Axe threat to youth project

A Black Country theatre project which helped hundreds of disadvantaged youngsters is under threat after leaving Dudley Council with a £1 million bill for staging a show in caverns deep under the town.

The council has pulled the plug on funds for the Leaps & Bounds theatre project, putting the jobs of five council staff members at risk.

It follows the project's failure to cover costs for a summer production, called Wrosne – An Underground Experience, staged in underground caverns beneath Dudley's Priory housing estate.

The council had agreed to contribute around £200,000 towards the project but ended up having to find another £800,00 towards the cost.

Leaps & Bounds, based at the Red House glass cone in Wordsley, Stourbridge, supports at risk youngsters to help them gain qualifications or get back into education and employment.

It won national acclaim when it produced a show called Ballet Hoo! which was screened on Channel Four and saw more than 200 youngsters stage a production of Romeo and Juliet at Birmingham's Hippodrome theatre.

The Ballet Hoo! project attracted funding from Birmingham Royal Ballet, alongside Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton councils.

But the underground production in the summer was funded entirely by Dudley Council and cost more than £1 million.

The Leaps & Bounds project became a charitable trust six months ago and was intended to be run independently of the council - meaning the group could bid for external funding like lottery grants.

But, having failed to attract the necessary funding, the future of the whole project is now in doubt.