Theatre Royal Stratford East Supporters Win 2016 Achates Philanthropy Prize

Nigel Farnall and Angelica Puscasu have won the inaugural Achates Philanthropy Prize, created to celebrate first-time cultural philanthropists across the UK, for their generous support for Theatre Royal Stratford East. The couple were nominated by the theatre for donating £3,000 towards the organisation over the past twelve months.

Nigel and Angelica were awarded the prize by Sir David Verey CBE, notable arts philanthropist and former Chair of Tate and the ArtFund, at the annual Spektrix conference at the Lyric Hammersmith on Monday 7 November.

Sir David Verey CBE: "The Achates Philanthropy Prize has been established to celebrate first-time cultural giving, an area that needs our urgent attention. We must champion new supporters and inspire the next generation to ensure the continuation and growth of arts activities across the UK. The ecology of cultural philanthropy has always depended on engaging new donors and it is more important than ever that we highlight the pleasure there is to be had from engaging with the arts. I am delighted to be able to present this year's prize to Nigel Farnall and Angelica Puscasu, outstanding new donors nominated by Theatre Royal Stratford East, for their generous support, engagement and passion, and to extend my congratulations to all of the shortlisted philanthropists for their inspiring advocacy".

Nigel and Angelica were presented with a sculpture by the renowned British artist, Peter Brooke-Ball MRBS. As the winning philanthropists, they will be custodians of the sculpture for one year. Theatre Royal Stratford East received a £5,000 donation from Achates Philanthropy which will be spent on delivering Drama for Confidence workshops for young people, aged between 13 and 19 years old, in early 2017. Drama for Confidence is a project pioneered by Theatre Royal Stratford East for teenagers from areas of deprivation in East London. It aims to build life skills, self-esteem and confidence through creative activities.

Quote from Nigel Farnall and Angelica Puscasu: "We simply can't believe we have won the award! We support Theatre Royal Stratford East because it's such a warm and special place. It brings local people together and the atmosphere there is amazing. We are continuing our support and have just renewed our annual Vision Collective membership, increasing our support to the higher tier. We just hope others will also support them too. We'd never thought of ourselves as philanthropists, we just wanted to support an organisation we've become passionate about. We hope this award will show how important it is for people who care about their local cultural organisation to support it".

Quote from SAl Goldsmith, Director of Development and Communications at Theatre Royal Stratford East: "We are absolutely delighted that Nigel and Angelica have won the award! The support of individuals is a vital cornerstone of our work as a charity and growing our donor base is an important part of our strategy. Nigel and Angelica's support means a huge amount to us because they represent a new type of philanthropist and we hope they will inspire others to give too".

Nigel Farnall owns a landscaping business in Essex. He first visited Theatre Royal Stratford East in autumn 2012 after receiving information about their programme with his London 2012 Olympic Games tickets. He and Angelica booked to see Wah! Wah! Girls and fell in love with the theatre, becoming regular visitors. In 2015, Theatre Royal Stratford East refurbished its auditorium and launched a "Name a Seat" campaign. Nigel bought four seats for £2,000 for himself and Angelica and their two nieces. Soon after, they became Vision Collective patrons donating a further £1,000.

Nigel and Angelica were selected from a shortlist of seven outstanding cultural philanthropists: Jessica Smallpiece and Northern Ballet; Dave Maclean and Royal Shakespeare Company; Alexander & Miranda Leslie and The Fruitmarket Gallery; Francesco Curto and The Yard Theatre; Ben Hall and Theatre 503; Jonathan Wilmot and Turner Contemporary. Nigel and Angelica were chosen as winners of the prize by an independent judging panel: Spektrix Managing Director, Libby Penn; Young Philanthropy champion, Aliceson Robinson; BOP Consulting's Rossella Traverso; Achates Philanthropy Director, Caroline McCormick.

Founder, Caroline McCormick: "The seven shortlisted entries, which were drawn from across England and Scotland, from organisations of all scales and art forms, tell inspiring stories about the pleasure that supporting a cultural organisation brings. Choosing a single winner has been extremely challenging, but ultimately we were all inspired by Nigel and Angelica's support of Theatre Royal Stratford East and the journey they made from being non arts attenders, to committed audience members who never miss an event."

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