Bid for share of £15m legacy fund
● PROJECTS in Runcorn and Widnes can bid for a share of a new £15 million fund to help build a lasting regional legacy.
Culture secretary Karen Bradley has announced the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, which will make grants of up to £4m available to support major culture and tech capital initiatives. Projects could include opening a new tech start-up centre or renovating live music venues and should increase opportunities for people to experience, benefit and contribute to culture and creativity.
A Department For Digital, Culture, Media & Sport spokesman said successful bids will encourage ‘sustainable cultural and creative regeneration’ in Northern England and benefit areas that have historically had low levels of cultural and creative investment.
The first round of bids will be coordinated by Local Enterprise Partnerships in Cheshire And Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Humber, Lancashire, Leeds City Region, Liverpool City Region, North East, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley, York and North Yorkshire and East Riding.
Ms Bradley said: “This £15m fund is a fantastic chance for towns and cities to develop inspirational projects that could have a transformative local effect – particularly in communities that have seen less cultural or creative investment in the past.
“We want as many people as possible to benefit from the Great Exhibition Of The North, and this fund will boost the Northern Powerhouse and help build a lasting legacy across the whole region.”
The successful projects will be announced in March 2018.
A further round of funding may follow if all the available funds have not been committed.
The fund will build on the impact of next year’s Great Exhibition Of The North – which will be held in Newcastle and Gateshead – which will be a £5m Government-funded event to showcase the best of Northern art, design and innovation.