Arcola Theatre is one of 25 organisations being held up by NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, as role models for ‘civic entrepreneurship’ in its new publication, ‘Compendium for the Civic Economy.’ The book highlights “change-makers [which] have already found ways to imagine and grow a different economy in our cities, towns, neighbourhoods and villages”, contributing to “community resilience, everyday innovation and shared prosperity”. The East London-based theatre operates in three separate ways: a charity runs the core theatre programme; a bar generates income for reinvestment in the charity; and an energy company enables the theatre to run in a sustainable way, as well as being a commercial provider of sustainable technical energy solutions. It is involved in projects aimed at up-skilling young people and working with migrant groups, and aims to create “a resilient community asset and increasing eco-awareness.”