News: THE CUSTOMS HOUSE TAKES FIRST STEP TO BECOMING GREENER

 

THE CUSTOMS HOUSE TAKES FIRST STEP TO BECOMING GREENER

South Shields Arts Centre The Customs House are joining in the fight against climate change, and with funding provided by the Theatre Improvement scheme, they are taking their first step to reduce their environmental impact.

Executive Director, Ray Spencer explained: “We know that as an older building, The Customs House isn’t as energy efficient as it could be and we want to change that. Last year we arranged to have a carbon and energy survey carried out, and we were delighted to discover that if we made the changes detailed within the survey, we could reduce our carbon footprint by a staggering 43%.

“This funding is the start of our efforts to become greener by upgrading the current Building Energy Management System, which will give us greater control over how we use energy. We are very grateful to have been one of just eight theatres supported by the Theatre Improvement Scheme”.

The Theatre Improvement Scheme is provided by Theatres Trust in partnerships with the Wolfson Foundation. Theatres Trust is the national advisory public body for theatres. They believe that current and future generations should have access to good quality theatre buildings where they can be inspired by, and enjoy, live performance. In 2020 Theatres Trust committed to five Environmental Principles to reshape its work and help influence and improve the sector’s sustainability.

Tom Stickland, Theatres Adviser at Theatres Trust commented: “There is a real appetite amongst theatres to make environmental improvements to their building and we are delighted to be able to support The Customs House in South Shields with the first step in its plan to reduce its carbon footprint”.

Works to upgrade the Building Energy Management System will be carried out over the summer months.