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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 5, 2020 20:02:24 GMT
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 20:02:59 GMT
Seems like its 100 million specially for 'national institutions' and 100 millio for regional theatres.
I assume the freelancers will have to be accounted for by the theatres getting the funding.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 5, 2020 20:03:17 GMT
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Post by firefingers on Jul 5, 2020 20:13:14 GMT
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; HM Treasury
PRESS RELEASE
£1.57 billion investment to protect Britain’s world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions
· Cultural and heritage organisations to be protected with £1.57 billion support package
· Future of Britain’s museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues will be protected with emergency grants and loans
· Funding will also be provided to restart construction work at cultural and heritage sites paused as a result of the pandemic
Britain’s globally renowned arts, culture and heritage industries will receive a world-leading £1.57 billion rescue package to help weather the impact of coronavirus, the government announced today.
Thousands of organisations across a range of sectors including the performing arts and theatres, heritage, historic palaces, museums, galleries, live music and independent cinema will be able to access emergency grants and loans.
The money, which represents the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture, will provide a lifeline to vital cultural and heritage organisations across the country hit hard by the pandemic. It will help them stay afloat while their doors are closed. Funding to restart paused projects will also help support employment, including freelancers working in these sectors.
Many of Britain’s cultural and heritage institutions have already received unprecedented financial assistance to see them through the pandemic including loans, business rate holidays and participation in the coronavirus job retention scheme. More than 350,000 people in the recreation and leisure sector have been furloughed since the pandemic began.
This new package will be available across the country and ensure the future of these multi billion-pound industries are secured.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“From iconic theatre and musicals, mesmerising exhibitions at our world-class galleries to gigs performed in local basement venues, the UK’s cultural industry is the beating heart of this country.
“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down.”
Oliver Dowden Culture Secretary said
“Our arts and culture are the soul of our nation. They make our country great and are the lynchpin of our world-beating and fast growing creative industries.
“I understand the grave challenges the arts face and we must protect and preserve all we can for future generations. Today we are announcing a huge support package of immediate funding to tackle the funding crisis they face. I said we would not let the arts down, and this massive investment shows our level of commitment.”
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer said:
“Our world-renowned galleries, museums, heritage sites, music venues and independent cinemas are not only critical to keeping our economy thriving, employing more than 700,000 people, they’re the lifeblood of British culture.
“That’s why we’re giving them the vital cash they need to safeguard their survival, helping to protect jobs and ensuring that they can continue to provide the sights and sounds that Britain is famous for.”
The package announced today includes funding for national cultural institutions in England and investment in cultural and heritage sites to restart construction work paused as a result of the pandemic. This will be a big step forward to help rebuild our cultural infrastructure.
This unprecedented package includes:
£1.15 billion support pot for cultural organisations in England delivered through a mix of grants and loans. This will be made up of £270 million of repayable finance and £880 million grants.
£100 million of targeted support for the national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust.
£120 million capital investment to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and for heritage construction projects in England which was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new funding will also mean an extra £188 million for the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland (£33 million), Scotland (£97 million) and Wales (£59 million).
Decisions on awards will be made working alongside expert independent figures from the sector including the Arts Council England and other specialist bodies such as Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.
Repayable finance will be issued on generous terms tailored for cultural institutions to ensure they are affordable. Further details will be set out when the scheme opens for applications in the coming weeks.
Notes to editors
For further details please call the DCMS press office on 020 7211 2210.
The government is finalising guidance for a phased return of the performing arts sectors that will be published shortly. The government is working with the sectors to get it back up and running as soon as it is safe to do so and is being guided by medical experts.
Further quotes:
Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:
“We greatly welcome this very significant investment by the government in the future of arts and culture in this country and look forward to working with them on next steps. I know our amazing artists and creative organisations will repay the faith that the government has shown by demonstrating the range of their creativity, by serving their communities and by helping the nation recover as we emerge from the pandemic.”
Alex Beard Chief Executive, ROH said:
"The Royal Opera House warmly welcomes the newly announced package of Government support for the arts sector. This is a vital next step on the road to recovery for the industry and will help to support and sustain the UK’s vibrant arts ecology through this crisis. There is much to achieve over the coming months and this package of support will be a catalyst for unlocking the extraordinary creativity embedded in the UK's world-renowned creative industries.
“Over the months ahead we will need to draw all on our collective ingenuity and determination to adapt to the realities of re-opening our theatres. We now look forward to the future and celebrating the return of our artforms, our community of staff and artists and importa
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Post by Jon on Jul 5, 2020 20:25:00 GMT
Interesting that independent cinemas are covered by the package but I guess that wouldn't include the likes of Everyman or Curzon who aren't really independent per se given they owned multiple venues.
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 20:26:27 GMT
I wonder if this package will be for museums and galleries as well or is just arts venues given the former is slowly reopening within the next month or so? Museums are specifically mentioned. |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 5, 2020 20:27:12 GMT
Interesting that independent cinemas are covered by the package but I guess that wouldn't include the likes of Everyman or Curzon who aren't really independent per se given they owned multiple venues. all the sources mentioned above list art galleries and museums as well |
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Post by Jon on Jul 5, 2020 20:36:38 GMT
Very pleased that the Theatre Artist Fund also covers comedians. |
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 21:09:40 GMT
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 21:22:50 GMT
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Post by kathryn on Jul 5, 2020 21:24:35 GMT
. My timeline is basically theatre, TV, a large number of ‘normal everyday folks’ and a bit of women’s rights. If I haven’t seen this stuff, it’s not through lack of engagement - I’m afraid it’s through lack of them gaining any significant traction. I don’t know how you’ve missed it, then, because I’ve certainly seen and participated in some of those campaigns. I literally posted a picture of myself at the theatre on Friday. Twitter is funny like that though. I swear the trends are lies and that everyone sees something slightly different - I frequently see people talk about things trending that are not showing as trends for me. |
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 5, 2020 21:31:30 GMT
Wonderful news! I assume a more detailed breakdown of where the funds are going will be released? And how it will relate to freelancers.
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Post by sf on Jul 5, 2020 21:35:27 GMT
Reserving judgment - with this government, there's a chance it'll turn out to be less than it appears on paper, and that it will be administered incompetently - but on the face of it, it looks like a better package than anybody was expecting. It's VERY welcome, it's weeks overdue, and I hope it's as good as it looks.
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 21:41:45 GMT
Reserving judgment - with this government, there's a chance it'll turn out to be less than it appears on paper, and that it will be administered incompetently - but on the face of it, it looks like a better package than anybody was expecting. It's VERY welcome, it's weeks overdue, and I hope it's as good as it looks. James Graham seems happy with it amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/05/boris-johnson-uk-lifeline-arts-heritage-sector-afloat?__twitter_impression=true"The playwright James Graham, who has spoken passionately about the urgent need for investment, said the money appeared to be more than most people in the arts had dared dream of." |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2020 21:45:47 GMT
This does seem like great news!!
Particularly the reactions from various organisations in the Guardian article.
The Sam Mendes initiative is great too and offers a way for theatregoers to donate, I guess.
Great that all this behind-the-scenes work has paid off, although it has come too late for a number of venues and for (eg) the FOH staff at the National.
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Post by kathryn on Jul 5, 2020 21:47:22 GMT
Devil is always in the detail, but it is a relief to see an actual substantial financial package. I may have just had a little cry. Have been really depressed this week about the prospects for theatre.
There seems to be hope now.
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Post by sf on Jul 5, 2020 21:52:14 GMT
Reserving judgment - with this government, there's a chance it'll turn out to be less than it appears on paper, and that it will be administered incompetently - but on the face of it, it looks like a better package than anybody was expecting. It's VERY welcome, it's weeks overdue, and I hope it's as good as it looks. James Graham seems happy with it amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/05/boris-johnson-uk-lifeline-arts-heritage-sector-afloat?__twitter_impression=true"The playwright James Graham, who has spoken passionately about the urgent need for investment, said the money appeared to be more than most people in the arts had dared dream of." He's been pushing for it very loudly (and good for him). Of course he's going to praise it effusively in public. What he thinks of it privately is his own business, and if he has reservations now is not the time for him to voice them. He asked, they gave (or at least, promised to give), so he's given the appropriate response. I'm grateful for it too, and - as I said - I hope it's as good as it looks. But given that this government has shown itself many, many times to be less than trustworthy, it is not unreasonable to reserve judgment while at the same time being grateful that the wheels are finally beginning to turn. |
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Post by zahidf on Jul 5, 2020 21:54:59 GMT
Hopefully some of the redundancies will be reversed if possible.
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Post by theatreian on Jul 5, 2020 21:59:18 GMT
At least we heard something before Wednesday's statement. It seems like a more generous package than was expected and I am sure it will make a difference. As I said in another post this was a very complicated issue and a return to live entertainment is not easy. At least it did show things were being done and the government was going to do something to help. In my view it was blatantly obvious they weren't going to ignore the Arts nor could they given our world class Arts scene.
Hopefully this fund will help those institutions in need and avert more theatres etc going into administration.
Some good news at last. Worth waiting for.
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Post by Jon on Jul 5, 2020 22:12:46 GMT
Now the package is in place, hopefully the timeline for reopening venues isn't far off.
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Post by sf on Jul 5, 2020 22:15:25 GMT
Now the package is in place, hopefully the timeline for reopening venues isn't far off. Unfortunately, I suspect the fact that this package is more far-reaching than most were expecting means reopening venues is not on the immediate horizon. I could be wrong, but that's how I read it. |
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Post by theatreian on Jul 5, 2020 22:17:01 GMT
I think the timetable was supposed to be published this coming week.
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Post by n1david on Jul 5, 2020 22:17:38 GMT
I'm not sure this does anything significant about reopening venues, given that the public health position hasn't changed. Maybe there will be some more clarity around the criteria for reopening theatres, but I doubt it will be any sooner than we were already talking about.
The devil is in the detail, about how the money will be allocated. It's obviously good news, although we will all have our concerns about where exactly the money goes - I know which theatres I particularly want to survive, but that is unlikely to be the same list as anyone else's. The Guardian says "Decisions on awards will be made by the government working alongside bodies such as the British Film Institute, Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England (ACE)." It won't be enough to save every institution in its present form, and it will be interesting to see what the criteria are for the decision process. But yes, it's great news so let's hold fire until we see how the money is spent.
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Post by robertb213 on Jul 5, 2020 22:17:47 GMT
Anyone else getting the feeling that this package (which is undeniably great news) is going to come with a caveat of 'but you can't re-open until 2021'? I really, really hope it's not the case.
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Post by Jon on Jul 5, 2020 22:25:58 GMT
I wonder if The Mousetrap will commit to reopening in October? I imagine that they're willing to be the canary in the coal mine given they could make profit or at least break even on low capacity.
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