FARNHAM Maltings and two of its resident dance companies have been awarded almost £10 million by Arts Council England to support and encourage theatre makers and audiences across the region up to 2022.

The Arts Council England (ACE) 2018 to 2022 National Portfolio sets aside £3,383,120 for the Farnham Maltings Association, £5,176,000 for Matthew Bourne’s company Re:Bourne and £1,106,616 for inclusive dance company Stopgap Dance Company.

This includes additional investment to extend the Maltings’ support for South East theatre companies to tour internationally, as well as for Stopgap to create and tour inclusive works and consolidate its ongoing commitment to training the next generation of disabled dancers.

Gavin Stride, chief executive of the Maltings, said: “It feels like a endorsement of the work of a huge number of people over the past 10 years.

“We absolutely believe we can make a difference locally, regionally and nationally to the quality and audience for contemporary theatre. Which, for, me, is something very dear to my heart.

“It’s particularly pleasing to be asked to develop the international work we do. Given all that is happening in the world, it feels hugely important to be making sense of our place in it.”

The four-year investment ensures Farnham Maltings can contribute to the delivery of ACE’s mission of Great Art and Culture for Everyone.

It will allow the Maltings to continue to produce the work of some of the region’s most promising theatre companies, programme contemporary theatre into a regional network of over 200 venues and run an export programme developing new international markets for theatre makers.

The news comes as the Maltings builds its partnership with the University for the Creative Arts delivering a degree in acting and performance, and is forging a new partnership with Surrey County Council to manage a county performing arts service.

Lisa Hennessey, chair of the Maltings’ council of management, was equally upbeat about the value of the investment and said: “This is fantastic news because we want to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

“This investment demonstrates our ability to be entrepreneurial, regionally useful and that we have been judged as one of the best arts institutions in the country.”

Stopgap’s executive producer Sho Shibata added: “We are thrilled to receive this vote of confidence from Arts Council England and would like to thank all our colleagues, partners, funders and supporters past and present who contributed to developing Stopgap’s practice and vision.

“We are looking forward to expanding our work to demonstrate that excellence and inclusion can be achieved hand in hand from grassroots right up to international stages.”