£1.7m of funding dished out to 13 cultural organisations across Cornwall

It's to help them face the challenges of the pandemic and help their future

Author: Sarah YeomanPublished 13th Oct 2020

Over £1.7m of funding is being awarded to 13 cultural organisations across Cornwall.

The Arts Council has revealed which groups in the Duchy will get a share of £1, 767, 547, from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

This investment is aimed at helping much-loved arts organisations face the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure they have a sustainable future.

In Cornwall, organisations receiving funding include the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, the Telegraph Museum in Porthcurno and the Golowan Festival in Penzance.

Here is the full list of funding for Cornwall:

“Since lockdown in March, National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s future has been uncertain. Vital revenue streams disappeared overnight, and our ability to remain a part of our community, here in Cornwall, felt impossible. The news we have been awarded such a significant sum from the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund is a real lifeline for us. We are hugely grateful to Arts Council England for recognising the quality of the artistically ambitious programming our Museum is delivering in the South West. This grant will help secure our work for the foreseeable future and will enable us to keep our doors open to our visitors. We are thrilled the National Maritime Museum Cornwall has been recognised not only as a cultural asset for Cornwall but as a nationally significant Museum. The award means we can start to plan the next chapter in our story, one that now is a lot less unknown and one that is now a lot more hopeful.”

Richard Doughty, Director, National Maritime Museum Cornwall

In the South West the investment will help save 172 theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and music venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, to ensure they have a sustainable future and continue to bring joy to local communities and international audiences.

The recipients are those that applied for grants of under £1 million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding will help organisations create work and performances, and plan for reopening.

Although many were still active in lockdown, using creative ways to reach audiences – like acta community theatre in Bristol who developed their partnership with charity FareShare to deliver parcels containing food and craft materials to their Making Time members, and The Box in Plymouth who launched a free live-streaming service for care homes in the city.

It is the biggest tranche of funding distributed to date from the Culture Recovery Fund, and the first in a series of announcements on the funding programmes administered by Arts Council England.

Applicants for grants of over £1 million, as well as those who applied to round two of the fund and the Repayable Finance programme, will be notified of their outcomes shortly.

“The Arts Council have been hard at work administering this share of the Government’s £1.57 billion towards the cultural sector over the past few months during this challenging time for us all, so I am pleased that we are able to announce support for 172 much loved cultural organisations in the south west through this first round of funding today. Arts and culture brings communities together and helps to enrich our lives - and this funding will help keep that alive, now and for generations to come – we are here for culture.”

Phil Gibby, Area Director, Arts Council England, South West