Novo Theatre launches fundraising campaign
Image from Salt & Smoke: Stories of Blyth in 2025 © Ben Hines Photos
Novo Theatre is looking to raise £1000 to enable us to deliver a high quality and engaging schools programme for up to 60 year 6 pupils in Blyth and we need your help!
In September 2025, Salt & Smoke: Stories of Blyth transformed Blyth town centre with a promenade theatre experience celebrating some of the people, industries and communities that have shaped the town over the past 500 years.
Audiences travelled through streets, buildings and public spaces encountering stories rooted in Blyth’s history - its maritime heritage and journeys of exploration, the working lives of folk making their name in a thriving town and stories of love, resilience and change.
Almost 400 people attended across the weekend, with more than half of audiences coming from Blyth and wider Northumberland. 66% of audiences reported that this was their first arts or cultural event, demonstrating the project’s success in reaching people who are often excluded from cultural participation.
Salt & Smoke will create opportunities for Blyth residents and school children to participate in cultural activities and shape local storytelling as well as having a positive impact on their own wellbeing.
Thanks to funding from Northumberland County Council we have already secured over 50% of the funding needed to stage Salt & Smoke: Stories of Blyth in 2026. Funding will also come from ticket sales and Novo Theatre’s reserves. But there is a gap in our budget.
To enable us to provide a high quality and engaging schools programme for up to 60 Year 6 pupils in Blyth we need your help!
If you are able to do so, please support our Crowdfunder campaign - any support is gratefully received. Just click on the button below and follow the link to our Crowdfunder page.