Wolverhampton Arts Centre (WAC) has been awarded £4,999,999 through the Creative Foundations Fund, marking a major milestone for its Raise The Roof campaign to repair, protect and improve its historic home for artists, audiences and communities across the city.

The funding, provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and administered by Arts Council England, will support urgent capital works to the arts centre’s Victorian buildings on Newhampton Road. The project will include replacing the failing roof and sash windows, making the Theatre and Gallery Hall blocks weather-tight and significantly improving their environmental performance.

The award will also enable Wolverhampton Arts Centre to reopen its historic main entrance onto Newhampton Road, with step-free access, giving the centre a more visible and welcoming public front door for the first time in more than two decades.
The announcement is a major step forward for Raise The Roof — Wolverhampton Arts Centre’s wider campaign to secure the long-term future of the site and transform it into a warmer, more accessible and better equipped arts centre for the next generation.

Wendy Stephens, Chair of WAC’s Board of Trustees, welcomed the news, saying: “This investment is a major vote of confidence in the value of this place and in the role it plays in the life of our city.

“Raise The Roof has always been about more than fixing a building. It is about protecting a much-loved cultural home, improving access, and creating a centre that is warmer, more welcoming and better equipped to serve artists, audiences and communities for decades to come. This funding is a huge step forward.”

Wolverhampton Arts Centre has been based on the historic site since 2000 and today welcomes more than 50,000 people a year to gigs, theatre, classes, workshops and exhibitions. It is also home to more than 30 creative and community organisations and businesses, making it one of the city’s most important cultural and creative hubs.
The works come at a crucial moment for the centre. While Wolverhampton Arts Centre has continued to grow its programme and community role, the buildings themselves have deteriorated over time. Water ingress, failing windows, outdated facilities and the legacy of a poorly configured entrance have all added pressure to a site that has seen no major capital investment since 2000.

Earlier this year, the centre secured a long-term lease for the site from the City of Wolverhampton Council — a vital step in unlocking major capital investment. That followed £1.5 million of council-backed support through the Towns Fund for essential enabling works. Together, these milestones have helped pave the way for this latest award and for the next phase of Raise The Roof.

Trevelyan Wright, Chief Executive of WAC, said: “This is a hugely important moment for the arts centre. We are lucky to work in a remarkable historic building, but anyone who has visited in recent years will have seen the strain it has been under — from leaks and drafts to the practical limitations of a site that no longer works as well as it should.
“This funding will allow us to tackle some of the most urgent issues and move forward with confidence. It means we can make the building warm, dry and more accessible, and finally reopen the Newhampton Road entrance as a proper front door to the arts centre. For us, that shows that this place has a future, and that Raise The Roof is making that future possible.”

Liz Johnson, Midlands Area Director at Arts Council England, said: “Our Creative Foundations Fund invests in buildings and equipment to help keep venues across the country up and running, for everyone to enjoy. It improves sustainability and revitalises cultural assets, so organisations can provide a bolder and bigger programme of activity for their communities.

“We’re pleased to offer £4,999,999 funding to Wolverhampton Arts Centre to make urgent repairs to their building. As well as significantly improving the environmental impact and accessibility, it will safeguard the building as a space for live events, exhibitions and classes, and as a creative workspace, for years to come.”

Raise The Roof will continue to support the wider redevelopment of Wolverhampton Arts Centre, helping to build on this momentum and secure the centre’s long-term future as an open, welcoming and visible home for culture in the city.

To find out more about Wolverhampton Arts Centre and the Raise The Roof campaign, visit: www.wolverhamptonartscentre.co.uk or WAC’s Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/wac-roof