Play Your Part

Our capital campaign to transform the Yvonne Arnaud into a cultural community hub with theatre at its core.

The theatre is here for everyone, whether they choose to see a play, take part in a workshop, or event, or meet a friend for coffee. Our building and our work enable people of all ages from across Surrey to come together.

Play Your Part will transform the theatre and develop this iconic and much-loved building as a cultural community hub with theatre at its core. Radically improving accessibility and creating new multi-purpose spaces for wider community and artistic benefit; ensuring it is able to meet the needs of the communities of Surrey for the next 50 years.

The project will:

Improve accessibility throughout the front of house areas including the provision of a lift to all floors and new accessible toilets.
Create a multipurpose accessible community room for engagement activities, events, rehearsals and workshops.
Remodel our public spaces to make them fit-for-purpose to meet the growing demand for these areas.
Improve our environmental sustainability by replacing outdated electrical and mechanical services with energy efficient alternative.

Upon completion of the project, we will have transformed the theatre into a fit for purpose cultural and community hub able to better serve Surrey.

Play Your Part Donation■

Amount to Donate £

Support us by donating via Text in the UK.

Text PYP 5 to 70450 to donate £5
Text PYP 10 to 70450 to donate £10
Text PYP 20 to 70450 to donate £20

UK networks only, texts cost your donation amount plus one standard rate message.

The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a registered charity and is also the only producing venue in Surrey. A regional theatre with a national reach - our mission is to produce and present vibrant, outstanding, entertaining drama for the communities of Surrey and the South East.

We are an artistic resource and a safe space for our many communities to participate in the thrill and delight of live theatre and arts activities. We enable people of all ages to come together, benefitting their health and well-being; realising stronger, more meaningful, social relationships; building prosperous and cohesive communities.

Box Office with two staff behind a blue tiled desk, a borwn slate floor and white walls

A woman playing a piano in an artists impression of our new top floor multi-purpose space with cork styled flooring and blue curtains

We have recently received the wonderful news that Your Fund Surrey, Surrey County Council’s grants programme to benefit the Surrey community, has awarded the Yvonne Arnaud £2,988,000 towards the Play Your Part campaign. Thank you to everyone who supported our bid by submitting comments through the portal earlier this year.

With the generous support of Your Fund Surrey added to the £2.05m we have raised to date, we still need to generate a further £840,000 in order to complete the planned works, revolutionising our beautiful theatre; making it accessible, sustainable and fit for purpose for future generations.

Thank you to our Pioneer Donors who made generous donations early in the campaign: James Douglas, Saxton Bampfylde, Kevin and Anne Overstall, Anthony and Carolyn Townsend and those who wish to remain anonymous.

Thank you to the following Charitable Trusts and Foundations who have supported the campaign so far:

The Slater Foundation Limited

The Foyle Foundation

Garfield Weston Foundation

Backstage Trust

The Syder Foundation

The Ingram Trust

The Patricia Routledge Foundation

The Geoff and Fiona Squire Foundation

Michael Watson Charitable Trust

Maria Björnson Memorial Fund

S & E Lyon Charitable Trust