Theatre
Royal Appoints
First
Ever Life President
Newcastle Theatre Royal has announced the
appointment of its first ever Life President, with retiring trustee John Ward
OBE DL taking on the role.
A
former regional director of Barclays Bank, based in Newcastle, John first became involved with the Theatre Royal
in 1988, when he joined as a Trustee. John said “my Grey Street office at Barclays overlooked the theatre and I
really enjoyed my theatre-going visits, so when I was asked to join them as a
Trustee I was delighted.”
During
the past 25 years, John has served spells as Vice-Chair and Chair of our
Finance and General Purposes Committee, but probably his most telling
contribution was the part he played in the acquisition of the former Barclays
Bank premises in Market
Street.
Early information about the likelihood that the building would be for sale led
to a visit to the Civic Centre to stress the importance of the site to the
Theatre Royal, which was probably a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to extend
its boundaries. Following several discussions with City councillors and
officials, it was agreed to purchase the building, but on condition that, if it
was to be converted to theatre use, the Theatre Royal Trustees would be
responsible for the conversion costs of some £7m and throughout this period,
John chaired the committee that reached our target.
Since then, John has striven to
ensure that Newcastle Theatre Royal, as a charitable trust, has continued to
thrive and develop, despite facing challenging economic times. He said: “When
the announcement came that Newcastle City Council would no longer be funding
the Theatre, I was about to retire as a trustee, but I didn’t want to go until
I knew that the financial future of the Theatre was in safe hands; those hands
belong to Chief Executive Philip Bernays and he has done such a wonderful job
to ensure the future of this fabulous asset.”
As John announced his
retirement as a Trustee at Newcastle Theatre Royal, the board asked if he would
agree to becoming the Theatre’s Life President. John said: “I was really
delighted to be asked and it is a true honour to accept the position, at
somewhere that I consider to be one of the most important cultural institutions
in the North East. I feel greatly favoured and proud, particularly as this is
the first time the Theatre has appointed a Life President.”
Philip Bernays, Chief Executive,
said: “John has been such a stalwart supporter of the theatre, and invaluable counsel
to me as Chief Executive, that we were all delighted when he agreed to our
suggestion to become Life President; it is a way of our maintaining a really
significant relationship, and of saying thank you to a true friend”
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