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Summary - What did you miss?

On Thurs 2nd April we came together to reflect on the year that has just ended, celebrate our successes and get your input on plans to redevelop the CDS site. Here are our key takeaways…

🏡 Building Plans

• Tower Hamlets Council is exploring a housing development on the Chisenhale site, which would support pay for CDS to move to the ground floor, with improved, fully-accessible facilities.
• Work could begin as soon as April 2027 (though we think it is unlikely to be this early), with April 2029 the earliest CDS would move back in. In the meantime we are exploring what a nomadic model for our programmes could look like.
• We now have the second draft of a redevelopment floor plan, which CDS artists shared feedback on last week. You can view the full materials here (slides 21-29), and please send any thoughts to Reece via email.
• More meetings with council, architects and planners are coming up soon, plus a full consultation with CDS artists and alumni in the coming months tba.
• Nothing is set in stone, and we are reliant on CAP being able to secure a lease for the building. Though we are hopeful!

🤑 Finances and Programmes

• We have had a record-breaking year for Space Hire, our largest source of income - £22k more than the previous year!
• This means we are finally back at pre-pandemic levels of financial stability.
• Spending on Artist fees and programming is up from 17% to 28%, and we continue to increase the number of opportunities for the community year-on-year.
• We have just submitted an application for Heritage funding, which celebrates the history of CDS and shapes our long-term sector influence with 2.5 year project, plus brings us a step closer to our archive being at the V&A!
• We will soon launch a new series of Anti-Ableism training webinars, alongside renewed and updated Anti-Racism Webinars.