ACCLAIMED film director Ken Loach - best known in Barnsley as the director of Kes - has become a patron of The Civic in support of its campaign to be a world-class destination for the arts by 2023.
After closing in 1998 due to maintenance difficulties, it was extended and reopened in 2009, but unforeseen structural work left a third of the building unfinished and unused.
The Civic, an arts charity, is running a public fund-raising campaign to raise £5m to renovate the Grade II listed building as a world class destination for the arts by 2023.
The acclaimed director said: “I have very good memories of Barnsley and the people who brought Barry Hines’s story Kes to life.
“David Bradley (Billy Casper) has been a friend ever since. Yet what has happened to towns like Barnsley should make us angry. Provoking a strike with the miners, closing the pits and wreaking havoc in local communities was a plan carried out with ruthless efficiency.
“We have waited in vain for the wrongs to be put right. Well, things can change now.”
Ken has directed many films for television and the cinema, from Cathy Come Home in the 60s to Land and Freedom, Sweet Sixteen and The Wind that Shakes the Barley. I, Daniel Blake won the 2016 Palme d’Or and the 2017 BAFTA for Outstanding British Film.
Helen Ball, chief executive of The Civic, said: “Kes gave Barnsley a voice and representation. It is a huge source of pride for Barnsley and part of its heritage.
“Ken Loach has consistently given a voice to the disenfranchised, more recently in the award winning I, Daniel Blake. He raises questions, encourages debate and challenges the status quo. This a value The Civic and Ken share are we are incredibly proud to announce his support as one of our patrons.”
