WORCESTER Live chiefs are celebrating the charitable trust which runs the Swan Theatre and Huntingdon Hall scooped almost a quarter of a million pounds in Government bailout cash.
The Worcester Live Charitable Trust has been awarded £244,000 in the latest round of funding from the Government’s £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Arts Council England have announced a further 588 cultural and creative organisations are to receive a share of £76million to ensure they have a sustainable future amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Funding to Worcester Live will save jobs, support the temporary closure of Huntingdon Hall and allow the safe re-opening of the Swan Theatre for community groups, youth workshops and partnership outreach programmes.
Grants awarded today (Saturday) are to those bodies which applied for grants of under £1million in the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding will help organisations create work and performances, and plan for reopening.
The funding distributed today follows £257million awarded to 1,385 organisations on Monday (October 12)
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.
Peter Knott, Arts Council England area director said: “This latest set of awards builds on those announced recently and will help hundreds of organisations to survive the next few months, ensuring that the cultural sector can bounce back after the crisis.
“The government’s package is hugely welcome, providing much of the sector with resources to remain in business through to the Spring.
“Well-loved community projects, theatres, galleries, museums, clubs, music venues, festivals, key cultural suppliers along with other creative spaces and projects have benefited.
“This is welcome news not only for those in receipt of the funding but also for communities in villages, towns and cities across the Midlands where this matters so much.”
