Rainbow City Taxis has committed £30,000 over three years to the campaign to secure the future of Aberdeen Arts Centre, taking the amount raised by the £660,000 appeal beyond £279,000. The Aberdeen taxi company will contribute £10,000 a year through the partnership. The campaign has now secured about 42 per cent of its target, leaving approximately £381,000 still to raise.
One of Aberdeen’s best-known taxi businesses has become the latest local company to commit long-term financial support to Aberdeen Arts Centre.
Rainbow City Taxis will provide £30,000 over three years to the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign. Rather than making a single contribution, the family-run company has entered a three-year partnership with the independent venue, providing £10,000 in each year.
The commitment moves the campaign beyond £279,000 raised from individuals, businesses, grants and foundations since it began in May 2025.
Against the campaign’s £660,000 target, approximately £381,000 remains to be secured.
The latest figures provide a measure of the progress made since the fundraising drive began. More than two-fifths of the target has now been raised, while the campaign continues to seek support over the remainder of its three-year period.
A local company makes a three-year commitment
Rainbow City Taxis has operated in Aberdeen for more than three decades and describes itself as a family-run business. Its decision to support the Arts Centre also has a personal connection: members of the family behind the company have performed at the venue.
Lauren Bisset, operations director at Rainbow City Taxis, said the company wanted its contribution to help preserve opportunities for future performers.
“Performing at the Arts Centre is a rite of passage for so many local performers, and many of our family members have trodden the boards there,” she said.
The partnership extends beyond the financial contribution. The two organisations intend to work together during the three-year period, including around transport for audiences attending the venue.
For the Arts Centre, the value of the agreement lies partly in its duration. A three-year commitment provides income that can be anticipated across more than one financial period rather than relying upon a single fundraising event or donation.
£279,000 has now been raised
The Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign began with a target of £660,000 over three years. According to the latest figures supplied by the venue, more than £279,000 has now been secured.
That represents approximately 42.3 per cent of the total target.
Rainbow City Taxis’ £30,000 commitment is equivalent to approximately 4.5 per cent of the full £660,000 appeal. It represents nearly 8 per cent of the approximately £381,000 that remains to be found.
The figures also demonstrate the cumulative nature of the campaign. No single £10,000 annual contribution can resolve a £660,000 funding requirement. A succession of individual donations, business partnerships and institutional grants can progressively reduce it.
The Arts Centre says the money is intended to support continued performances, creative learning and professional artist development while the organisation works towards a sustainable longer-term financial position.
Business support is becoming part of the funding structure
The Rainbow City agreement places another Aberdeen business inside the campaign rather than treating corporate support as a one-off sponsorship transaction.
For independent cultural organisations, multi-year business commitments can provide a different form of income from ticket sales or public grants. Ticket revenue depends upon programming, audience numbers and capacity. Grants are generally attached to particular funding periods, eligibility requirements or projects. Corporate partnerships can provide another stream alongside them.
The arrangement does not remove the Arts Centre’s dependence on successful fundraising. Even after the Rainbow commitment is included, more than half of the campaign target remains outstanding.
It does, however, give the venue £30,000 of income that it can now account for across the next three years rather than having to raise that amount separately.
Julia Smith, fundraising manager at Aberdeen Arts Centre, said the partnership would support the centre’s performances, creative-learning classes and artist-development work.
“The arts should be accessible to everyone, no matter their background or circumstance, and Rainbow City Taxis’ generous donation will help to provide a space for local people to learn, perform, and enjoy live entertainment in Aberdeen,” she said.
The campaign is approaching its halfway point
The £279,000 raised so far leaves the campaign approximately £51,000 short of the £330,000 that would represent half of its overall target.
The remaining £381,000 is considerably larger than the amount already committed by any one company announced in the latest partnership. At the equivalent of Rainbow City Taxis’ £30,000 commitment, it would require almost 13 further partnerships of the same value to close the remaining gap entirely.
The actual funding mix is broader. Public donations, charitable grants, foundations and other businesses have all contributed to the total, allowing larger institutional awards to sit alongside smaller individual contributions.
That mixture also spreads the financial dependence of the campaign across different sources. A lost grant, weaker individual giving or the absence of corporate support does not necessarily remove the entire funding base, although each affects the amount that must be found elsewhere.
The next £381,000 will determine the outcome
Rainbow City Taxis’ commitment arrives after the campaign has moved beyond its initial phase and accumulated more than a quarter of a million pounds.
The arithmetic now changes with every new commitment. The original £660,000 requirement has been reduced to approximately £381,000. Reaching the halfway point would require another £51,000. After that, the campaign would still have £330,000 to secure.
For Rainbow City Taxis, the commitment is fixed: £30,000 over three years.
For Aberdeen Arts Centre, it becomes one component of a considerably larger funding structure being assembled contribution by contribution.
More than £279,000 of that structure is now in place.
