(I appreciate this isn't Hackney but I am sure many of us have
benefited from this nearby resource, so you may want to email a
protest. Sorry its a bit late but we only got it today. Deborah

----- Original Message -----
From: "BJ Haria" <bjharia@...>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 10:32 PM
Subject: HELP TO SAVE JACKSON'S LANE ARTS CENTRE


First, please excuse the mass mail-out - I felt it was most important
to bring this news to as many people as possible. It is most
unfortunate that tomorrow, the Arts Council will meet the London
Region Council to recommend that their funding of the Jackson's Lane
Arts Centre in Highgate will be withdrawn - this will result in the
closure of the venue for good. Jackson's Lane has provided many of us
with a centre for innovative arts and a meeting point for the
community. It is one of just a handful of such centres in North
London and its lost will be just one further nail in the coffin for
the Arts in the UK. I have received an email from Rachel Allison of
the Liberal Democrats notifying me of the situation although with only
a few days to go, it is welcome, but regrettably all a little too
late. In response to the 200 or so letters that residents of Haringey
have sent out to the Arts Council and to Labour Councilor Matt Cooke,
Haringey Council have increased their offer of financial support -
again, a little too late. I wrote to the Arts Council a few days ago
and they notified me of the following reasons to why they will not
continue funding Jackson's Lane:

In January 2008, Jacksons Lane received an extra year of funding from
Arts Council England in order to address our concerns around the state
of the building and its sustainability as a contemporary performing
arts venue.
The organisation indicated to us that it would address these concerns
by commissioning a feasibility study, demonstrating the medium to long
term viability of the building and the organisation.
Following the receipt of a completed feasibility study in January
2009, the Arts Council is recommending that funding for Jacksons Lane
is not renewed. In summary, our reasons for this are:
·The feasibility study demonstrates that a minimum of £2.1m is
required to carry out essential maintenance and the refurbishment of
the building
·A minimum of £200,000 per annum is required in additional revenue
funding to maintain and develop the building and its programme
·No additional revenue funding or capital funding has been identified
to support the maintenance and development of Jacksons Lane. Its core
grant subsidy has also decreased by £100,000 following the non-renewal
of a London Councils' award
·For at least three years the organisation's auditors have raised
concerns about the ability of Jacksons Lane to operate as a going
concern
·The Arts Council believes that the risks associated with continued
public funding are now too high, and that to continue to invest in
Jacksons Lane would represent a significant risk for the Arts Council
in terms of a return on our investment

I have written to both Rachel Allison and Councilor Matt Cooke today
to ask the following:
1) Who ultimately is responsible for allocating capital from Haringey
Council? This is vital information if residents are to lobby those
who have not pulled their weight.
2) How will the £2.1m ring fenced in the feasability study from
Haringey Arts for essential maintenance be funded? It appears the Arts
Council will not fund unless this is met!
3) Why was the London Council's Award of £100,000 withdrawn? On what
grounds?
4) Who will be responsible for finding the additional annual amount of
£200,000 the Arts Council identify in order to keep the venue
operating?
5) If the organisations audits had raised concerns for the past three
years about the future of the venue, why was this not addressed? Who
are the management? Why are they not held to account?
6) How can we now lobby the London Region Council before tomorrow?
7) If you are on Facebook you can join the group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124917205233

How can you help?
Write and email your disappointment about the possible closure of
Jackson's Lane and add all the following addresses to the email - we
need to make our voice heard. PLEASE forward this email to as many
people as you can. If we can be heard, they may change their mind or
at least sit up and listen. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, forward this
email. Thank you!

If you have already received this email many apologies for the
duplication.

Moira.Sinclair@...
enquiries@...
matt.cooke@...
Lynne@...
rachel.allison@...
haringeynews@...
rholmes@...
ccook@...
cgray@...
alongden@...
munira.mirza@...,
cllr.campbell@...,
flick.rea@...,
anjana.patel@...,
guy.nicholson@...,
tamsin.dillon@...,
sarah.howard2@...,
catherine.hillis@...
Aline.Angeli@...,
Annemarie.neligan@...,
ellie.smith@...,
lucy.clark@...,
Becky.Thomson@...,
Emily.Mottram@...,
Anu.Giri@...,
wing-sie.chan@...,
lily.davies@...,
Louise.Venn@...,
reema.fadda@...,
lucy.murray@...,
claire.kober@...,
charles.adje@...,
lorna.reith@...,
kaushika.amin@...,
dhiren.basu@...,
john.bevan@...,
nilgun.canver@...,
matt.cooke@...,
brian.haley@...,
bob.harris@...