We’re pleased to announce our new partnership with local bus operator FIRST MANCHESTER, which enables people across Greater Manchester to access our theatre.
In May this year, we launched the Oglesby Inspire Scheme, which helps us to provide very low cost tickets to specific community groups, and those who might not normally have the opportunity to visit our venue or take part in cultural events. With the help of the Inspire Scheme, we’ve been able to offer people access to cinema and theatre tickets for £1.
Apart from ticket cost, transport can also present a major barrier to participation for many, so FIRST MANCHESTER have joined us as a strategic partner to help ensure that this programme is successful. By providing 600 day-tickets, FIRST MANCHESTER have provided community and volunteers the access to free travel to HOME on the day of their visit.
Ian Humphreys, Head of Commercial at FIRST MANCHESTER, said “We’re absolutely delighted to support such an important project. FIRST MANCHESTER is at the heart of our communities and we’re pleased to help provide connections especially for young people with such an exciting and creative learning opportunity.”
Roisin Joyce, Deputy Director of Development, HOME, added “We are incredibly excited about our partnership with FIRST MANCHESTER. It’s the icing on the cake as we can now provide free travel to those community and volunteer member who otherwise wouldn’t be able to come and experience our wonderful venue”.
The HOME engagement programme operates across Greater Manchester, providing a unique education and talent development activities for all generations with a particular commitment to young people aged 14-25 and communities local to our venue. Our work includes activities that enable people to get closer to the programme and the artists. All of our engagement programme links to the wider artistic programme, through artist-led participatory projects, workshops, courses, residencies, commissions, talent development projects and work-based learning.
First Bus in Manchester serve over 76m customer journeys a year with a fleet of over 700 buses and a team of 2000 people. First Group plc is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America and their services help to create strong, vibrant and sustainable local economies. During the last year around 2.4 billion people relied on First Bus to get to work, to education, to visit family and friends and much more and, each day, every one of their 110,000 employees works hard to deliver vitally important services for our passengers.
For further information on the Inspire Scheme, please click here.