Grants of over £40,000 will allow Cockermouth’s Kirkgate Centre to streamline and improve its sound production system.
The centre’s bid for £39,129 to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been successful and it will be used to buy and install new equipment including speakers, amplifiers, audio mixer and radio mics at the centre’s recently refurbished auditorium.
And Fibrus Broadband has agreed to donate £1,928 to the Kirkgate for it to buy a MacBook Pro, to further boost the quality of the backstage set-up.
Kirkgate chief executive Emma Heys said: “We’re extremely grateful to the Government, Cumberland Council and Fibrus Broadband for their support.
“The funding will be used to purchase new amplifiers for our cinema sound system, to streamline the audio equipment with a more integrated set up for switching between live event and cinematic sound.
“We’re also purchasing a subwoofer to use for both cinema and live event sound. This will work in conjunction with existing kit to enable us to programme a wider range of music styles without needing to hire in additional equipment.
“We will also be replacing our analogue sound mixer with an industry standard digital sound desk, increasing the number of channels available to our sound engineers.
“This desk will be used in conjunction with the MacBook Pro, funded by Fibrus Broadband, for theatre shows and productions needing backing tracks or soundscapes.
“The investment will bring our cinema and live sound capabilities up to date with the current industry standards, as time has taken its toll on our ageing cinema sound equipment!
“The move to digital will broaden the range of events we can facilitate at the centre as well as give us an opportunity to offer training in modern performance tech, and hopefully encourage more volunteers to get involved so we’re very thankful for the support.”
