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Who are we?
Mitcham Arts Collective was founded by Gill Manly, a local resident, who has been in the arts for over 50 years as a writer, composer, actor, singer, radio DJ and curator of events and festivals.
The Collective was borne out of the frustration of the lack of regular cultural events and nightlife entertainment in the Mitcham area. She launched the Mitcham Jazz Café in 2019, which ran on a quarterly basis at the Mitcham Parish centre until the pandemic. The café sold out each time and the demand for it to be more regular is there.
Gill wants to build a network of like-minded artistic and creative people to provide classes, workshops, performances, festivals and concerts. Collaboration is wonderful as she learned when she lived in Croydon. There she was part of a fantastic thriving network of creative people that worked out of all kinds of venues, indoor and outdoor.
The Vestry Hall is the ideal venue to begin and develop the activities, together with the sister venue, The Canons. In the summer months we have a huge amount of green space just waiting to be full of people enjoying live performances, markets, food trucks and cinema.