SAVE ABERDEEN ARTS CENTRE
Your Arts
Centre
needs you
Hundreds of thousands of local people have acted, danced, sang and performed their way to new skills, talent and confidence on the Arts Centre stage.
Now you can help thousands more.
As we enter Act II of the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign, it’s more important than ever to keep the momentum going. You can keep the spotlight shining on your creative community.
Give what you can today. Simple.
Thousands of people like you have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to protect the home of grassroots arts. But the work’s not done yet – we still need to reach our three-year target of £660,000.
That's where you come in.
Every donation helps keep opportunities available for local performers, young people, community groups and audiences across the city.
Give what you can today and play your part.
If you believe in what this place makes possible, please donate today or become a regular supporter.
More than a building
As Scotland’s first civic arts centre, Aberdeen Arts Centre has been part of the city’s story for over 60 years. It is home to 35+ local performing groups, creative learning programmes, and opportunities for artists at every level.
But what happens here goes far beyond performances. It’s where people:
- discover confidence
- build skills for life
- form lasting connections
- find their voice
- take their first step into something bigger.
Whether they go on to careers in the arts or entirely different paths, the impact lasts.
Help ensure this continues – make your donation today.
How to support Aberdeen Arts Centre
Online
You can donate to the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign online via JustGiving. JustGiving is a simple, secure online platform that also allows you to Gift Aid your donation - giving us an extra 25% with no extra cost to you.
Cash or Cheque
If you have a cash or cheque donation you'd like to hand in, please pop in and visit us at Aberdeen Arts Centre. Cheques should be made payable to Castlegate Arts Ltd.
Bank Transfer
If you'd like to make a bank transfer, please contact our fundraiser Julia Smith who will share our account number and sort code with you.
Buying Tickets
When you purchase tickets for any of our shows, you get the opportunity to add a donation. Every penny helps us keep the arts alive.
Corporate sponsorship & advertising
We offer a range of sponsorship and advertising packages, suitable for all budgets and businesses of all sizes.
Whether you're a fan of the arts, want to support our pantomime, or are passionate about helping young people develop skills for the workplace later in life, your support will keep grassroots arts thriving in Aberdeen, providing performance and employability opportunities for thousands of young people each year.
Download our sponsorship guide to learn how you and your business can help save Aberdeen Arts Centre – and the range of benefits available when getting involved.
Get involved
Do you want to organise a fundraising event? Or would you like to show your support on your social media profiles?
Our fundraising toolkit provides lots of ideas, hints and tips about how you can fundraise for Aberdeen Arts Centre to keep the spotlight shining on your creative community. You can also email our fundraiser Julia for hints, tips and support.
And in our social graphics pack, you can find posts and cover photos for various platforms to show your support for Aberdeen Arts Centre. Keep checking back as more will be added throughout the campaign.
Words of support
Laura Main, patron
“Speak to anyone in Aberdeen, and they all have a tale to tell about the Arts Centre. It’s where I began my performing career. We want to ensure that new stories continue to be written through the experiences of Aberdonians for generations to come. The opportunities that the Arts Centre provides for thousands of performers every year – both amateur and professional – are vital for the creative longevity of the north east of Scotland.”
Brian Cox, actor
“As a passionate supporter of the arts in Scotland, I urge everyone to support Aberdeen Arts Centre and help keep the spotlights shining bright at this much-loved venue. Grassroots theatre is a place where people from all walks of life can come together to express themselves in new ways, and we must do everything we can to protect the opportunities provided by Aberdeen Arts Centre for the benefit of the North East of Scotland.”
Christopher Simpson, Community Integrated Care
“It can be incredibly hard to find a suitable space for a large number of adults with additional support needs but the Aberdeen Arts Centre has been perfect for our shows. The entire team has been welcoming, inclusive and adaptive to our needs. If the building and team were unable to continue it would be truly catastrophic to our production and those individuals who draw on the opportunity to perform there.”
Rachel Sanger, National Theatre of Scotland
"National Theatre of Scotland have visited Aberdeen Arts Centre several times and are in conversation to do so again as part of our 20th anniversary touring schedule in 2026. AAC is a valued partner venue for NTS, and as part of the wider theatre ecology of the nation helps to ensure that Scotland can retain and sustain its talent. As a valued venue, resource, local employer and community space it would be hugely missed and a great loss to the Aberdeen and Scottish theatre sector were it to no longer exist."
Josie, participant, Danz Creations
"I found primary school so hard and was not the most confident or happy – until I was on stage. Because of the Arts Centre, my confidence has grew.
"I have decided I want my future career to be either on stage – singing, dancing, acting – or backstage – stage managing, microphones, writing.
"And that's all because of my childhood that I was so privileged to spend at Aberdeen Arts Centre.
"As a young carer, the Arts Centre is the only and most accessible venue to make memories with my mum. It's friendly, safe, easy to move about in, easy for me and my mum to access help from any of the staff if need be.
"And not only does the place make you feel at home – the stage for me has always been a second home."
Famous Faces
The Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign has been featured by...
Thank you to our sponsors...
Finale Sponsors
Act Two Sponsors
Spotlight Sponsors
Absoft Ltd, Acumen, Carson Clicks, EY, Fifth Dimension, Funky Panther, Harry Fraser Catering Services, Hydrasun, Rainbow City Taxis, Mearns & Gill, WM Donald Ltd
FAQs
This funding will support the long-term sustainability of Aberdeen Arts Centre until we can apply for multi-year funding from national bodies like Creative Scotland – ensuring we can continue to operate, grow, and serve the community.
This total covers our core running costs – things like staff wages, electricity, maintenance, and essential repairs. The arts don’t run on passion alone (though we have plenty of that too!) and this funding will give us time to implement a more sustainable strategy that can support the Art Centre’s growth.
In May 2025, we launched our three-year campaign to raise £660,000. We are now a third of the way into that campaign – but have not yet reached a third of our target (£220,000). This £60,000 goal will allow us to smash our year one targets and keep the Arts Centre on the right track for the upcoming Creative Scotland application.
The next round of Creative Scotland multi-year funding is expected to open in summer 2027, to be awarded in early-mid 2028. Alongside Creative Scotland, we are also exploring support from other large scale funders and bodies.
The Arts Centre is in a stronger position thanks to recent support but it is not yet secure. Continued fundraising is essential to protect its future. We need to raise £60,000 in six weeks.
Your support helps us:
- Keep the building open and operational
- Support and subsidise local performing groups and artists
- Deliver creative learning programmes
- Support professional artists at all levels
- Ensure Aberdeen Arts Centre remains accessible to all.
Yes! And it’s one of the most impactful ways to support us. Regular donations help provide stability and allow us to plan for the future with confidence. These can easily be set up through JustGiving or by contacting our fundraising manager, Julia Smith, on julia@aberdeenartscentre.com.
Yes. You can:
- Organise or attend fundraising events
- Share your story
- Promote the campaign
- Use our social media assets.
Every action helps.
We welcome partnerships with businesses and organisations from all sectors. We offer a range of sponsorship and advertising opportunities suitable for all budgets and businesses of all sizes. We’d love to have a chat about how we can work together to keep the spotlight shining on your creative community.
Aberdeen Arts Centre offers something unique for local performing groups in Aberdeen.
No other theatre can accommodate the large casts of 200+ that regularly appear on our stage. We have a large backstage provision, as well as flexible spaces throughout the venue which can accommodate these casts. No other venue in Aberdeen can do this.
Our 350-seater auditorium provides a perfect-sized space for grassroots cultural groups – just the right size to fill, big enough to be impressive but not too big as to be daunting for first-time performers.
And as the only theatre in Aberdeen dedicated to grassroots theatre, we keep our costs as low as possible to ensure that everyone gets the chance to express themselves.
Aberdeen Arts Centre is operated by charity Castlegate Arts Ltd, and managed by a volunteer board of trustees and a small, passionate senior leadership team. We are a registered charity and are committed to transparency and accountability. Governance decisions are made carefully and always with the best interest of the organisation and its community in mind.