Voting Now Open for My Theatre Matters! UK's 'Most Welcoming Theatre Award'

Over 225 arts venues are asking the public to vote for them in the inaugural My Theatre Matters! Most Welcoming Theatre Award in association with Classic FM, which will be announced at the annual UK Theatre Awards ceremony in London's historic Guildhall on Sunday 20 October 2013.

Online voting for this new public Award is now open via the Classic FM website - www.classicfm.com/theatre - and closes at the end of September. To ensure a fair and competitive process, the public voting system will be weighted by theatre capacity with the winner decided by number of public votes divided by number of venue seats. Venues taking part range from those with less than 100 seats including London's Gate and Half Moon Theatres and The Boo in Rossendale, to Edinburgh's Playhouse with over 3,000.

Organised by the Theatrical Management Association (TMA), the UK Theatre Awards are the only nationwide awards to honour creative excellence and theoutstanding achievement seen on and off stage throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As well as established awards for both performance and management achievement decided by expert panels, this year any professional theatre was eligible to enter for the My Theatre Matters! UK's Most Welcoming Theatre Award. TMA Members were entered automatically but any other theatre that offers legal and fair terms to all performers and stage management, in line with or better than the Equity Fringe Agreement, was also able to register for the public vote. Venue registration is now closed.

The 2013 UK Theatre Awards will be presented at a lunchtime ceremony at London's historic Guildhall, a magnificent medieval Grade 1 listed landmark building situated in the City of London. Details of the compere for the event, and other special guests, will be announced closer to the ceremony.

Launched in March this year, My Theatre Matters! is a nationwide campaign aimed at galvanising public support for local theatres across the UK in response to extreme pressures on local government funding. The campaign is led jointly by Equity, The Stage and the TMA.

My Theatre Matters! gives local audiences a chance to voice their support for their local venue and encourage politicians to do the same. It features a website - www.mytheatrematters.com - where audiences can sign up and download information about how to lobby local politicians.