The Roxy Project

This Roxy Project is a family-led initiative and in the absence of any grants being secured, has only very limited private funding sources to complete it. The Roxy project is envisaged and designed around the opportunity for members of the public, from both the unskilled sector, right through to the professional, giving a chance for life changes. The main premise of the project is around the arts for young people and the disabled in society. The remit also includes working with those in society who wish to run their own small businesses in the area of the arts and recreation, with others who wish to engage at a hobby level, only status. The Roxy Project will have a special emphasis placed on the creation of an in-house management team, drawn from those in society with disabilities.

The principal building design is constructed for theatre, in order that performing groups (perhaps individuals) can work to develop and or exploit their skills within the performing arts disciplines (examples: – dance, singing, acting, technical theatre skills etc.

These disciplines outlined, form only the core activities for stage and we hope to attract those from young playwrights, musicians, bands, as well as those with a technical background, gaining skills in operating lighting, sound, recording equipment, plus live internet coverage, Web design, costume design, costume hire, etc etc. Perhaps, even teaching.

The Roxy Project venue will hire out space in the theatre area; rehearsal rooms and or the coffee bar either on an hourly or weekly/hourly contractual bases.

This will, in turn, set the project towards maximum building usage (day and evening), thus reducing the overall running costs for the building as a whole and improving the competitiveness of the building hire rates available. The object and focus of the finished scheme will be on establishing a venue that is self-sustaining, without a need for grants being required once it is up and running.

The main initial group focus will be on the following areas, in order to begin maximizing the building’s potential.

a. Children’s in-house theatre drama and dance school.

b. Amateur group hires.

c. Businesses for conferencing hires.

d. Self-employed business groups, requiring business space for meeting, rehearsals, activities, etc. hire.                         

e. Clubs for hobby members affiliated with a specific group (Participation).

• Support services for all groups from our in-house management team.
• Theatre hires, for other amateur and professional productions group.

The in-house management team will provide professional expertise to all that have involvement within the building who require it but will not be restricted to that remit alone. Payment for these services will be on a percentage basis and contractually agreed. The aim is to guide the young and talented into sustainable self-employment, by having advice and strategies in place to produce good business models. Thus allowing the inexperienced entrepreneur the time to concentrate on what they are good at, during what is the very tight learning curve of moving into a viable self-employed business model. A great deal more is envisaged for the in-house management business, far beyond the scope of this building, touching many areas of society as it grows. The initial set up of the business is to be in the form of a registered charity or social enterprise.

The Roxy Project Building Itself & Leadgate

As many local residents of Leadgate will know, the Roxy was a picture hall from its construction in the early 1930’s, going on to be a bingo hall for about a decade, I am told. To my certain knowledge, more than twenty – eight years have passed since the last film was shown there, perhaps even longer. I am told the first film ever shown was “Samba the Elephant Boy”. The site prior to the construction of the cinema had eight small cottages on it. We exposed some of their foundations in the course of the work, along with the old street drains. These cottages were demolished when the Consett film company put up their new cinema. Incidentally, if you are interested they also built the Empire in Consett and the Plaza Consett. The latter having now been demolished to make way for new retail outlets. As many will know, the Empire is still a cinema and theatre venue in Consett, still popular and now run by the local authority. The creation of something entirely new, like the Roxy Project, is not out of place for Leadgate, as in years gone by Leadgate created one of the first Urban District Councils around to provide facilities for its people. ———————————————————————————————- The Roxy project is a conversion of the former Roxy cinema from its present design usage, into what is laid out below. The building was constructed as I said in the 1930s and is in the “Art Décor Style”, with the re-development conversion to be sympathetic to this era both externally and within the new theatre area, box office, lobbies, and passages areas, etc. However, the new Roxy Project rehearsal rooms, new toilets, and changing areas will be very different, having a very modern and up to date feel by contrast. The purpose of this very deliberate design brief was chosen to give each area its own distinctive design and ambiance. Thus creating an atmosphere for the 21^st century within rehearsal areas etc. and going back to the 1930s if you have come to watch a show in the new theatre. Old married with the new, with the standards and comfort to match that is expected today. Standards I might tell you have changed greatly over the passage of years. Would it surprise you if I was to tell you that none of the previous toilets in the building had even a facility to wash your hands? It doesn’t bear thinking about. The term recycling comes into its own within this building’s development, as we reuse everything and anything possible, but still, strive to achieve the required standard for the work being completed. We have had quite a few generous donations of second-hand goods and materials that would otherwise have been on there way to the tip, and my thanks go out to those people, who know who they are. You may have read a couple of years ago in the press when we had the lead stolen from our roof, the culprit was caught and given a police caution, however little comfort for the damaged caused It could have devastated some of the new work inside, but luckily it didn’t rain and we were able to carry out repairs with materials that have no value to a thief or scrap dealer. One kind lady from down south sent us a donation after reading about it on the internet. The Proposed Areas are: –

• A 360-seat theatre venue over two levels (lower stalls and new upper circle), together with three changing areas and an orchestra pit. (Both floors accessible by wheelchair if required).
• Three large rehearsal rooms, spread over two floors.
• A new coffee bar area in the old projection room.
• New toilet facilities;
• In the new foyer area (A disabled WC), plus male and female WC’s.  
• On the two further floor levels (upper circle & new coffee bar area), male and female W.C’s.
• Backstage male and female WC’s.
• The provision of a new disabled person’s ramp at the front entrance, together with a disabled person’s lift in the foyer area, to access all floor levels within the building.
• Disabled access to the backstage area, inclusive of a stairlift to the stage. Thus allowing free movement for disabled people unassisted to the associated changing facility areas (to and from the stage).
• The re-working of areas backstage for a small kitchen, boiler room, power room and three changing rooms, (with one specifically designed for disabled children).
• A sound and lighting room to facilitate the running of shows etc.
• Office space for the in-house management team.

The finished Roxy Project will exceed the DDA requirement and not just meet them. It will not be just compliant, but people-friendly, a place for all to enjoy the experience. It’s not going to happen tomorrow or overnight, as limited funds preclude setting a fixed program for the completion of works, but be assured God willing it is going to happen.

The Roxy Project Leadgate County Durham

The Roxy project is a privately funded community project with a concept, based on the arts, theatre dance, song, acting, bands, playwrights, etc. etc. but not exclusively so, as it will offer space to hire at an hourly charge for a variety of uses and other business in addition to the arts, etc. When the Roxy Project is eventually complete it will embrace new types of relationships between people and groups, leading in some cases from what may start with a person as a volunteer, progressing into self-employment within a structured framework. It’s all a bit too complicated to explain in a short paragraph, but essentially what you build as a volunteer may end up resulting in a means to earn a living with what you’ve created, or you may just do it for the love and fun of it, along with hobby groups.  The concept of this initiative is I think new and is based not around profit, but people, their development and with the intention to enhance/ add to existing facilities in the area, not to compete with them. ———————————————————————————————- So now I’ve given you just a taste of things to come, in the words of the Rolling Stones song “Please Let Me Introduce Myself”. I always think it is good to introduce yourself when you meet a person, however, that’s a little harder when it’s on the World Wide Web. So here goes, my name is Keith and this is my baby so to speak, along with other members of my family. The theatre is not my passion but that of my family, I am a builder and have been for over fifty years, so yes I am a bit long in the tooth by now. Many people in the area are more likely to know my wife, rather than me. I told my wife when we bought the building it was too big a project for one person and that I would need help. That was fifteen years ago now. We worked the Roxy Project and developed the initial concept to fit into the building along with obtaining planning and building regulations approvals for the project. I’ve joked with a couple of the building officers that they will probably retire on this job and as for myself, I should have already done so. At the same time as going for the various approvals, I redeveloped the Roxy shop, which is attached to the Roxy and my wife ran it for over ten years, building it into the successful business it is today. Today the business has new owners who continue to build on the success and quality of the food they serve. When I am approached by people enquiring about the building and its development, normally the first question asked, is do we have a lottery grant? The answer is no and apart from a small income stream for the project, plus some kind donations (usually second-hand material). We have to date been unsuccessful in attracting even a single grant, but we plough on regardless. We have ploughed back the proceeds of the business sale into the project with the employment a man re-training as a joiner, now in his second year. The project always has the capability to ruin us, but if I can only get it to fly, it will be fantastic for the area and fantastic for people of all ages, giving an opportunity to many, many people, and entertainment for others. People sometimes ask me if I feel a need to give something back and quite honestly the answer is no, but I still love work and I just love to see the creation of opportunity for others to develop the skills they don’t even know they already possess.  ———————————————————————————————- On the info included separately, you can read of the initial concepts for The Roxy Project to build an in-house management team from the disabled in society, giving them the opportunity to start in a voluntary capacity and through mentor-ship develop into a highly professional team, who can work in the running and development of other new fledgling businesses. In business, success leads to success and I would expect this fledgling business to outgrow the space provided for them in our building. Too many forget or don’t understand the very steep learning curve when you choose the route of self-employment. You may be brilliant at what you do, but the management, regulation, finance, and guidance about how best to advance and develop your skills are a total mystery to most and result in the staggering failure rate of new start up’s. More than 50% in the first five years and only 1% of businesses large and small still exist after 30 years. So why the disabled in society, well for one there are some very intelligent and qualified people who struggle to ever get a job, never mind the chance to develop their skills. My own brother is just such a person who in his whole life has gone from the job market to retirement and never had a job. It’s a waste for society and most definitely a waste in these individuals’ lives. If you fit into this group of people and would like to inquire or even give this a go, I would love to hear from you. Be warned my time is limited and not being a wiz on the computer it can take me time to respond. For more than two years I have looked for a forum as a point of contact, even speaking to organizations as far away as London. Most can give me chapter and verse about disabled entitlements, benefits, and rights, etc. but none a forum for advertising or speaking about work. If I wanted to join a gardening club I’d be able to find more outlets. In the original design of our building a small office was deliberately included in the initial brief for this very purpose and along with other design features will take the building past the essential DDA requirements, we will be able to get disabled people to all floors including the theatre upper circle. If you read this and know someone who may be interested, tell them, or maybe just share it on your Facebook page with all your friends. Another idea that has been in the melting pot for some time is to attract interest from older men and women who miss the aspect of some purpose in their lives, to work in a voluntary capacity in the role of training a young person in their particular skill. The concept is for a man/ woman to work with a boy/ girl to provide them with an opportunity to gain essential skills with which to develop a start in the world of work. This would require funding from possibly the local authority, college, or a sponsor and be set up with the backing of a college-based apprenticeship in order that a suitable qualification could be obtained at the end of two years of training. If we could get a level of interest in this type of scheme other businesses may also come on board to deliver the various aspects of each trade as required. But, and it is a big but, this would require coordination, which could be developed through the management team talked about. Just a thought, maybe more pie in the sky.    I hope you enjoyed reading.     Yeh still naive even after retirement age, but successful in business for almost forty years.          Signing off Keith. (Time to put the trumpet away). Should anything in these pages be of interest or you would like to help in any small way with The Roxy Project, then we would be happy to hear from you? Please share our information with like-minded people on your Facebook or Twitter. Start as a builder and end up a musician.