The Garfield Weston Foundation has announced the names of over one hundred arts organisations who are to share in awards totalling more than £30 million.
The support comes from the new one-off Weston Culture Fund created in response to the devastation wrought on the arts by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Weston Culture Fund is supporting a diverse range of organisations from museums to regional theatres to national touring ballet companies.
Foundation director Philippa Charles said, “our cultural sector is at the heart of our local communities providing not only entertainment but education and inspiration for many. Our Trustees were impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit shown across the arts in response to COVID-19 and it was a privilege to hear what organisations had been doing to not only survive but also to reinvent the way they reach audiences. What really stood out was the level of collaboration and support they had for each other and the determination to keep going, despite the increasingly difficult situation.
We all want and need our cultural sector to thrive and, if anything, our time away from the arts has shown just how important they are to us—bringing much needed pleasure and enrichment to our lives. Arts organisations are desperate to reopen and get back to what they do best and we hope that this new funding will help many of them do exactly that.”
Grants start at £100,000 and reach up to £1.5 million and are based on the size of the organisation.
They include the National Theatre which receives the biggest award of £1.5 million, Ballet Black (£106,284), Paraorchestra (£100,000), Lakeland Arts (£200,000), Northern Ballet (£600,000) and the NoFit State Circus (£276,000).
The full list of recipients is available online.
The fund is now closed but support may be available from the Foundation's ongoing programme.