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It is important to note when reading this precise that the report in general covers Craft, Dance, Literature, Media, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, within voluntary and amateur arts groups and informal adult learning in the arts in England.

Only 2200 individuals completed the online survey of which 1600 responses were usable. 145 in depth or case study telephone interviews were carried out with voluntary and amateur arts groups, local, regional and national supporting organisations, professionals working in the sector, Local Authorities, public and private learning providers and current and lapsed learners.

A key element of the project was providing an estimate of the total number of voluntary arts groups and people participating in them across England by artform and region. This was achieved by bringing together a range of information gathered over the course of the research.

However, the main difficulty in quantifying the size the sector is that much of the activity, by its very nature, is unrecorded. There is no requirement for groups to be registered with an umbrella body or membership organisation, therefore there is no central source of information about the sector. The umbrella bodies, membership organisations, guilds, associations and supporting agencies that groups do interact with are therefore a crucial source of information on the population of groups.

It is unclear which section includes Musical Theatre – Music or Theatre. The study was completed during the period November 2007 and April 2008.

The object of this study was to:

• Estimate the size and make-up of the voluntary and amateur arts sector
• Examine the barriers to and enablers of participation
• Gather and assimilate existing information about the impact of voluntary arts
• Estimate the size and scale of adult learning in the arts and the infrastructure that supports it
• Understand the range and quality of existing provision
• Understand who participates in arts-related adult learning and the motivations for and barriers to their participation.

Also please note, there were some discrepancies with figures presented in the report not adding up to the stated totals.

The Figures For Theatre

Groups and Members:

There are an estimated 5,380 amateur theatre groups with a total of 1,113,000 members in England. It is estimated that there are 687,000 extra participants (eg extras, helpers and volunteers) making the total participants in amateur theatre 1,800,000.

This is broken down into the following areas:

• East – 650 groups with 78,000 members
• East Midlands – 470 groups with 78,000 members
• London – 650 groups with 229,000 members
• North East – 570 groups with 71,000 members
• North West – 700 groups with 118,000 members
• South East – 770 groups with 233,000 members
• South West – 750 groups with 157,000 members
• West Midlands – 550 groups with 76,000 members
• Yorkshire and Humber – 260 groups with 73,000 members

(These group figures total 5,370 and not 5,380 as stated)

Within theatre 21% of members are full-time students (including school), 7% are not employed, 50% are employed/self-employment, and 22% are retired.

Income and Expenditure

Funding for theatre comes from various sources:

1. Ticket income or similar – 61%
2. Fundraising – 8%
3. Subscription and Membership Fees – 8%
4. Arts Council Lottery Funding – 7%
5. Programmes – 5%
6. Local Business – 3%
7. Local Authority – 2%
8. Other Lottery Distributors – 2%
9. Trusts and Foundations – 2%
10. Donations – 1%
11. Other (Unknown) – 1%

Expenditure for theatre is:

1. Equipment and Technical Services – 21%
2. Higher Professional Artistes – 21%
3. Venue Hire – 19%
4. Copyright fees/music Hire – 7%
5. Other Professional Services – 6%
6. Insurance – 5%
7. Non-arts Equipment – 5%
8. Rehearsal Rooms – 5%
9. Transport – 1%
10. Other (Unknown) – 9%

(These figures add up to 99%)

The average turnover for a theatre group is £22,700 and average spending is £16,200. Therefore the average profit for a theatre group is £6,500.

It is estimated that there are 92,000 performances a year with a total audience of 21,166,000. That means there is an average of 230 audience members per performance.

If there are 92,000 performances a year and 5380 groups that means that each group performs 17 times on average in a year.

Please remember this is my conclusion from the Government report and the figures are really only guestimates – no one knows for sure the exact figures!

The full Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England report is available as a PDF at http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/VoluntaryArtsreport.pdf.