£551,429 BOOST FOR 5 ARTS AND CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS ACROSS CHESHIRE

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Arts Council England have today announced that a further 588 cultural and creative organisations are to receive a share of £76 million as part of a vital financial boost from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

In Cheshire this investment will help save five theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, to ensure they have a sustainable future and continue to bring joy to local communities and international audiences.

Today’s recipients are those that applied for grants of under £1 million in the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding will help organisations create work and performances, and plan for reopening. Although many were still active in lockdown, using creative ways to reach audiences.

The funding distributed today follows £257 million awarded to 1385 organisations on Monday. Further announcements on the funding administered by Arts Council England will follow soon; applicants for grants of over £1 million, and those that applied to the Repayable Finance programme, will be notified of their outcomes shortly.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

“This is more vital funding to protect cultural gems across the country, save jobs and prepare the arts to bounce back. Through Arts Council England we are delivering the biggest ever investment in the arts in record time. Hundreds of millions of pounds are already making their way to thousands of organisations.

“These awards build on our commitment to be here for culture in every part of the country.”

Sarah Maxfield, Area Director North, Arts Council England said:

“The pandemic has had a massive impact on the whole range of organisations working in the North’s cultural sector - theatres, music venues, festivals, museums and the companies who support them with technical sound, light and staging services. The cultural sector makes a huge contribution to The North’s economy, quality of life and communities.

Today we are announcing much needed investment and support from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to a group of organisations across the North - with more announcements in the coming weeks - providing an essential lifeline so the cultural sector can survive and come back strongly in the future.”

Organisations that will be receiving funding in Cheshire include:

• The Boaty Theatre Company in Chester
• 2engage Performing Arts CIC in Ellesmere Port
• Prime Direct Distribution Limited in Macclesfield

The £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund builds on unprecedented support from the government and our arms length bodies for the culture sectors. This includes

the Job Retention Scheme; a years' business rates holiday for leisure businesses and the Bounce Back Loans scheme. 

This is in addition to £104 million of emergency funding already distributed by Arts Council England to organisations and individuals, and £96 million currently available to support cultural organisations and freelancers, through programmes like National Lottery Project Grants and Developing Your Creative Practice.

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of several bodies administering the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund and unprecedented support package of £1.57 billion for the culture and heritage sector. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19

Full list of successful applicants across Cheshire: