Media release – 5 April 2018
Statement from An Lanntair regarding the outcome of its Sunday opening trial – the arts centre intends to begin opening on Sundays in the future, as soon as operationally possible.
An Lanntair recently ran three trial events to pilot Sunday opening of the arts centre this winter, once a month from January to March. Each event included one cinema screening, access to the arts exhibitions and informal arts activities for children and families. The aim of these trial events was to explore whether audiences would like to see the arts centre open on Sundays, to further An Lanntair’s audience research into this question.
An Lanntair’s board has now reviewed the results of these trial events, examining the numbers of audiences and ticket sales, and the impact on staff, audiences and the organisation as a whole.
Each of the three Sunday cinema screenings was very well attended, demonstrating that there is strong demand for a cinema offer on Sundays. The arts activities for children and families were popular too. The trial has evidenced that audiences would like to see the arts centre open on Sundays. Feedback from the trial has shown that opening the arts centre as an inclusive and welcoming community space on Sundays has the potential to contribute to the health and well-being of people across our community.
The feedback we have received during the trial has confirmed that, if we were to open on Sundays, people would like to see our whole building, including the café bar, open and offering high quality food and drink alongside our arts programme. We would like to be able to service this demand to the highest quality, however we are not quite ready operationally to open the doors on Sundays at the moment. We will work to resolve this in the future, and intend to start Sunday opening as soon as operationally possible. We have made a firm commitment to all of our staff that we will not expect anyone to work on Sundays if they do not want to.
It is important to be clear that An Lanntair exists to serve the entire community, and can serve different parts of it in different ways. Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion means that we are continuously seeking new ways to support people to access our programme, services and activities.
ENDS
For more information on An Lanntair please contact Kathryn Lamont Smith, Head of Marketing at 01851708480 or kathryn@lanntair.com
Notes to Editor:
- Follow us on Twitter: @anlanntair
- An Lanntair is a multi-disciplinary Arts Centre in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in The Outer Hebrides.
- An Lanntair welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year to celebrate the unique Gaelic culture of the Outer Hebrides.
- An Lanntair is supported by Creative Scotland, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Point and Sandwick Trust and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
- 2018 is the Year of Young People. YoYP 2018 is a part of the Scottish Government’s themed-year programme which focuses on celebrating Scotland’s greatest assets. Search #YOYP2018 on Twitter for the latest news.
- For more information email Head of Marketing Kathryn Lamont Smith at Kathryn@lanntair.com or visit www.lanntair.com