Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns has welcomed £634,100 to support local cultural organisations through the pandemic and beyond.
The funding comes from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS), for whom Ms Kearns is a Parliamentary Private Secretary, £1.57 Culture Recovery Fund.
More than 1,300 arts and cultural organisations in England have been awarded a share of £257 million this morning from the fund, to help allow performances to restart, venues to plan for reopening and to protect jobs and create opportunities for freelancers.
Today’s recipients are those that applied for grants of under £1 million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund.
Locally, the fund will benefit organisations with great cultural significance, including Nevill Holt Opera and the beloved Pinders Circus.
Funding Breakdown:
Stamford Shakespeare Company: £240,000
Pinders Circus Limited: £50,000
JRC Entertainments: £50,000
Nevill Holt Opera: £85,000
Rutland County Council: £132,100
Leicestershire County Council: £77,000
Rutland and Melton MP, Alicia Kearns, said:
“ In these extraordinary times it is only right that the Government provides extraordinary support for those industries worst-hit by the pandemic to project jobs and create new opportunities.”
“I am simply delighted that six fantastic local organisations have received significant cash boosts which will preserve our local cultural beacons, save jobs and help the sector’s recovery.”
“ Having worked on this package as Parliamentary Private Secretary to DCMS, I am thrilled that this unprecedented investment will be of such benefit to us in Rutland and Melton.”
The £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund builds on unprecedented support from the Government’s for the culture sectors. This includes the Job Retention Scheme; a years' business rates holiday for leisure businesses and the Bounce Back Loans scheme.
This is in addition to £104 million of emergency funding already distributed by Arts Council England to organisations and individuals, and £96 million currently available to support the arts and freelancers, through programmes like National Lottery Project Grants and Developing Your Creative Practice.
