GO! scoop top award for Palace Theatre Project

Great (Great Opportunities) Together were delighted to receive the Epic Award on Saturday 2nd April at a ceremony in Cardiff Castle.

The ceremony crowned not only the winners and runner ups for each nation (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England) but also winners of the Peer Award for Excellence, the People’s Choice Award, and Awards for exceptional work with young people and people with disabilities.

The event at Cardiff Castle was hosted by BBC Radio Wales Arts Show’s Nicola Heywood Thomas.

GO! Were commended and recognized for their GO! Palace Theatre project which aims to renovate the derelict Palace Theatre in Plymouth and bring it back into use as a cultural venue for the city. A huge team of over 300 volunteers and musicians came together to find ways to fundraise for this £15m capital project and soon created both a 140-strong chorus and 70-piece orchestra which have already raised over £7,000 for the project. Also the project has had great local support raising over £16k in a recent crowdfunder last year, the charity are working hard to find innovative and creative ways to create opportunities to create 120 apprenticeships, training opportunities plus using local people and services to deliver this huge project.

The Epic Awards, now in their sixth year, are the premier awards for voluntary arts groups based in United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, shining a light on their achievements and aiming to inspire others to get involved and participate in artistic and creative activities. The Awards are run by Voluntary Arts with support from Spirit of 2012. Many of the 60,000 voluntary arts groups eligible in the UK and ROI have put themselves forward for the Awards. The judging panels in each of the nations selected 8 groups from Ireland, 6 from Wales, 8 from Scotland and 9 from England to be awarded shortlist status.

“This project is about creating and developing new art and drama spaces, restoring an old but beautiful theatre space and thinking outside the box to make the whole project meet the needs of the community,” said Heather Hunter.

“We would sincerely like to thanks all the volunteers and members of the choir and orchestra who have all gone above and beyond for the Palace Theatre in Plymouth. We are delighted to be working with so many dedicated people who will ensure that beautiful building like this will not get lost and forgotten.” Faith Sanderson, Director of Communications

To find out more about the Epic Awards  and all the UK winners please read the full press release published here. 

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