Oldham Coliseum to get £550,000 from GMCA
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Culture Fund is to give Oldham Coliseum £184,000 a year for the next three years as part of a £15m investment in theatres and cultural organisations across Greater Manchester's 10 local authorities.
Coliseum CEO Martina Murphy said, "We’re delighted; this investment is an important vote of confidence in the Coliseum, in Oldham and in the role culture can play in the future of our town.
"As we work towards reopening the Coliseum, we want to rebuild a theatre that is deeply connected to the people of Oldham – creating brilliant cultural experiences, opportunities for young people and local artists, and ensuring that people from across the borough can see themselves reflected in what happens on our stages.
"This long-term support from GMCA gives us greater stability as we plan for that future, and continue taking the Coliseum into communities while our building is being transformed.
"We’re incredibly grateful to GMCA for continuing to back the Coliseum. The funding will help us to continue building strong relationships, supporting artists and young people, and bringing brilliant cultural experiences across Oldham while our building is transformed.
The 2026-29 funds cover 49 organisations from the Halle Orchestra (£786,628pa - by far the most for any organisation) to the People's History Museum (£430,000pa) and family theatre Z-Arts (£57,500pa) to the Coliseum, Bolton Octagon (£124,000pa), the Royal Exchange (£230,000pa), HOME Manchester (£159,000pa) and Factory International (£104,000pa). Amounts range from £20,000 to more than £200,000 a year, and are the result of an application process that ended last November.
Organisations were offered money across two headings, Spirit and Sustain: the former for organisations offering cultural activity across more than one Greater Manchester district; the latter for companies working in all 10 districts, which have received more than £200,000 a year.
The Coliseum lost its major Arts Council funding in late 2022, leading to its closure in 2023 and a campaign to reinstate it, which was successful in 2024 but has led to delays and increased costs, with still no firm indication of when reopening date will be.
Presumably hopeful of regaining the Arts Council's "NPO" (National Portfolio Organisation) status, with guaranteed three-year rounds of funding, the theatre will no doubt find plenty to do with the new money before the turn of the decade.
The Coliseum is currently running up to its first full-scale production since closure, with recently-announced creative boss Nick Bagnall directing a nightclub version of Macbeth, with Andrew Sheridan and Erin Shanagher as the Macbeths, in paired local nightclubs from October 23-November 7.
