways in which you can do this:

Current Projects That Need Your Financial Support

SAC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007 by starting a long planned project to expand its facilities by purchasing the building next door - number eleven. At a total cost of nearly £500,000 the project provides a retail unit, three additional meeting and function rooms, 5 new toilet facilities, a lift for the disabled and a refurbished box office.

Nearly 80% of the funding required has been secured and now we need just £110,000 to completely pay for the completed project.

This autumn we replaced our main heating system with new boilers, radiators, pipes and controls because the old system was beyond further servicing. The total cost of this project was nearly £19000. We secured a £6300 interest-free loan from the Carbon Trust and the remainder of the cost came from our maintenance reserve - this reserve now needs to be built up again for future maintenance requirements.

Projects that can not be started until we have more funds are the expansion and upgrading of the kitchen facilities to make life easier for our catering volunteers who have an increasing demand for their services, and the installation of bar facilities for the Rutter Room that will make its use more flexible.

If you feel you can help us with a donation please pick up a donation form in the foyer, pass a payment to the Box Office or send a cheque to The Treasurer. We thank you in advance for your generosity.