Artspace Lifespace to receive £45,500 from the second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund
- Artspace Lifespace is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
- This award will primarily cover the charities overheads but will also provide some support for core staff costs.
Artspace Lifespace has received a grant of £45,500 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen.
More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Artspace Lifespace in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.
This award will primarily cover our overheads, including rent. In 2021 our rent increased by 220%, a considerable challenge to meet at a time of vastly reduced income. It will also partially support other core costs including paying the wages of the small team of core staff and bringing them off furlough in order to assist in planning for the coming year.
Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.
Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:
“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”
Artspace LIfespace Company Manager Kathryn Chiswell Jones said “This grant gives us the breathing space to face the new challenges we have faced in 2021 enables us to look ahead to 2021/2022 and time to build new models and ways of working in 2021/22.
Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:
“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.
We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”
The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.