Always on
This project successfully funded on 10th July 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Fothergill Hall Seating Refurbishment
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Aim
Help us modernise the Fothergill Hall, Ackworth School's iconic theatre and performance space.
The Project
We are launching our next project and asking you, the Ackworth School community, to help us modernise the Fothergill Hall, our iconic theatre and performance space. We cannot think of a better date to launch this development project than our 246th Founder’s Day, 18th October 2025, the day that commemorates John Fothergill’s vision in opening the school.
The current seating has served us for thirty years, but it is now significantly failing, with a growing ‘seat graveyard’ at the back of the hall, where the broken tip-up seats are stored. It is time to bring the theatre into the 21st Century so we can continue to host outstanding performances for years to come. There will be 222 new seats as the priority and, if we exceed our fundraising target, we will be able to consider additional work such as electronic blinds, framed posters and photographs of performances covering the last 125 years.
Total Project Cost: £56,000 to replace the seating
Phase 1 Fundraising Goal: £10,000 by December 2025 will allow us to secure the quote at 2025 prices
Phase 2 Fundraising Goal: £56,000 by Celebration Day 2026 will allow us to plan the installation over the summer
Launch: The new seating will be unveiled early in the 2026-27 academic year, allowing next year’s performances to launch the next chapter of this building’s life.
Why It Matters
Since its foundation, the Fothergill Hall has been the heart of Ackworth’s creative life. Originally, the Girls’ Dining Room served as a Lecture Hall, but overcrowding meant a new venue was needed. In 1898, Joseph Whitwell Pease laid the foundation stone of what became the Fothergill Hall. The following year, Henry Thompson formally opened it, introduced by the Headmaster, Frederick Andrews, as ‘scholar, apprentice, master and committee man’. Henry Thompson was also the author of the definitive History of Ackworth School, which covered school’s first hundred years.
For the last 125 years, generations of pupils have discovered their voices here - in drama, music, and performance. We know that this is a place that has amazing memories for so many Old Scholars, parents and staff. Please consider supporting this project to preserve Ackworth’s artistic legacy and ensure its continued vibrancy.
Sponsor a Seat – Leave Your Legacy
Donations of at least £250 will cover the cost of a whole replacement seat. If you can donate at least £250, you can therefore ‘Take Your Seat’ and choose the wording on a personalised plaque. If you are able to donate at least £500, you can choose to take your seat on the front two rows. We very much welcome any support you can offer towards reaching our target, large or small, and all donors will be named in a permanent manner within the completed theatre.
We know that many will want to include names of a number of family members, a quote or dates, for example, so we will ensure that the plaques have quite a bit of space! Rachel will contact you to confirm your wording once we have reached our target, so you do not have to decide or make public your wording at the time of donating.
Donation
Any donation: All donors named within the Fothergill Hall
£250+ donation: Plaque on the underside of your sponsored seat. You choose the wording e.g. ‘In memory of…’, ‘In celebration of …’, ‘Sponsored by…’
£500+ donation: Plaque plus priority choice of a seat on the front two rows.
Crowdfunder platform charge
Crowdfunder defaults to a 20% tip on the donation amount. Whilst we encourage you to include a tip towards their costs of providing this fundraising platform, we realise that 20% is a sizeable addition to a large donation! Do note that you can bring down the slider (or up!) to your chosen 'tip' amount.
Progress Tracker
How You Can Help
• Sponsor a seat through this Crowdfunder page.
• Share the campaign with fellow Old Scholars, parents, and friends.
• Celebrate drama and the arts at Ackworth by helping us modernise the Fothergill Hall for the next generation.
• If drama was not your thing, take a look at our Development page for other projects and ways in which you could support Ackworth School.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made