Cumbernauld Theatre Trust

Client Background

Cumbernauld Theatre has been at the cultural heart of Cumbernauld for 65 years and is an essential part of the Scottish music, theatre and dance touring infrastructure.

When their Cottage Theatre home reached the end of its life, the theatre moved to Lanternhouse, a new state of the art theatre, studios and cinema built for the organisation and the people of Cumbernauld as part of the £37 million Cumbernauld Academy project, opening in 2021.

However, their application to main funder Creative Scotland for continued regular support for 2025 – 2028 was rejected in January 2025 and the organisation given nine months of transition funding to allow time to adapt or close.


The Challenge

Jim Hollington Arts & Culture was engaged by the board in April 2025 to:

• secure transition funding from Creative Scotland
• identify and evaluate a range of future options for the organisation
• present preferred option to board together with transition plans to implement the preferred option


My Approach

Using my experience of successfully navigating serious financial challenges at Dance Base, my wide connections in the performing arts sector, and my knowledge and networks in government and funders in Scotland, I took the following steps:

• identified and supported the appointment of an interim Chief Executive
• set up and led a board and executive Project Task Force to guide the work
• rebuilt relationships with Creative Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council and negotiated options for future support
• conducted research with a range of individuals in the cultural sector
• brought in specialist support to lead communications and fundraising activity
• engaged with relevant councillors, MSPs and MPs to build support
• negotiated directly with Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and team for support
• engaged with staff and board members to inform decision making, build understanding and support


The Solution & Results

I agreed a preferred option with the board, helped to coordinate a public campaign and led negotiations with funders that secured a commitment to £300,000 of new support from the Scottish Government and £100,000 of new support from Creative Scotland, while making prudent preparations for an orderly winding up of the organisation as the fallback.


Client Testimonial

Jim came to work with us at Cumbernauld Theatre Trust at a very difficult moment in the history of our organisation. We had lost funding which accounted for about 20-25% of our income, placing our organisation at risk of closure. Given the range of key stakeholders, it was a very complex situation to navigate through to find a solution.

Jim was initially brought in to provide expertise and guidance as we obtained short term funding, which then allowed us time to develop a strategy to identify a longer term financial solution, where Jim led a task force to navigate the organisation through difficult conversations, both internally and externally.

Throughout the year, Jim was instrumental in engaging with stakeholders to produce a sustainable model for our organisation to implement which would allow us to satisfy key funders that we were a credible organisation worth continuing. However, this still required significant funding.

Jim was pivotal in engaging with our key public sector stakeholders, understanding and addressing their concerns and also convening transformational discussions where each of these stakeholders could engage and understand each other and their own capabilities to work with us.

With Jim at the heart of our campaign for survival, it is no exaggeration to say that thanks to Jim’s leadership and engagement skills, his experience and knowledge of the sector, our organisation has been transformed and will continue to be at the heart of our community.

Alan Caldwell
Chair, Cumbernauld Theatre Trust