Praise for theatre’s ‘huge benefit to Bolton’ as £435k council grant is approved

At a meeting of the Executive Cabinet Member for Culture , councillors approved funding of £145,380 per year for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28. The money will contribute towards the theatre’s operating costs, including its educational and community programmes.

The Octagon, established in 1967, is a producing theatre in Bolton town centre which last year attracted 87,562 audience members.

Research cited in the council report said the venue generates £10 million annually for the local economy through employment, tourism and its supply chain.

Speaking at the meeting, Head of Service at Bolton Council Samatha Elliott said: “The Octagon has commercial success, but they also do a lot of work with learning and community development.

“The Octagon contribute £10m of economic impact in Bolton town centre. There are other cultural organisations in the town centre, but no one at the scale of the Octagon in terms of what they deliver.

“They also offer an additional annual turnover of £3.5m. There are no competitors offering turnover of this scale in the town centre.

“There is such huge benefits to having Octagon in Bolton, for instance we have just submitted a million pound bid to the arts council for Creative People and Places.

“They don’t have to apply for that, they have done that for the good of Bolton.”

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Government research has also highlighted health benefits linked to the theatre’s work. Attendance at productions and participation in creative engagement projects was found to result in an annual saving of more than £500,000 for the NHS, as people reported improved physical and mental wellbeing.

The theatre has a mixed funding model, with public support from Arts Council England, Bolton Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, alongside income from ticket sales, hospitality, education programmes and sponsorship.

Bolton’s Octagon theatre(Image: Martini Archive)

The grant agreed by the council will be paid quarterly and is intended to provide the Octagon with medium-term financial stability, allowing it to plan ahead and continue delivering eight productions a year in its main auditorium, alongside a varied programme in its Studio Theatre.

Community projects supported by the theatre include The Agency Project in Farnworth, which works with young people, and Bridges, a group offering drama sessions to adults and children with additional needs and learning disabilities. Its schools programme reached more than 12,000 pupils from 152 schools in 2024.

A subsidy control analysis carried out by the council found the grant was not deemed to be a subsidy, and officers concluded there were no significant equality or environmental impacts arising from the decision.

Speaking at the meeting Executive Cabinet Member for Arts and Culture Cllr Nadeem Ayuub said: “I echo the sentiments made by Samantha. The job that the Octagon do is fantastic and hugely beneficial to the borough.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Cllr Hilary Fairclough said: “The Octagon does a tremendous job in all areas, the theatre productions are excellent.

“But it’s the things that they do that less people see, working with lots of different groups and opening up things for people that they would never have dreamt of.

“I think they are a fantastic organisation and I’d be willing to give them double, but I don’t think that’s on the agenda today. I couldn’t praise them high enough.”

Source – INDIA TV