Support MAYK this Giving Tuesday
Olivia Furber and Ramzi Maqdisi’s The Land’s Heart is Greater Than Its Map at Mayfest 2022. Photo by Paul Blakemore.
It’s Giving Tuesday today, and we’re asking for your support.
We don’t do this lightly – it’s an incredibly difficult time for everyone and we know that arts and culture often ends up at the bottom of the pile when people think about charitable giving.
We’re also not going to write a long blog about the benefits of arts and culture to society. Much has been written about that, and you can read some of it here and here.
Instead, here’s just a slither of the impact our work has made this year.
We’ve supported over 60 artists through our producing work. Have a look here to see who we work with
We welcomed over 6000 audience members to Mayfest this year, who experienced seventeen shows created by hundreds of artists all priced on a Pay What You Can basis
We’ve provided access to our new MAYKING Space to over 100 artists on a sliding scale to keep it affordable for those on lower incomes
We supported eight early-career artists as part of our Artists in Residence programme, offering time, space and some money for them to focus on their practice
We supported 10 artists and companies to showcase their work at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of Horizon, many of whom are now touring internationally
“Absolutely extraordinary, one of the best things i’ve ever seen – thank you! Awe-inspiring and joyful”
And we’re not stopping there.
We have ambitious plans for the next few years. We’re launching an exciting new residency programme for the MAYKING Space. We’re deepening and expanding our co-created work within communities to create memorable experiences in unusual locations. We’re creating another juicy international festival programme for 2024.
So why are we asking for your support?
Well, making live performance is difficult and expensive.
We are very fortunate to be funded by Arts Council England which supports us as one of 990 National Portfolio organisations. However, that funding is at a standstill and is a real-terms cut against rising overheads as a result of inflation and the energy crisis. It also represents less than a third of our turnover. We have to raise the rest.
How you can help
We believe in the work that we make, the artists that we collaborate with, and the audiences that we reach. If you’d like to help us bring a bit of joy and connection into the world, then there are a number of different ways to support our work.
Become a MAYK friend. Make a monthly donation of any amount and get priority booking, discounted tickets to MAYK events, and a dedicated newsletter with upfront news on what’s coming next from MAYK. There’s also a natty tote bag.
Come along to a performance or event hosted by or produced by MAYK. If you’d like to know when and where these are happening then you can…
Sign up to our newsletter – we’ll send you one, sometimes two, updates a month with the latest updates.
Make a one-off donation. It’s super easy to do through our website and all your money directly supports the work we produce.
Buy something from our store, such as Raquel Meseguer Zafe’s gorgeous A Crash Course in Cloudspotting Booklet or a one of the excellent archival Mayfest prints.
Whatever you do – thank you.
PS. If you know anyone with a spare £10m, drop us a line. We can introduce them to at least ten other organisations who could join us in creating transformative change with their cash :)