A Bradford promoter has urged music lovers in the city to help support one of its newest venues – the Bradford Playhouse.

The theatre has spread its wings to try to broaden its appeal, including holding monthly gigs.

Promoter Ben Holden, former member of Bradford band This Et Al, has been helping to run the No Hands night at the venue on the last Friday of the month, alongside This Dirty Basement.

Mr Holden said he moved the night to the Bradford Playhouse after being impressed with the space it had to offer.

He said: “I was just happy to get on their books to try to raise some cash for the place because as far as I was aware, it is struggling and I see it as one of the last arts spaces in the city.

“People have been working for free, mucking in, doing their own thing, so I thought I would put on some bands.”

Rob Walters, acting chairman of the board, said the theatre has been trying to branch out since it came out of administration in July last year.

He said: “Traditionally it was very much amateur dramatics and small theatre productions and we are now trying to move towards putting on as much as we can.

“We are not struggling to make the repayments but it means we’ve got to tighten our belts.

“If we have got to make repayments it means we have got less to spend on other aspects such as re-capitalising our spaces to make them more viable for new events.

“There’s no such thing in this market as surviving, you either have to make a go of it and take a leap or just give up.”

Mr Walters, who joined the board two-months-ago, said he was looking forward to a wider range of events next year which could include a folk festival, a specially commissioned contemporary dance act and a multi-media combined arts project.

He said: “It’s great that people are getting excited about what the potential is here.

“It’s definitely not out of the woods in the sense that there’s bills to pay and there’s stuff we want to do to the venue, but it’s moving in the right direction.”