Former Portfolio Organisation announces closure amid ‘challenging funding landscape’

London-based immersive arts organisation Coney has announced that it will close in April 2025 after over 16 years of operation due to funding challenges.

The charity, which creates large-scale and intimate interactive theatre and play-based experiences, was unsuccessful in its funding bid to remain part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio in 2022.

Despite “carefully exploring various paths forward” and “seeking sustainable solutions”, the organisation has announced this week that it cannot continue to operate “in today’s challenging funding landscape”.

Tassos Stevens, co-founder and CEO of Coney, departed the organisation by mutual agreement this month, after fifteen years, to pursue new creative ventures.

ACE Transfer Programme

An ACE NPO since 2012, Coney’s bid to remain part of the portfolio was made under the funding body’s Transfer Programme to encourage organisations to relocate outside the capital.

The charity’s most recent accounts for the year ending March 2023 said: “The decision to enter the Transfer Programme felt right at the time, in tune with a vision of a network of local hubs – in Tower Hamlets, in Gloucester, and a third borough that would have been identified had the NPO application been successful – with which we had written our NPO application.

“It was a decision we took time and care to make well, consulting Gloucester-based organisations on what Coney transferring there might mean to them. ACE was clear that this outcome was not a reflection on our value as an organisation to the sector and has given us a statement to that effect.”

Last November, Arts Professional reported that over a dozen organisations that failed to secure NPO funding from ACE for the 2023-26 investment period had either closed or announced plans to close, while other organisations that lost their portfolio status have announced cutbacks and restructures.

A separate analysis by third-sector financial benchmarkers MyCake has shown that at least 47 arts and culture organisations that left the National Portfolio since 2011 have closed down in the last six years.

Speaking to Arts Professional in February, MyCake founder Sarah Thelwall noted that there is no published list of which organisations leave the portfolio or why.

Thelwall said: “It would be unwise to infer causality without more robust analysis than we’ve done to date, but we do think that there are lessons to be learnt from the data on organisations after they leave a long-term funding arrangement or multi-year funded project.” 

She continued: “We think there is insight to be gained from looking not just at what is funded (albeit that’s often where there is more data) but what is not funded. 

“If we can better understand what happens to organisations after an unexpected shock, we can put structures in place to mitigate the risks. If we don’t look, we’ll never know what happens after a cliff edge.” 

‘A unique position within the UK’s creative arts community’

Throughout its operation Coney has staged several ambitious works, including ‘A Small Town Anywhere’—an interactive theatre in which the audience becomes citizens of a small town—and ‘The Ministry of Time Travel’ a series of play adventures for young people and families visiting the National Archives.

Sydney Nash, chair of the board of trustees, said: “During the past 15 years, Coney has grown to occupy a unique position within the UK’s creative arts community.

“Through the extraordinary commitment of our teams past and present, and the steadfast support of our community and partners, we’ve had the honour of creating work that has transformed spaces, connected people, and inspired positive change.

“Anyone that has experienced it will know that it is magic.

“While endings are difficult, we celebrate everything that Coney has achieved and extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has joined us in our mission to make the world a little lovelier.”