About Us

The new Stables building, which opened in 2000, cost £4.4 million to build. As the first Lottery-funded arts project outside London, it attracted £2.7 million. That left a staggering fund-raising target, of which £1.2 million was achieved from sponsors, trusts and individual donations. One of the project's biggest supporters was Jim Marshall of Marshall Amplification. The auditorium is named the Jim Marshall Auditorium in recognition of his support.

The Stables has an annual turnover of around £1.3 million of which around 80% is earned income. The remainder, over £250,000, has to be raised each year from statutory bodies, charitable foundations, individuals and companies - just to break even.

People often express surprise that a music venue can be, or indeed needs to be, a registered charity, but most performing arts organisations with a similar seating capacity are either local authority owned and subsidised, or are charitable trusts.

The Stables has charitable aims and objectives, with music education being at the heart of its raison d'être. However, it is independent of local authority ownership and currently receives no local authority revenue funding. The Stables does receive funding from Arts Council England, but the significant fundraising target calls for the continuous efforts of the Board, staff and volunteers.

For more information about the fundraising initiatives at The Stables click here.

To see Wavendon Allmusic Plan Annual Report 2006/07 in pdf format please click here

To see the Wavendon Allmusic Plan Annual Report 2007/2008 in pdf format please click here

Financial Information