A THEATRE at the heart of the troubled Saltburn Community and Arts Association (SCAA) has received a massive boost after securing a £50,000 Big Lottery Fund win.

The group, which is insolvent and fighting for its survival, organised the successful Saltburn Theatre Magical Transformation bid for the ITV Tyne Tees showdown, which secured the vital funding.

Now they will be able to refurbish the theatre and install modern sound and lighting equipment, meaning performers will no longer need to provide their own equipment.

They were up against the Royal Voluntary Service’s ‘RVS Men in the Workshop’ bid in Northumberland during the vote on Wednesday night.

And Philip Thomson, the acting treasurer of the SCAA, praised the hard work of members and the organisation’s arts development officer who carried out the work on the bid.

He said: “I think the contribution to the theatre and refurbishment is going to be extremely useful as it is really important that we benefit from that.

"Any enhancement of the theatre will mean that we are able to put on better shows which should result in better sales.”

Earlier this month, the organisation announced it had made a loss of £60,000 in 12 months which completely cleaned out its cash reserves of more than £55,000.

The news revealed during a fractious annual general meeting that resulted in a new board of directors being formed and renewed efforts to ensure the charity survives.

Mr Thomson, who is also a Redcar and Cleveland Borough councillor, said: “Everybody who supported us in the town was on tenterhooks waiting for the result and it came as a relief when we when.

"Everybody should be praised for their efforts, especially our arts development officer, Sue Pierce, who made the application for the bid.”

The losing RVS bid secured a £49,385 bonus award, as the runner up with the most phone votes across the week.

Dawn Austwick, chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “This is a brilliant result for the people of Saltburn and Northumberland and shows what groups can achieve when they have the support of their community behind them.”