Audiences Wales ceases trading

The national audience development agency for England will be stepping in after Audiences Wales, which lost its core funding from the Arts Council of Wales in 2011, ceased trading on 31 March. The Audience Agency, based in London and Manchester, will now be working with Cardiff-based consultant Carol Jones to safeguard and develop a number of existing training and support programmes across Wales. Ivan Wadeson, Executive Director of The Audience Agency, said: “We were extremely sorry to hear that Audiences Wales has closed. It is a sad loss of a not-for-profit national agency, with long-formed and strong roots across Wales. For the last month we have worked with senior colleagues at the agency to preserve a number of key initiatives in 2014. We cannot replace this key part of the infrastructure but we can provide a degree of targeted support in their absence.”