John Gulliver - Some good news for the Weekend!

THAT powerhouse of a woman, Celia Greenwood, rang me at home early on Tuesday, confident that the Weekend Arts Centre (WAC) at Hampstead old Town Hall will be saved.

The survival of WAC hung in the balance several month ago when the Arts Council withdrew its annual grant of £300,000.

But the powers-that-be weren’t reckoning on the drive and energy of Celia – a woman who has been successfully running one of the capital’s leading “Fame” academies where poor youngsters from the back streets can learn dance, drama and music.

Celia told me that the Lloyd Webber institute has made a substantial donation to WAC’s fighting fund this week, helping to keep it alive for next year.
 

So far, £120,000 had been raised and Celia tells me that a fundraiser will be held at the Ronnie Scott club in March.

Whenever I think of the power and calibre of a woman like Celia – who has ignored all the fuddy duddies in the Establishment and done her own thing, encouraging ordinary teenagers to express themselves in music and dance – my mind turns to the time-servers in government whose limited imagination and know-how lands this country in one mess after another.

The wrong people are at the top in this country. People like Celia should be there. 

Instead they have to spend their time fire-fighting the meanness of bodies like the Arts Council.