Marshall Amplification Staff Step in to Support Community Theatre

Employees from Marshall Amplification have continued their support by welcoming our residents for a tour of their factory and awarding our charity with a grant for £8,000 to help upgrade the Chrysalis Theatre facilities.

We embrace creativity whilst offering meaningful opportunities to all residents, which included threatre and performance opportunities in our purpose-built Chrysalis Theatre, which is also home to many local drama groups and musical collectives.

The theatre recently hosted two episodes of BBC Gardeners Question Time and can accommodate up to 250 audience members with retractable raked seating.  It boasts a tranquil feel with a wooden clad ceiling and floor as well as beautifully thought-out architecture and curving steps up to the large stage.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the venue’s lighting desk stopped working and the charity was at risk of not being able to put on any of the shows that were previously booked or offer the backstage workshops that are regularly scheduled for the 70 adults with learning disabilities who live on site.

After borrowing a lighting desk, the Jim Marshall Charitable Trust, which celebrates the legacy of the Marshall Amplification Bletchley founder Jim Marshall, has stepped in with funding to fully replace the desk. The grant will also support the upgrading of lights from halogen to LED systems.

The Jim Marshall Charitable Trust offers small grants to charities and has a particular interest in offering support to individuals with disabilities.  Staff members from Marshall manage the fund and unanimously voted to support Camphill MK.  They celebrated this support with a tour of the factory and a goodie bag for the residents.

A spokesperson for the Jim Marshall Charitable Trust, said, “We are proud to be based in Milton Keynes, where our founder Jim Marshall established the business.  Jim was a keen philanthropist and the team here is pleased to continue to support his vision”

Lucy Davies, Head of Development at Camphill MK said, “Partnerships like this are invaluable to us, and I am pleased the team at Marshall saw the value in our work.  The Chrysalis Theatre is popular not just with our residents but also the wider community and as part of our major capital project over the coming years we will be enhancing the theatre for even greater use”