Save Imaginarium Arts Hub

Our Story

Imaginarium Theatre is a not-for-profit theatre and community arts CIC based in Prescot in Knowsley, Merseyside led by Artistic Director Gaynor La Rocca and a team of creative professionals. For 25 years we have delivered youth and community theatres, family and community arts programmes, street theatre, parades, community participation events, an extensive Arts Awards and creative schools programme, and ambitious enchanting productions that have reached more than 75,000 people.

Imaginarium actors, dancers, musicians and makers are drawn from the community and from every generation, from tiny tots to wise and wacky seniors. They come to Imaginarium to work with exciting creative professionals, to learn new skills and develop their craft, to work intensively and for prolonged periods to make theatre work of a quality that stand up and holds its own alongside professional companies; and enjoy opportunities that they may not otherwise experience in their day to day lives. We have provided supported pathways to so many of our participants to further and higher education, drama schools, and successful careers within the arts.

Imaginarium Arts Hub

We pride ourselves on our accessibility, openness and close connection to our local community. Imaginarium have had a vibrant community arts base in the heart of Prescot town centre since the end of 2013. We moved from Cockpit House (the old museum) to our new hub in Eccleston Street in 2023, but our objective remained the same – to provide a magical, inclusive, welcoming home for creative folk of all ages and all walks of life.

Over the last few years, the funding landscape has been incredibly challenging and trying to keep a community building open when public funding is slashed became a noose around our necks and has caused us no end of stress and hardship.

We reluctantly decided to call time on our hub and found new tenants to take over the lease. We were due to hand over keys and sign over the lease on Monday 30th June, but unfortunately the new tenants had to pull out (due to personal circumstances) the night before, which left us a bit shell shocked as you can imagine!

We have received hundreds of lovely heartfelt messages from so many people, urging us to keep going. We debated and deliberated whether we should start looking for a new tenant or put our heads together one final time and see if we can find a way forward that will keep Imaginarium in the heart of Prescot.

And guess what! We are excited to announce we have been granted funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for a 2-year Community Arts programme that will enable us to offer exciting drama, dance, music and making opportunities for adults.

It won’t provide enough income to keep the building afloat but it’s a start...

THE FUTURE

To survive and thrive and keep our home in the heart of Prescot town centre, we need to evolve. We’re creating 2 additional wings that can work alongside the main company that will help to make us sustainable:

Imaginarium Actors Centre

We intend to open a vibrant, inclusive actors training centre within the Imaginarium Arts Hub offering exciting opportunities, new classes, and creative pathways for children, young people and adults of all ages. Qualified and experienced drama teachers, performers and professional practitioners will deliver industry standard training, LAMDA nationally accredited qualifications, and pathways to drama school or careers in the performing arts.

Imaginarium Café

The previously planned Soft-Play Cafe would provide us with a much-needed lifeline for our CIC, but we can’t afford to invest any more money into the building, and it is still very rough and scruffy on the outside.

The new café will support the theatre company by sharing rent and bills and supporting in-house events and workshops and our family-friendly community ethos. In honour of our Creative Director/CEO’s granddaughter who has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease after a long illness, we will also be offering an extensive range of gluten-free options.

WHAT WE NEED

We need to raise 10k to get back on our feet and pay our rent and bills for the next 6-8 weeks while we complete planning, finish off our refurbishments and get ready to reopen properly in September.

Thank you so much for considering supporting us. Every penny will help us to stay open and dream big. To show our appreciation, all contributors will receive:

£10 A Personal Thank You on our social media platforms and our gratitude

£25 A Personal Thank You & Name Recognition

Your name will be featured on a special “Founders Wall” in our café at the Imaginarium Arts Hub as a key supporter of our creative community space.

£50 Discounted Classes & Cafe Vouchers

All above, plus enjoy 20% off one term of classes within the new actors’ centre, plus a £5 voucher to use in our cafe every month for a year.

£100 Invitation to Our Grand Opening Event

All above, plus join us for an exclusive opening celebration with live performances, refreshments from our cafe, and a chance to meet the team and future students. Be the first to reserve seats and get special invites to our theatre performances and community events.

Please Support and Share

Please donate if you can, and share this page with your friends, family, and networks. Your kindness will help keep the magic of Imaginarium alive. Together, we can build a brighter, more creative future for our young people and our whole community. Thank you so much for your support, it means the world.