天美影院

• Cultural organisations across the country given boost to level up opportunities to access the arts
• Beneficiaries of the third round of Cultural Investment Fund cover places from Basildon to Bradford
• Investment to support local economic growth follows bumper Budget result for arts sector

More than 70 cultural organisations across the country are to be given a financial boost by the government so they can improve people鈥檚 access to arts, support local economic growth through culture and safeguard vital local collections for future generations.

They will share a pot of 拢58.8 million which will see arts venues transformed, upgraded and created as part of the government鈥檚 plans to make sure everyone, no matter where they live, can access the UK鈥檚 world-renowned culture.

Basildon Borough Council will receive 拢4.4 million to turn empty properties in the town centre into a creative facility for screen and immersive digital industries. The project will help support businesses and freelancers working in the film, TV, gaming, VFX and animation sectors, further demonstrating the government鈥檚 commitment to the creative industries as a priority growth sector.

Bradford, UK City of Culture 2025, will receive 拢4.9 million to redevelop the intercultural arts centre Kala Sangam and other cultural assets, to establish a network of local arts hubs and support the successful delivery of its year as the culture capital and beyond.

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent will receive 拢5 million to build a wrap-around extension to improve facilities and accessibility and support local education, health and wellbeing projects.

Arts Council England will deliver this fund on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

This investment will help to level up access to arts and culture for everyone, no matter where they live.

Culture helps us create lifelong memories with our families and friends, provides entertainment and joy, and allows us to explore the world around us in new and exciting ways. It can also boost tourism, support local business and drive local economic growth.

This funding will support brilliant arts organisations to upgrade their venues and create new projects that will be at the heart of their communities.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England said:

Investment in creativity and culture is a catalyst for improving well-being and raising aspirations, reinvigorating pride in communities, regenerating high streets and local economies, and bringing people together. We are pleased to play a part in delivering the Cultural Investment Fund and this 拢58 million investment will help create new, or improve existing, cultural buildings and spaces in our villages, towns and cities. By doing so it will support recovery and growth and unlock the creative potential of those who live and work in communities across England.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England said:

Culture, heritage and the arts all contribute to people鈥檚 sense of belonging and place. These grants will help to reinforce this and we welcome them.

The fund, which totals more than 拢200 million and was launched in 2019, is made up of three separate streams, the Cultural Development Fund, the Libraries Improvement Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund. It is designed to protect and improve people鈥檚 access to culture, regenerate communities, upgrade buildings and digital infrastructure and use investment to promote economic growth.

In this round of funding, 拢32.4 million has gone to eight Cultural Development Fund projects, 拢4.9 million to 27 projects as part of the Libraries Improvement Fund and 拢21.4 million has gone to 36 museums through the Museum Estate and Development Fund.

This announcement follows a big boost for the cultural sector in the Spring Budget with an extension of tax reliefs for theatres, orchestras, and museum and gallery exhibitions for a further two years. These tax reliefs have already supported thousands of theatre and orchestral productions, galleries and museums across the country, and the extension is set to help the cultural sector continue to attract new talent and investment from home and abroad.

Extending these tax reliefs builds on the support the government has provided to the creative sectors. This includes the 拢1.6 billion Culture Recovery Fund that supported more than 5,000 organisations throughout the pandemic.

Other successful bidders today include:

• In Walsall, in the West Midlands, the Grade II* listed Guildhall building in St Matthew鈥檚 Quarter will be redeveloped as part of a 拢3.7 million project to deliver a three-year Cultural Activity Programme to reinvigorate and enliven this previously neglected corner of Walsall town centre.

• Cannon Hall in Barnsley will receive almost 拢900,000 to protect its stunning Grade II* listed Georgian country house and collection of fine and decorative art.

• 拢350,000 will go to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, the first publicly funded museum outside London, to improve infrastructure and protect its nationally important collections covering social and natural history.

• Essex County Council will receive 拢337,500 to transform the first floor of Colchester Library to provide an interactive learning and play space for children and families.

• In Stockton-on-Tees, 拢50,000 will allow the library service to update and develop its collaborative workspace with new and updated equipment, new programmes and opportunities for library users to engage with technology.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The Cultural Investment Fund covers the following three streams:

Cultural Development Fund

The Cultural Development Fund aims to level up through investment in culture. The fund unlocks聽 local growth and productivity, promotes economic and social recovery from the impact of Covid-19, and regenerates communities through capital investment in transformative place-based creative and cultural initiatives.

This is the third round of the Cultural Development Fund, bringing the total amount of investment to 拢76.9 million, with 20 projects receiving funding. Places like Barnsley, Worcester, Plymouth, Stockport and the Isle of Wight received transformative funding through rounds one and two, creating jobs, unlocking economic growth and making places more attractive to live, work and visit.

Libraries Improvement Fund

The 拢20.5 million Libraries Improvement Fund will transform library services in England by helping them upgrade their buildings and improve digital infrastructure, so they are better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them. Local authorities can bid for the money on behalf of their library services.

This is the second round of the fund with 25 projects already benefiting from 拢5 million of funding in the first round, including 拢495,000 to Sandwell Library and Information Service to install open access technology installed at 10 out of their 19 libraries, enabling users to access libraries beyond staffed opening hours. Guidance for the third and final round was published in February 2023.

Museum Estate and Development Fund

The 拢86.6 million Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) helps fund urgent museum maintenance and infrastructure works. Arts Council England accredited museums in England that are not directly funded by DCMS can apply. This is the second round of funding, bringing the total amount of investment so far to more than 拢40 million for 67 museums. Round one of the fund saw support for places including Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes.

Full list of recipients:

Cultural Development Fund

East of England

• 拢4,490,000 to Basildon Borough Council

East Midlands

• 拢5,000,000 to East Lindsey District Council

South East

• 拢3,500,000 to Institute Of Cultural & Creative Industries (Medway)

Yorkshire and the Humber

• 拢4,998,500 to Kala Sangam (Bradford)

North West

• 拢2,743,002 to Morecambe Winter Gardens

South West

• 拢3,000,000 to North Devon Council

West Midlands

• 拢5,000,000 to The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (Stoke-on-Trent)
• 拢3,700,000 to Walsall Council

Libraries Improvement Fund

East Midlands

• 拢135,000 to Leicester Libraries
• 拢124,355 to Nottingham City Council Library Service
• 拢50,586 to Inspire Libraries (Nottinghamshire)

East of England

• 拢337,500 to Essex Libraries
• 拢219,000 to Suffolk Libraries

London

• 拢255,554 to Kingston Libraries
• 拢231,500 to Brent Libraries
• 拢150,000 to Croydon Libraries
• 拢125,000 to Barnet Libraries
• 拢73,354 to Merton Libraries

North East

• 拢266,066 to North Tyneside Libraries
• 拢225,000 to Darlington Libraries
• 拢200,000 to Hartlepool library service
• 拢50,000 to Stockton Library Service

North West

• 拢275,960 to St Helens Council Library Service
• 拢198,872 to Manchester Libraries
• 拢151,520 to Oldham Council Libraries

South East

• 拢260,000 to Hertfordshire Library Service
• 拢150,031 to Hampshire Libraries
• 拢102,000 to Portsmouth Libraries
• 拢75,000 to Surrey Libraries

South West

• 拢207,000 to Libraries Unlimited (Devon)

West Midlands

• 拢300,000 to Stoke on Trent Libraries
• 拢265,000 to Staffordshire Libraries
• 拢241,950 to Shropshire Libraries
• 拢202,349 to Walsall Libraries

Yorkshire and the Humber

• 拢50,000 to Barnsley Libraries

Museum Estate and Development Fund

East Midlands

• 拢469,992 to Wollaton Hall in Nottingham
• 拢518,000 to Papplewick Pumping Station in Gelding
• 拢68,000 to The West Shed Museum in Ripley, Derbyshire

East of England

• 拢228,850 to Hollytrees Museum in Colchester
• 拢1,409,600 to The Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk
• 拢669,873 to Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire
• 拢381,920 to Norwich Castle Museum in Norwich
• 拢1,071,616 to The Long Shop Museum in Leiston, East Suffolk

London

• 拢811,250 to Valence House in Barking and Dagenham
• 拢125,000 to Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham

North East

• 拢311,194 to Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough
• 拢540,000 to South Shields Museum & Art Gallery in South Shields, South Tyneside
• 拢349,153 to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens in Sunderland
• 拢974,673 to The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham
• 拢150,410 to Woodhorn Museum in Ashington, Northumberland

North West

• 拢143,841 to The Fusilier Museum in Bury
• 拢673,826 to Queen鈥檚 Park Stores in Manchester
• 拢104,865 to Salford Museum and Art Gallery in Salford

South East

• 拢433,766 to Amberley Museum in Amberley, West Sussex
• 拢69,000 to Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft in Ditchling, East Sussex
• 拢2,230,125 to Southampton City Art Gallery in Southampton
• 拢734,335 to Museum of Farnham in Farnham, Surrey
• 拢175,000 to Whitstable Community Museum and Gallery in Whitstable

South West

• 拢495,000 to Coldharbour Mill Museum in Uffculme, Mid Devon
• 拢498,000 to The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter
• 拢185,608 to The Museum of Cornish Life in Helston, Cornwall
• 拢320,000 to Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Dorset
• 拢728,985 to SS Great Britain in Bristol
• 拢367,027 to Tewkesbury Museum in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
• 拢1,494,284 to Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, Cornwall

West Midlands

• 拢240,000 to Compton Verney near Kineton, Warwickshire
• 拢2,283,821 to Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum in Leamington Spa
• 拢658,260 to Wightwick Manor near Wolverhampton

Yorkshire & the Humber

• 拢898,405 to Cannon Hall Museum in Barnsley
• 拢497,474 to Harewood House, near Leeds
• 拢166,250 to Shandy Hall in Coxwold, Yorkshire