Shortlist Announced For The 2017 Achates Philanthropy Prize

The shortlist is announced today for the 2017 Achates Philanthropy Prize, the only annual Prize that celebrates first-time cultural giving in the UK.

The shortlist offers a powerful portrait of the passion for the arts felt by people across the country, demonstrating the myriad ways that individuals and companies are stepping forward to support an arts organisation that means something special to them. Every individual and company on the shortlist has been nominated by their cultural organisation to express appreciation for their outstanding contribution, which ranges from financial support, to experience and skill-sharing, network growth and positive advocacy. The shortlist spans cultural organisations of all sizes and scales - across theatre, visual arts and music - from Devon to Northumberland.

Founder, Caroline McCormick, said: "From solo bike rides, the donation of a livestock auction mart to create a unique theatrical production, the inspirational effect of one of the cultural sectors great leaders, to the good practise building of relationships - the 2017 Achates Philanthropy Prize shows the many creative ways in which cultural organisations are engaging new donors for the first time. At the heart of and underpinning all of the shortlist is real partnership."

Now in its second year, the Prize was created to celebrate and share stories behind the development of a new generation of philanthropists in the context of the urgent need to grow cultural philanthropy in Britain with statutory and lottery funding in decline and a competitive fundraising climate.

Rosie Millard, Deputy CEO of the Creative Industries Federation, said: "The Creative Industries Federation supports the idea of broadening the role and definition of philanthropy in the creative sector. It can complement other revenue streams, including public funding and commercial operations, to powerful effect. It is so important that new avenues of giving are encouraged by initiatives such as the Achates Prize: this is how vital connections are forged and deepened."

This year the fund has doubled to £10,000, with the introduction of a Corporate Award alongside the Individual Philanthropy Award, thanks to the continued generous support of Achates Philanthropy Ltd. along with two first-time arts sponsors, BOP Consulting and Spektrix.

The winners of the Individual Philanthropy Award and Corporate Award will be announced by the eminent cultural philanthropist, Omar Al-Qattan, at a special Prize ceremony at Delfina Foundation on Monday 27 November.

Omar Al-Qattan, said: "This timely Prize reminds us that we must continue to rally grassroots support for culture, which is so vital for our well-being as individuals and as a society, while at the same time continuing to lobby government for an adequate level of public funding to be maintained across all the arts and regions".

Individual Philanthropy Award: Cultural organisations across all art forms were invited to nominate an outstanding individual or trust who has given philanthropically to the arts for the first time within the last 12 months, at all levels of giving.
The 2017 shortlist is:

Cambridge Live & Christian Raphael MBE
Christian is a young man with severe learning disabilities who is passionate about folk music. Having attended the Cambridge Folk Festival since childhood, this June he donated £1,965 to become a founder member of the 1965 Club, a membership scheme originated by the Festival to nurture emerging talent and support artist development across folk, roots and world music.

IOU & Laurence Walker
Laurence is the Executive Chairman of SSP, a Halifax-based global provider of technology systems, who has played a significant role in the development of IOU. He joined the Board in 2015 and became its first patron, bringing his knowledge and expertise of mainstream charities to IOU's work of producing new cross-disciplinary artworks. He has made a personal pledge of £2,000 every year for the next three years, hosted and introduced corporate relationships and helped the organisation to secure grants from new funders.

Park Theatre with Ian McKellen & the individual donors he has inspired
Ian McKellen first visited the building site that would become Park Theatre in 2012, and has been a steadfast champion of the theatre ever since. In 2016, he approached Jez Bond with an unprecedented offer: to perform an exclusive one-man show for a nine-performance run and to donate all of the proceeds to Park Theatre. As well as ensuring its financial legacy, Ian was keen to raise greater awareness of the lack of subsidy and financial support for smaller UK theatres. Park Theatre have nominated three of the individual first-time donors Ian inspired with his gift to the theatre for this year's Prize: Arthur Yang - a London-based student who joined as a Great Friend and gave £125; Zein Mayassi who donated £3,000 as a newcomer to Park Theatre, having previously only seen shows in the West End; and Nathaniel Lalone - a long-time Park Friend who, inspired by Ian's commitment and his desire to help the theatre create more of its own work, made a donation of £10,000 to the Production Fund.

The Plough Arts Centre & Claire and Ray Gard
Claire and Ray live in Kent, but regularly visit an elderly relative in North Devon where they first discovered The Plough, and have now been attending events there for several years. The couple believe in giving young people a chance to shine and established a bursary, totalling £675, to give three local young people the chance to attend Plough Youth Theatre. They also worked with the arts centre to find the best way to reach out to those who could benefit the most.

The Yard Theatre & Gareth Cutter
Gareth has been a regular attendee of The Yard since 2013, and became part-time Development Officer there last year, supported through the Arts Council's Catalyst: Evolve scheme. He undertook a 120-mile overnight bike ride from London to Dunwich this July to inspire Board members, staff and audiences to support the theatre, and blogged about his adventures. Gareth raised a total of £1,321 in unrestricted income for The Yard, including Gift Aid and Catalyst match-funding.

The winner of the 2017 Individual Philanthropy Award will be selected by an independent judging panel: Nigel Farnall, winner of the 2016 Achates Philanthropy Prize; Caroline McCormick, Chair of Achates Philanthropy Foundation; Michael Nabarro, co-founder and CEO of Spektrix; Aliceson Robinson, Trustee and Young Philanthropy champion, and Chair of the panel; Rossella Traverso, Associate at BOP Consulting and Achates Philanthropy Ltd; John Wilson, journalist and broadcaster.

The Award is a sculpture by renowned British artist, Peter Brooke-Ball MRBS. The winning philanthropist will be custodian of the sculpture for one year, and their nominating cultural organisation will receive a £5,000 donation from the Foundation. The Individual Philanthropy Award is supported by Spektrix.

Corporate Award: Cultural organisations across all art forms were invited to nominate an outstanding company of any size which has supported the arts for the first time within the last 12 months, at all levels of giving.
The 2017 shortlist is:

Coventry City of Culture Trust & PET-Xi Training
PET-Xi Training delivers learning programmes at schools and businesses across England and Wales and has helped over 100,000 young people from Northumberland to Cornwall reach their academic potential. The business has committed £50,000 towards the Coventry City of Culture Bid which is by far their largest-ever sponsorship agreement and their first in support of the arts. PET-Xi has involved their trainers and trainees in Coventry City of Culture events and introduced other donors to the Bid. This new partnership reflects deeply shared values around promoting civic pride, fostering new opportunities and offering a step change for the young people of Coventry in 2021 and beyond.

The Plough Arts Centre & Martin Pailthorpe TV and Corporate Video Production
Martin Pailthorpe is an experienced TV producer and documentary-maker who has worked with Ray Mears, Chris Ryan and Bear Grylls, amongst others. He approached The Plough in 2016 with an offer to work with them on a voluntary basis, and has since made twelve videos with the arts centre ranging from snapshots of The Plough's outreach work to interviews with gallery artists. The value of this work is estimated at around £5,000 but more significant is the genuine partnership that has developed. The artists' interviews alone led to a huge leap in interest for the makers' and increased sales, and the films have also supported fundraising drives for the centre, including a Crowdfunder for a new lift, loos and lighting which raised over £4,000.

Theatre Royal Stratford East & Unite Students
Further to learning of Unite Students' plans to open a new office near to the theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East (TRSE) invited the Chairman to a business breakfast where he learnt about TRSE as a charity and the cultivation process began. When the building opened, TRSE took several proposals to Unite Students who decided to become the Theatre's Student Ticket Sponsor at £12,000 + VAT. A natural synergy has evolved which reflects both organisations' community-focus, and the partnership has grown to encompass communications and promotional support, volunteering and the development of commercial income.

Turner Contemporary & Business Circle

Turner Contemporary has nominated three outstanding members of their Business Circle who came together in 2016 to support the exhibition, Seeing Round Corners. Each company made a contribution of £2,500. For all three, this was their first sponsorship of the arts. The companies are: Boys & Maughan Solicitors, McCabe Ford Williams Accountants and Miles & Barr Estate Agents. All have helped the gallery to grow its Business Circle, contributing their time through volunteering at community events, supporting marketing planning and activity and introducing potential patrons and new Circle members.

November Club & Hexham and Northern Marts
When the performing arts company, November Club, created 'Beyond the End of the Road', a new musical about farming and rural life, they approached Hexham and Northern Marts, where farmers sell livestock, to ask if they would consider hosting the performance in their venue. The Manager agreed to host the show at no cost, enabling the creation of a unique site-specific theatre production which engaged an audience from a largely farming and agriculture background. The donation also included in-kind support in outreach and promotion through the Marts' distribution channels, and sparked new thinking about future collaboration and ways to create a unique cultural offer within the Tyne Valley.

West Yorkshire Playhouse & Prospect Archaeology
Prospect Archaeology, a Leeds-based independent heritage consultancy, have donated £1,500 to West Yorkshire Playhouse in their first-ever pledge of philanthropic support to a charitable organisation. The relationship began as a result of the children of their employees having enjoyed attending the theatre's Young People's programme and the Managing Director being an avid theatre-goer. Prospect Archaeology have rapidly become one of the theatre's most enthusiastic advocates in the professional sector, hosting events for their clients there and consistently attesting to the value of supporting the organisation to other potential donors including the local and regional business community. As the theatre prepares to undergo a redevelopment, Prospect Archaeology have already pledged their support over this period, including an offer of their own professional services.

The winner of the 2017 Corporate Award will be selected by an independent judging panel: Nigel Farnall, winner of the 2016 Achates Philanthropy Prize; Caroline McCormick, Chair of the Achates Philanthropy Foundation; Helen Gaffney, Executive Director of Achates Philanthropy Ltd; Razia Iqbal, journalist and broadcaster; Paul Owens, co-founder of BOP Consulting; Libby Penn, Trustee of the Achates Philanthropy Foundation, and Chair of the panel; Dagmar Walz, Trustee of the Achates Philanthropy Foundation and Senior Associate of Achates Philanthropy Ltd.

The Award is a sculpture by renowned British artist, Peter Brooke-Ball MRBS. The company will be custodian of the sculpture for one year, and their nominating cultural organisation will receive a £5,000 donation from the Foundation. This new Corporate Award was created at the suggestion of 2016 winner, Nigel Farnall, in response to the rapid decline in corporate support for culture in the UK.

To find out more, please visit: www.achates.org.uk or follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @achatesprize.

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