CONNECTING WITH AUDIENCES

At Lighthouse, we bring people together for remarkable experiences. The past year has been one of the most rewarding and certainly the most challenging to date.

Social media followers continued to grow – our early lockdown post ‘And the Floor Bounced’ written and performed by Lorna Rees achieved over 15,000 views in the first week alone – and we made the most of all the ways we can to stay in touch with our audiences through this challenging year. With shows cancelled and the country asked to stay at home, we explored ways to connect with our audiences. As the world in lockdown embraced streamed cultural content from the National Theatre and RSC to individual musicians and poets, Lighthouse took to social media more than ever to stay in touch with our community and the audiences we missed so much. We launched several themed platforms such as Monday Memories, Workshop Wednesdays, Film Friday, Spotify Saturday, Sunday Funday. Even lockdown couldn’t stem the impulse to make things, so by moving creative content online, Lighthouse could commission small pieces of work from artists affected by coronavirus. One such artist, award-winning storyteller Michele O’Brien created a brilliant series of bedtime stories on video that we shared through our Facebook channel on Sunday evenings. That led to our first ever Bedtime Story Writing Competition, presided over by respected Times critic Donald Hutera. We always aim for a robust programme of familyfriendly work, particularly in the Theatre and Sherling Studio, often aimed at very young children. 25% of our programme is aimed at Children and Young People and Families; this year, it was nearer 45% as the Christmas show, Happy Ever After, was one of the few events presented. We sent 2 million emails during this time – a combination of rescheduled and cancellation notices and the ‘stay in touch’ communications. We stayed in contact with 32,000 regular customers via our newsletter. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Linkedin followers continue to grow, and we had over 35,000 active followers across social media. Key funding announcements attracted a massive spike in interest and positive support from our community. We recorded over 21,000 new bookers in the previous year and are fully committed to seeing further development in this area once the programme returns as we capitalise on the ongoing investment in the organisation. ‘Came and watched the show today with my two daughters; it was amazing. The show was such a feel-good show, and I felt completely safe with social distancing. Lighthouse staff were excellent and very friendly - would recommend to anyone who just wants to forget 2020 for an hour and enjoy some festive magic in a safe environment. Well done Poole Lighthouse!’

FACEBOOK POST, HAPPY EVER AFTER