Arts Council England awards over £10m to bring art culture and creativity to more people in Cambridgeshire
Fenland is among the areas to benefit from £10,384,938 awarded to Cambridgeshire, as Arts Council England backs art, culture and creativity for more people in more places across the country.
Today (Friday), Arts Council England reveals details of funding for organisations funded across the country through its 2023-26 Investment Programme.
Thirteen organisations in Cambridgeshire will receive a share of £3,461,646 a year, ensuring that more people in more places can find fantastic, fulfilling art and culture on their doorsteps.
Levelling Up for Culture Places, Fenland and Peterborough, will receive an investment of £779,600 per year through our support for March-based 20Twenty Productions, Gorilla Circus, Jumped Up Theatre, and Scottee & Friends, as part of the 78 designated towns and cities to receive their share of £43.5 million annually, for the next three years.
New Theatre and the Key Theatre, both in Peterborough, will also benefit from a £1,000,000 investment per year through North Devon Theatres.
Overall, there will be investment in a richly varied mix of organisations: Established NPOs such as Cambridge Junction, Kettle’s Yard, and New International Encounter; and ambitious pioneers and innovators like Wysing Arts, Collusion and Gorilla Circus.
In Arts Council England's conversations and research with the public over the past five years, they have heard again and again that people want and need easy access to meaningful, impactful cultural events and creative activities in the places where they live.
Through the investment announced today, they have focused on making certain that as many people as possible in England - no matter where they come from or what their circumstances - can get hold of the very best of art and culture on the high streets and in the community spaces of their villages, towns and cities.
The latest round of funding will benefit arts organisations, museums, and libraries in every corner of the country, including Cambridgeshire, with a clear focus on ensuring that investment is concentrated in those places that, historically, have been underserved.
Levelling Up for Culture Places, Fenland and Peterborough, will receive an investment of £779,600 per year through our support for 20Twenty Productions, Gorilla Circus, Jumped Up Theatre, and Scottee & Friends. By funding new organisations in new places, they are delivering on the vision set out in their strategy, Let's Create: that everyone, everywhere, deserves to benefit from public investment in culture and creativity.
Overall, their new portfolio is more diverse and wide-ranging than ever before. As well as renewing support for those excellent, innovative organisations that have done so much to build England's reputation as one of the most creative countries in the world, they are investing in six exciting new organisations in Cambridgeshire of all shapes and sizes, that will together help find and nurture the next generation of talent across the country.
These include: Collusion (based in Cambridge and Levelling Up for Culture Place, Kings Lynn, whose primary focus is art and technology); 20Twenty Productions (based in Levelling Up for Culture Place Fenland, whose work engages children and young people through creative activities and industry opportunities); and Jumped Up Theatre (who work to engage local audiences in Levelling Up for Culture Place, Peterborough, with innovative programming and co-creation projects).
Arts Council England South East Area director, Hazel Edwards, said: “Today we’re announcing investment in an exciting cohort of creative and cultural organisations across the East of England. From libraries, community art centres, museums, theatres, galleries, and more, these organisations will ensure that more people and more places– and particularly those who have been excluded in the past – are able to participate in vibrant and varied cultural activities. We’re also ensuring that the organisations we’re investing in enable creativity to thrive in and energise every corner and every community in all of the East of England.”
Arts Council England chair, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: “As well as continuing our commitment to our many established and renowned cultural organisations, I am deeply proud of the support we will be giving to those new organisations which will help ignite creativity across the country. We are facing economic pressures at present but this funding is about an investment in our future. This portfolio will support the next generation of visionary inventors, makers, performers and artists. In particular, the growth of our funding for organisations that support and develop work for children represents a profoundly important long-term investment in our country’s talent.”
Arts Council England chief executive, Darren Henley, said: “Together, each of the 990 organisations that have been offered funding today will contribute to a portfolio that is rich, varied and truly national. This is our widest ever spread of investment across the country, ensuring that many more people will have access to a wider choice of exceptional art, culture and creative opportunities on their doorsteps. We are in tough times but we must remember creativity brings with it extraordinary dividends, boosting our country’s economic growth, creating jobs, bringing communities closer together, and making us happier as individuals. Everyone deserves to enjoy the benefits it brings, and with this investment, we believe we’ve taken a decisive step towards making that vision a reality.”
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “Arts Council England’s investment in arts and cultural organisations in the East of England will help to open up access and bring culture to those areas all too often overlooked. It will mean people in the region will benefit from and engage with our fantastic cultural sector.”
