More than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations are to receive a share of £257 million as part of a vital financial boost from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden will announce today.
Culture Warrington, a charity formed in 2012, manages three key cultural venues in the town, including Pyramid, Parr Hall, and Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, as well as delivering the ever-popular Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival.
Situated in the heart of Warrington’s Cultural Quarter, Pyramid and Parr Hall are two of the region’s leading venues for music, comedy, dance, drama and more, playing host to top industry names such as John Bishop, Stone Roses, and Jimmy Carr.
The total Government investment will save 1,385 theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and ensure they have a sustainable future. It is the biggest tranche of funding distributed to date from the Culture Recovery Fund.
This funding will help allow performances to restart, venues to plan for reopening and to protect jobs and create opportunities for freelancers.
Those organisations who are set to receive funding will find out this morning from distributor Arts Council England (ACE) what they will receive. Today’s recipients are those that applied for grants of under £1 million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund.
These venues helped launch the careers of some of the UK’s most famous creative talents, including actors such as Daniel Day Lewis, Olivia Colman, Sir David Suchet, Imelda Staunton and John Boyega, bands such as The Beatles, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs.
MP for Warrington South, Andy Carter said:
I’m delighted with this announcement of £156,000 worth of emergency funding for Culture Warrington, providing a critical lifeline to Parr Hall and the Pyramid Centre which provides so much joy to residents during normal times.
For the past couple of months, I have been lobbying the Treasury and DCMS to support theatres, live music, the arts and cultural projects that can’t re-open at the moment. I said in a debate last week that we have a moral duty to protect these institutions and I’m therefore glad that the Government has stepped in.
This money will not only secure local jobs but mean these iconic venues can weather the storm created by coronavirus and come back stronger and continue to be there for local residents and future generations to enjoy.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.
These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country - from the Beamish museum in County Durham to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Bristol Old Vic.
This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.
Today’s announcement will be followed by further allocations of grants and loans to successful applicants to the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund in the coming days and weeks.
