A THEATRE has been thrown a lifeline, thanks to a much-needed grant.

Keswick's Theatre by the Lake has been awarded £180,000 from Arts Council England's Emergency Response Fund.

A spokesman said: "It will provide essential support to the charity to withstand the immediate effects of the Covid-19 crisis and ensuring its survival.

"The theatre welcomes the government’s further announcement of a £1.57bn package of support for the arts, culture and heritage sector.

"This is great news for our industry and for the arts in the UK.

"We thank everyone who has lobbied, campaigned and made their voices heard in support of the theatre industry and in making this happen."

The theatre is waiting for more details regarding what the package means specifically for it.

"As of yet it is not known what funds may be available to us, or if funds can be secured in time to prevent redundancies," said the spokesman.

"Further updates will be made when they know more."

Some of the furloughed staff have been back at work processing over 2,000 ticket orders for cancelled shows. The team hope to complete the process in the next two weeks.

"The theatre sincerely thanks customers for their patience while they undertake this considerable task and the many people who have donated the costs of their tickets to the theatre," said the spokesman.

"We have cancelled all programmed shows for this year, that does not mean we might not programme a show in 2020. We just don't know."

The theatre has launched an online play-reading club. The group will meet once a month online with guest appearances from the playwrights.

For more information on how to get involved, visit the Theatre by the Lake website.