Staff from Theatre by the Lake this week met with committee members from the Friends of Theatre by the Lake charity to thank them for all their efforts in raising almost a million pounds to support the theatre since the oganisation began before Theatre by the Lake was built.
The Friends charity was originally set up to support fundraising efforts for a new theatre in Keswick and was instrumental in the build of the cultural venue, playing a key role in securing local support for the venture. The committee of 12 volunteer Trustees have since continued the good work over the past 22 years. The committee organised social events, luncheon clubs, talks, theatre trips, quizzes, open garden events, and promotional concerts, alongside membership subscriptions to help raise the funds over the years. In addition, a separate cohort of friends ran the 600 Club, an annual lottery scheme with monthly prizes which in itself contributed £110,000 towards the total.
With the advent of improved technological solutions to ticketing and communications and the benefits of increased efficiencies, The Friends conducted a ballot of their members in 2020 with almost 2000 members voting to transfer the membership directly to the theatre to continue the good work.