MALVERN Theatres this week got a £200,000 boost towards a new extension to expand its educational programme.

Members of Malvern Hills District Council's executive committee voted unanimously this week to approve the grant to Malvern Theatres Trust.

Council leader David Chambers said that the theatre complex is one of the most successful regional theatres in the country, as well as one of the most financially independent.

He said: "As a member of the theatres board, I am aware that Malvern Theatres is continually changing, as is the industry itself.

"The new extension would provide rehearsal rooms as well as enabling the theatre to increase the provision of its educational programmes including music, drama, movement, dance and art.

"I see this as part of the administration's wish to see greater success to the arts for the whole of the community we serve. Not least to make available to people of all ages the opportunity to experience professional productions and live performance, but also to gain educational opportunities within the arts as a whole."

In return for the £200,000 grant, the annual revenue grant to the theatre from the district council will be reduced from £56,800 to £40,000.

The total cost of the extension is £865,000, and the Arts Council has awarded a grant of £120,000 towards the project and the Kay Trust another £100,000. The theatre will launch a fundraising drive for the remaining cost of the project.

The theatre has already sought planning advice from the district council and hopes to put in a formal planning application later in the year.

Malvern Theatres already operates a popular educational programme, but provision is limited due to the lack of a dedicated space, which the extension is intended to provide.

The new space will be designed to be fully accessible, meaning the theatre will be able to offer more workshops for people with learning and physical disabilities.

As well as bringing in money, these educational activities will attract more people to the theatre and ensure greater use of the building.