About VHPAA
Who is The VHPAA?
The Victoria Hall Performing Arts Association is a charitable trust and was set up to run and manage The Victoria Hall Theatre after HTC were forced to leave the Harlow Playhouse when it closed in 1995. The trust is run by a committee of members, elected each year at an AGM by the users of the theatre.
The theatre has since become home to several other local theatre companies, not just HTC, for adults and children, and hosts a wide range of shows & events all year round. Work on maintaining and running the theatre is done on a purely voluntary basis – from bar staff and box-office to the on-going building and refurbishment work - and this has been done on top of paying the utility bills and rent. The VHPAA work very closely with the local community and the various user groups, ensuring that the theatre is accessible, well-maintained externally and respectful of its neighbours. As part of VHPAA's efforts to build and nurture links with the community, The Friends Of Victoria Hall was set-up in 2007, to encourage users, visitors and local people to become members (or Friends) of The Victoria Hall Theatre in a bid to increase the presence of the building and the number of people using it.
Recently the VHPAA has been fundraising extensively in order to buy the theatre from Essex County Council when it became apparent that the ECC did not want to the building anymore. Several fund-raising schemes and events have been initiated over the past five years, including a Seat Sponsorship Scheme, which aims to have a sponsor for all 120 seats, a Stars In Their Eyes evening, a sponsored abseil, community carol singing, a table top sale, a Halloween party for children, and even a sponsored run along the Great Wall Of China! Along with HTC donating 90% of all profits made from shows over this time and the securing of various grants from local organisations, The VHPAA are now in the final stages of purchase having met the £100,000 price-tag put on the building.
More news will follow as it develops!!