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An additional £30m in emergency funding has been made available through the UK’s Culture Recovery Fund to support museums, cinemas, theatres and heritage organisations with the impact of the Omicron variant this winter
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 05 Jan 2022
The Culture Recovery fund has helped around 5,000 culture organisations in Britain during the pandemic Credit: UK GOV
Emergency funding made available through the British government’s Culture Recovery Fund has been increased by £30m (US$40.7m, €35.9m) to help more organisations through the winter months.
Announced as part of a £1bn (US$1.36bn, €1.2bn) support package, the funding will provide vital emergency grants, doubling the amount that was previously available for Covid-affected culture organisations.
Now open for applications, emergency grants will be given to help safeguard local museums and heritage, independent cinemas and regional theatres so that they can continue to “support jobs, contribute to the economy, and make sure everyone has access to culture and heritage on their doorstep”.
“Thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of people working in the arts, culture and heritage – as well as unprecedented government support – these cherished sectors have already withstood many challenges over the course of the pandemic,” said arts minister, Lord Parkinson.
“The new Omicron variant has added to those challenges by hitting what is a crucial time of the year for so many artists and organisations. This additional emergency funding will make sure that those most at risk are able to receive the urgent help they need.”
In addition, government funding distributed by Arts Council England (ACE) has also provided an immediate £1.5m (US$2m, €1.8m) to support freelancers affected by the pandemic, alongside a further £1.35m (US$1.8m, €1.6m) contribution from the theatre sector.
“We’re once again grateful to the government for their support and investment, which continues on an unprecedented scale to meet the challenges facing our arts and cultural organisations and creative freelancers,” said ACE chair Sir Nicholas Serota.
“We will work closely with the government to deliver funding at pace and will continue to support freelancers and cultural organisations to explore all available funding to help navigate these difficult times.”
Since the start of the pandemic, more than £1.5bn from the £2bn (US$2.71bn, €2.39bn) Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated to around 5,000 organisations across Britain.
Following the announcement, the government also said that it was extending the application window by a week until January 18, to give more organisations a chance to apply for funding. Organisations now have until that date to submit their “Permission to Apply” forms or “Expression of Interest” forms to the relevant support strand of the Culture Recovery Fund.
Culture
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