West arts world welcomes survival fund
ARTS organisations across the West yesterday hailed emergency funding to help them survive during the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly £34 million of funding has been given to some 170 arts venues in the South West.
Theatres, art galleries, music venues and museums were among those to be given cash from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
The Watershed cinema and arts complex in Bristol was one of the biggest beneficiaries, being given funding of £731,993.
It said it was thriving before lockdown but closure on March 17 meant it has lost 48 per cent of trading income.
Despite a range of online initiatives during the interim period it said income this year has fallen by around £2.8 million.
Clare Reddington, CEO of Watershed, says: “We are extremely grateful for the hard work of our teams and the support of our audiences and partners that made this such a smooth process, but our financial situation remains precarious – especially with the threat of further lockdowns ever present.
“We are relieved and grateful to have been awarded this funding, which will help us navigate whatever further crisis 2020 holds, and will enable us to undertake a process of refining and fine tuning our business model.
“Ultimately this grant will enable us to continue doing what we do best; produce an inclusive and future-facing creative community championing engagement, imagination and ingenuity, working locally, nationally and globally from our home in Bristol, UK. Thank you a million times.”
Other organisations to benefit include the ss Great Britain, which received more than £800,000; as did Bristol-based Motion Events Ltd, nearly £250,000 each for Wiltshire’s Womad Festival and Arcadia, the North Somerset-based body responsible for one of the Glastonbury Festival’s greatest spectacles.
The Fleece pub in Bristol – which has seen some of Britain’s biggest musical stars play early gigs there for some 40 years – received £249,297.
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.”
Phil Gibby, area director, Arts Council England, South West, said: “The Arts Council have been hard at work administering this share of the Government’s £1.57 billion towards the cultural sector over the past few months during this challenging time for us all, so I am pleased that we are able to announce support for 172 much loved cultural organisations in the South West through this first round of funding today.”