Flagship venues are to receive funding as part of the ongoing emergency coronavirus (COVID-19) support for cultural and heritage organisations. The news comes as Scotland is allocated £97 million from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
Capital Theatres – which operates the Festival Theatre, the King’s Theatre and The Studio in Edinburgh – will receive £500,000 in addition to £250,000 already awarded through the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund to help weather the effects of the pandemic.
The Burrell Renaissance Project in Glasgow has been awarded £750,000 to help cover increased project costs caused by the COVID-19 crisis and V&A Dundee will receive £1 million of support.
The funding is part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to support culture and heritage sectors as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19. So far almost £98 million of emergency funding has been allocated.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Culture is vitally important to all of our lives, and the Scottish Government is determined to do everything within our powers to see the sector through this crisis. This includes providing financial support to our flagship cultural venues, as well as the work already underway to help smaller organisations and individuals within the culture sector.
“This latest funding announcement brings the Scottish Government’s total COVID-19 support package for our culture and heritage sectors to just under £98 million. We know further support will still be needed, and the major issues presented by the pandemic are not going away, which is why we will continue to work in partnership with the sector to support them to not only survive the pandemic but to thrive in future.”
CEO of Capital Theatres Fiona Gibson said: “Today’s emergency funding announcement from the Scottish Government for Capital Theatres is greatly appreciated. It is the short-term financial lifeline that we have campaigned tirelessly for in recent months.
“We would very much like to thank the Scottish Government for their support and recognition, acknowledging the crucial contribution our theatres provide to the local, national and cultural sector economies. This will enable us to continue supporting our core staff, freelancers and communities alike.”
Scottish Government emergency COVID-19 funding for cultural and heritage sectors also includes:
- £12.5 million for Performing Arts Events Venues Relief Fund
- £2.2 million for Grassroots Music Venues
- £4 million for Museums Recovery and Resilience Fund
- £10 million for the Events sector
- £3.8 million for National Trust for Scotland to protect jobs
- £15 million for a Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund
- £5 million to address hardship faced by creative freelancers
- £5 million to support artists developing new creative work that will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19
- £3.5 million for independent cinemas
- £3 million for youth arts, including the Youth Music Initiative
- £21.3 million for Historic Environment Scotland
- £5.9 million to support heritage organisations through committed grants
- £270,000 for the New Lanark Trust World Heritage site
- £4 million for historic environment recovery
- £1 million for Scotland’s Science Centres
And in England, 35 of the country’s leading cultural organisations and venues will be the first to receive grants between £1 and £3 million from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced this morning.
£75 million will protect some of the nation’s most significant stages, from the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe and the internationally renowned Sadler’s Wells to major theatres like the Old Vic, Sheffield Crucible, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
These famous organisations have been essential stepping stones for some of the UK’s brightest stars including Adrian Lester, Abi Morgan, Mark Rylance and David Tennant.
More than £500 million has now been allocated from the Culture Recovery Fund to nearly 2,500 cultural organisations and venues of all sizes, including cinemas, heritage sites, museums, circuses, festivals and comedy clubs across the country, to help them plan for reopening and restarting performances and programmes.
The certainty and security provided by these grants will also help to support organisations as they plan for the future and create opportunities for freelancers.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “As part of our unprecedented £1.57 billion rescue fund, today we’re saving British cultural icons with large grants of up to £3 million – from Shakespeare’s Globe to the Sheffield Crucible.
“These places and organisations are irreplaceable parts of our heritage and what make us the cultural superpower we are. This vital funding will secure their future and protect jobs right away.”
All four nations are benefiting from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, with £188 million barnetted to the Devolved Administrations to run their own process – £97 million for Scotland (see above), £59 million for Wales and £33 million for Northern Ireland.
This funding will enable them to increase the support already available to the arts and cultural sectors in each nation.