Over 400,000 people visit our buildings each year as participants in workshops, to learn a new skill, as audience members for theatre, film, dance or as exhibitors in one of our craft festivals. We have worked hard to create a set of spaces to which everyone is welcomed.

We are particularly keen to find ways to connect people to each other, because we know that communities in which people are invested are also healthier, safer places to live. We are certain that having an ambitious accessible community space in the middle of the town has an impact on the character of the town. We regularly hear stories of people moving to Farnham because the Maltings offers a way into this community.

Whilst our buildings are our primary physical resource we know that it is the staff team and the partnerships we have forged that shape our success. We have invested in creating a team who are confident in their abilities to test new ideas, to innovate and to forge unlikely alliances as a means of arriving at new solutions often with new participants. This can be seen in the artists we support and produce, the places we present performance, the character of the events programme we have developed and the international dialogues we have become a part of.

Aside from our local role we lead house - a network of 180 arts organisations across the south east that shares knowledge, best practice, jointly programmes, identifies training opportunities and has secured new resources because we recognised that for us all to thrive we needed to encourage a stronger regional ecology. An example of the value of this work is that the South East has, according to ACE’s own figures moved from the least to the most touring happening across the region.