Letter: ACE scandal

Dear Arts Professional

Thank you for highlighting the scandal of the often secret dealings of ACE.

To learn that ACE has found £10m "down the back of the sofa" and handed it to their mates in London on somewhat dubious criteria is galling to us folk oop north to say the least. I am on the board of Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven which applied for a paltry £2m to revamp this Grade II listed building and support one of the poorest communities in Europe. It was turned down. This was despite showing a sound business plan and a 50-year history of financial competence. To now find out that the poor financial record of London organisations are being helped out is appalling. Perhaps Rosehill would have done better to overspend to the tune of £2m and then wait for ACE to bail us out.

And the secretive way in which this public money is handed out is piling outrage on outrage.

The Arts Council means precious little to the folk on the estates of Whitehaven and Workington. Perhaps ACE members would like to get off their backsides and drive up to West Cumbria to explain to people here why they are repeatedly snubbed. But also to see the astonishing achievements in the arts that the staff and volunteers of Rosehill Theatre and other organisations have achieved – despite ACE.

Yours sincerely

Alan Cleaver
Proud but angry board member of Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven