Tyldesley Little Theatre (TLT) first came to life in 1921 and is enjoyed by thousands of visitors every year. The amateur dramatics society is run completely by volunteers and is one of the oldest in the country. The auditorium seats 150 people and is split across two levels including a balcony.
2010 saw a second award of £42,000 from Valencia Communities Fund, allowing the theatre to carry out a major, behind-the-scenes refurbishment. The money paid for a new heating system and the re-modelling of the basement, opening it out to form one large rehearsal room. Upstairs, a mezzanine floor was created for extra prop storage.
In 2009, the TLT was able to repair the theatre roof, redecorate the foyer and upgrade the lighting and sound equipment. Paul Whur from the theatre said: "We tend to be very self-sufficient when it comes to running the theatre and putting on the productions. As we own the building, we are responsible for its upkeep, but when it comes to major refurbishment projects, we look to organisations like Valencia Communities Fund for help.
"The heating has been upgraded and the boiler moved to a new position in the basement in order to knock the two main basement rooms and access corridor, into one big open multifunction room, with extra storage rooms, a brand new boiler room and a new serving area.
"Because we recycle everything - we keep all our props and sets - we ran out of storage room. When it was pointed out that part of the old building had a false ceiling, we decided to take that down and replace it with a mezzanine floor - giving us another floor for storage. The improvements have made a big difference to our theatre".
