#SSL Fundraising
The ALD has put its name on the map of the theatre and live performance world, not only at home but also abroad.
Our #SaveStageLighting campaign, run by a truly amazing group of people, showed that if you want to effect change - you can. The Save Stage Lighting Team rallied support across Europe and made representations to the EU DG Energy Department, leading to the drafting of the agreement to an exception by the regulator for most of our performance lighting lamps and equipment. Both the performance industry and manufacturing will, by this brave action, gain a considerable extension so that new technology can catch up to the required standards without destroying theatre in the UK and the continent.
This huge effort over a short time has shown that we can and will make change to our industry and that we don’t need to be a passive association. Let’s hope it doesn’t always have to be as so full on as #SSL had to be, but let’s continue to push the boundaries and be an association that helps make better working conditions and greater sustainability for the whole industry.
Fund Raising
Many of you will know that this campaign came at a personal cost to the people involved. Campaigning was happening from early morning to late at night over 5 months, high level meetings were being squeezed in between tech sessions, reports and drafts were written and re written long into the night. Much precious family time was missed to enable this campaign to happen and be a success. I dread to think what the future of theatre lighting would have looked like, if these group of dedicated individuals hadn’t been so proactive and unrelenting.
The ALD want to say thank you to the #SSL team members by raising some funds to compensate them for the costs over months of their lives. Paid work was turned down and much personal time sacrificed. And we must not forget they continue to donate their time as this work continues today, albeit on a smaller scale. The bill for the campaign is estimated at £35,000, covering personal expenditure by the team for travel, hotels, fares to Brussels, office expenditure and, of course, the very successful gobo campaign. This will allow us to compensate the team for some of the work they have already done and provide for a reserve to help educate and support others in the Eco-Design challenges in the future. Had a professional lobbying or campaigning firm created the SSL Campaign, it would have no doubt cost many times this amount and might not have been as successful. Therefore, I am asking personally for your help to raise this relatively small amount.
Therefore, I am asking personally for your help to raise this relatively small amount. If you are a manufacturer who is now more aware of the EU’s plans than you were before, if you are a reseller or hire company whose stock has been spared due to this intervention, if you are a producer or theatre owner that could not possibly afford the implied refurbishment - then please contribute to this campaign. And of course, we would welcome individual contributions from our members or non-members.
We have set up a GoFundMe Page to collect donations. You can find it here.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Johanna Town
Chair, ALD