Awards special

Arts Award for Large Lenders

December 2007

Sponsorship can include the performing arts – music, dance, drama and literature – as well as painting and sculpture. Although financial contributions are one measure of support, the judges were also looking to see how individual sponsorship has benefited artistic activity and helped bring it to the community.

Previous national winners have included Halifax for its support of the Northern Theatre Ballet, Northern Rock for its support of the arts in the North East, Bank of Scotland for its sponsorship of the Children's International Theatre Festival, Lloyds TSB for its £10 million music initiative Note for Music to support music education in the UK. Last year’s winner was Skipton for a five year sponsorship of a local orchestra, now known as Skipton Building Society Camerata.

The winner of the 2007 Arts Award for national lender is, for the second year running, Skipton Building Society for its sponsorship of the Grassington Festival of Music & Arts.

The festival began in 1981 and was developed to provide a unique and affordable opportunity for the local audience to take part in and appreciate the arts in all forms from classical music to comedy. Skipton Building Society is the first title sponsor in the festival’s illustrious history and this is the first year of a minimum three year agreement.

This is a partnership rather than just a financial sponsorship arrangement. Skipton staff attended committee meetings, were involved in branding, marketing and PR planning.

Some of the highlights included: the first ever street theatre day; marquee events were all sold out, opera workshops for local primary school pupils, an online booking system was successfully introduced, a showcase was provided for local school bands and a local rock band, a local orchestra worked in a community opera project which culminated in a performance at the festival.