Arts, culture and heritage organisations are to receive a financial boost from government thanks to the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund to help them through the pandemic.
More than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations are benefitting from a share of £257m as part of the Fund, representing the biggest tranche of money awarded so far.
Venues benefitting from funding include the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Royal Academy of Dance in London, Bristol Old Vic, Beamish in County Durham and Stowmarket’s John Peel Centre for Creative Arts
Meanwhile, 445 heritage organisations will share £103m to help restart vital repair and maintenance work on heritage sites, to keep venues open and to save jobs and livelihoods.
433 organisations will receive a share of £67m to help with costs for operating, reopening and recovery. This includes famous heritage sites across the country, from Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, Blyth Tall Ship to the Severn Valley Railway, the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire to the Piece Hall in Halifax. The funds will save sites that define communities across the country.
Beneficiaries also include famous locations that have starred in film and TV and are huge draws for tourists the world over, such as Gloucester Cathedral - whose cloisters formed the backdrop for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films - and Highclere Castle - the setting of Downton Abbey. These sites define how our nation is seen around the world.
12 organisations, including English Heritage, Landmark Trust, Historic Royal Palaces and the Canal and River Trust, will receive £34m from the Heritage Stimulus Fund to restart construction and maintenance on heritage sites to preserve visitor attractions and protect livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable heritage specialists and contractors in the sector.
The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) has also been awarded a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund through Historic England. The AHF will use the funding to support charities and social enterprises occupying historic buildings to develop new business plans and strategies for organisations affected by the pandemic.
And, in the latest round of funding to be awarded from the Culture Recovery Fund, it was announced that comedy clubs, circuses, festivals, regional theatres and local museums are among 588 arts and cultural organisations to receive a share of more than £76m in essential support.
