Storyhouse

Who we are

About Storyhouse

Storyhouse is one of the UK’s foremost cultural charities; its home in Chester incorporates a library, theatres, and a cinema. It is also an acclaimed theatre producer and runs the country’s most successful regional open-air theatre in the city’s Grosvenor Park, as well as the innovative Moonlight Flicks open-air cinema each year.

Storyhouse plays an important part of cultural life in Chester and continues to be a beacon of inspiration for many other cities and towns for the role it has played in social and economic regeneration, its successful and unique integration of world-class theatre, cinema, and library facilities, as well as its bold, exciting, diverse, and award-winning programming.

It is also a great place to work. We offer a flexible and supportive working environment, value experience as well as skills and qualifications, and work to ensure everyone in the organisation is aware of our equality and diversity commitments. We want to support all staff to fulfil their potential and enjoy a happy and healthy workplace.

Our Story

You can find a bit about who we are on our website, discover more about our innovative home and how it came to be in this case study by Arts Council England, or read about our renowned library in this blog by the DCMS’s library team.

Above all, Storyhouse is a creative community. As a diverse cultural organisation, our home is one of the country’s most successful cultural buildings housing a cinema, theatres and a library. Last year we welcomed 735,000 people through our doors. We are both a community hub and combined arts producer.

Our library attracts international recognition, known for its seamless integration, and boasts the longest opening hours of any UK public library. In 2022, we supported 5,465 young people to connect and create, ran 200 free rhyme-time sessions, created 499 magical performances indoors and outdoors, sold 101,461 theatre tickets and hosted a total of 1,031 cinema screenings.

Visits are roughly split into thirds between event attendances, library users, and wider participation. We enjoyed the support of over 14k volunteer hours and 1,328 different individuals were involved in making and supporting our work.

Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, which we founded in 2010, is the UK’s largest regional open-air theatre, welcoming over 25,000 every summer.

This House is Your House

We’ve become vital part of the region’s cultural landscape and a place of safety and support for the community - especially for young people, giving them a space where they can reimagine their place in the world.

Over 40 community groups use us as a base for creative activity each month, including LGBTQIA+ and disability groups, refugee integration activities, mental health support sessions, and groups combatting social exclusion by age.

We work extensively with young people and provide a range of different programmes, from youth theatre and our young company, to young leaders, young programmers, and our many schools and education programmes. Throughout our work we collaborate with local partners throughout to ensure we are reaching the people that would usually have the least opportunity to participate.

Across everything we do, we work to give people the power to build their own creative communities through inspiring stories and shared creative experiences: this house is your house.

As we blend theatre, library, restaurant and cinema services, we share inspiring stories and stage creative events which empower people to nurture their creativity and bring together communities.  Through our work, we hope to build a more connected, inclusive and creative community network.

The more open we are to the true and rich diversity of our communities, the more vividly we fulfil our purpose. More engagement from more of our communities will make more of Storyhouse.

We are committed to creating a team which is representative of our communities and to bringing together those with a variety of skills and experiences to help shape what we do and how we work.

Our Resources

Storyhouse is a medium-sized charity with approximately 140 staff and  a gross revenue of over £6 million per year. The charity is financially stable, with a number of steady revenue streams, including a 20-year lease and contract for services with the local authority (Cheshire West and Chester) and NPO funding from Arts Council England for 2023 to 2026. Revenue from commercial activities is also essential to the charity’s financial stability, and over 57% of its revenue is earned.

Storyhouse runs two wholly-owned commercial trading subsidiaries: Storyhouse Production Company Limited - creating and staging Storyhouse Originals theatre productions – and Storyhouse Catering Company Limited - providing a range of catering, retail, cinema, receiving theatre and commercial services.

Despite our financial stability, like all other charities our resources are being eroded by rising costs caused by inflation and higher energy prices, and as a result of the continued cost of living crisis, demand for free-to-access services (such as warm spaces) is increasing.

Our culture and values

Storyhouse is about to enter an exciting new phase in our evolution as we look to develop our programmes, based on a new strategic plan, to deliver world class arts and meet community needs.

Our Vision

Here at Storyhouse, culture is owned by everyone.

Our Mission

We work every day to be a creative home for our communities.

Our Values

LISTEN CLOSELY

True empathy takes effort. So we work hard to understand different points of view.

LOOK AROUND

Opportunities can be spotted by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. So we always have our eyes, ears and minds wide open.

SPEAK UP

Not everyone’s stories have been told. So we use our voices to amplify those that haven’t been heard.

STAND UP

Debate and discussion make things better for us all. So we don’t shy away from a challenge.

REACH OUT

Diverse perspectives solve the hardest problems and make the best decisions. So we seek them out, and invite them in.