Business News Live Business

Comments about and responses to the Culture Recovery Fund announcement

By | Published on Tuesday 13 October 2020

Empty Seats - Theatre

Oliver Dowden, UK Culture Secretary: “The government is here for culture and we have worked around the clock to get this record investment out to the frontline. It will allow our wonderful theatres, museums, music venues and cultural organisations to survive this crisis and start putting on performances again – protecting jobs and creating new work for freelancers. This is just the start – with hundreds of millions pounds more on the way for cultural organisations of all sizes that still need our help”.

Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England: “Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This is a difficult time for us all, but this first round of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund will help sustain hundreds of cultural spaces and organisations that are loved and admired by local communities and international audiences. Further funding will be announced later in the month and we are working hard to support creative organisations and individuals during these challenging times”.

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, CEO of UK Music: “This funding is fantastic news and will be a lifeline for so many music venues that have been struggling to survive since they first felt the impact of COVID-19 in March. It is a huge vote of confidence in the £5.2 billion UK music industry, and recognises that our industry will be a key part of the post-pandemic recovery”.

“The music industry has worked hard to help itself and all those who depend on it to make a living, and shown incredible ingenuity in its fight to get back on its feet. This crucial government investment in our cultural infrastructure will reap major dividends in the years ahead as we emerge from the pandemic”.

“While the music industry will still need support to help it recover, particularly for the 72% of our sector who are self-employed, today is a hugely welcome first step. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and the government should be congratulated for these vital steps to preserve our world-leading music industry. This funding will help pave the way for music to become one of the great British success stories of the next decade”.

Greg Parmley, Chair of the UK Live Music Group: “Today’s announcement throws a substantial lifeline to many organisations across the commercial live music sector, which has never needed government support before. This huge cash injection is so welcome at this time and DCMS, Arts Council England and the Treasury should be applauded for it. We look forward to continuing to work closely with colleagues at DCMS in the coming weeks and months to ensure the UK live music sector is able to regain its place at the forefront of the world”.

Music Venue Trust: “Since March, MVT has been working closely with colleagues at the Department Of Digital, Culture, Media And Sport and Arts Council England to ensure that the needs of grassroots music venues across England, and the potential threat this crisis presents to them, were fully understood. The work of DCMS and ACE in creating and delivering this fund has been extraordinary. We want to recognise the efforts of the government, particularly the Secretary Of State and the Chancellor, to understand what was required by grassroots music venues, develop a solution, and make it happen”.

“Saving our grassroots venue sector requires a massive jigsaw puzzle of efforts, from the smallest local fundraiser by a community desperate to keep its cherished local venue, to the enormous scope of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, one of the largest such funds in the world. MVT, through the hard work, passion and dedication of our regional coordinators, has worked closely with our grassroots music venue community to ensure a clear and coordinated approach to this crisis. We are proud of the resilience, strength and solidarity shown by everyone involved”.

“This intervention today helps enormously, giving MVT, our sector and our communities, an achievable opportunity to complete the English section of the jigsaw. We keenly await results from funding applications in Wales, and of round two of this fund. Our work with the governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland will continue to seek further support for venues there”.

“Our immediate focus now will be to work with every venue that was ineligible for funding, and any venue that was unsuccessful in their application to this fund, to ensure that at the end of this crisis communities right across the country have a thriving and healthy live music scene to return to. Our continued mission remains to reopen every venue safely, an aim that with this support from the government we are confident is now achievable”.

Paul Reed, CEO of Association Of Independent Festivals: “We warmly welcome this intervention from government and the results of the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund. 71% of AIF members who applied for a CRF grant in round one have been offered funding and it’s nothing short of a lifeline for those who have been successful. We thank DCMS and Arts Council England for this support, which amounts to almost £4.5m into the independent festival sector across our membership”.

“This will have a hugely positive impact on the survival of these businesses. We are pleased that we were able to work positively with DCMS officials to ensure that festival organisers were eligible for the fund and they should be praised for their diligence in supporting the sector. We’re also aware that not all independent festivals had good news today and not all received funding. We’ll continue to support, represent and fight for our membership throughout this crisis”.

Geoff Taylor, CEO of BPI: “We applaud this investment by government into the future of music and arts. We are delighted to see a wide range of different organisations, from famous venues to orchestras, local pubs and nightclubs, receive funding. This will not only help sustain our cultural life, it will make it easier for music to bounce back as a major driver of economic growth”.

Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Association Of Independent Music: “It’s fantastic to see the first tranche of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund announced. While there is still a long way to go, this is a great start and we are grateful to see £257 million distributed to such a broad range of applicants, who are being supported across so many art forms and music genres, and in so many different parts of the country”.

“We will continue to engage with our colleagues at DCMS and the Arts Council to help wherever we can to optimise each round of funding as it becomes available, making sure it is invested broadly but also strategically so that our sector can bounce back as rapidly and holistically as possible”.



READ MORE ABOUT: | | | | | | | | |