The Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch is one of five London theatres to be awarded £5,000 towards a number of different projects that address viability and accessibility and improve the theatre-going experience.

The theatre will use this grant from Theatre Trusts’ London Small Theatres Grants Scheme to help complete a package of accessibility works both front and back of house to better support audiences, participants and performers, as part of its QNew Transformation programme.

Mathew Russell, executive director at Queen’s Theatre said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Theatres Trust. This grant will make an important contribution towards improving the accessibility of our Theatre for audiences and artists to enjoy for years to come.”

QNew is a programme of building improvements which will allow the Theatre to make high-quality theatre in developed spaces, work with more young people and community groups, offer an increasingly comfortable experience to audiences, be more open and accessible to D/deaf and disabled people.

Tom Stickland, theatres adviser at the Theatres Trust said: “London is rich in all sorts of theatre, not just the West End in all its opulence, but tiny spaces that have made their homes in converted spaces and in communities throughout the capital.

“We launched this scheme following a GLA report into the challenges faced by small theatres and as you can see from our recent awards it is the smallest of those spaces that stand to benefit the most from some investment in their buildings; ensuring high quality experiences for theatre-goers, staff and performers.”