There has been quite a lot of letters in the local press about the new name for the activities inside St Peter’s. Clearly not everyone is convinced that calling it an Arts Centre will attract a a more diverse range of people. Would be interesting to know what the Quay Theatre folk think about the new name as they will also be looking for a more diverse range of people to welcome to their venue. Anyone who has ever had to fill in a grant application form for their club or charity will know that the key to many grants is to be able to show you are actively looking to increase the diversity of your participants/members/audience.

Time will tell if the new name is a factor in the future success of St Peter’s but clearly it is only one factor among very many. Are the events put on their attractive to people, are they well marketed. Are young people at school in Sudbury introduced to St Peter’s with interesting and stimulating events so that going there is a natural activity just like going to any other entertainment venue.

So, we sent our two pennorth to the Suffolk Free Press abou the new name and a copy of our diplomatic letter is here. We do think that the new management in St Peter’s needs to be patient with the community as to when it will adopt the new name. The community will adopt the new name when the venue has proved to be an Arts Centre. We have been calling it St Peter’s for 700 years, it will take more than 7 months to change it.