Over £30 million awarded to Arts organisations across the UK from the Garfield Weston Foundation
Over a hundred cultural organisations across the UK are being awarded over £30m from a new one-off fund to support the cultural sector set-up by the Weston family in response to the devastating impact of Covid-19. The Weston Culture Fund is supporting a diverse range of organisations from museums to regional theatres to national touring ballet companies.
Some of those receiving funding from the Foundation include Ballet Black, the National Theatre, Paraorchestra, Lakeland Arts, Northern Ballet and the NoFit State Circus. Grants range from £100,000 up to £1.5m based on the size of the organisation.
The Foundation’s Trustees decided to increase the fund to over £30m after seeing the level of creativity and determination from arts organisations who have been hit by the pandemic and are fighting hard to ‘keep the lights on’.
The Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, says:
“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 re-open and get back to what they do best and we hope that this new funding will help many of them do exactly that.”
Rhian Harris, Chief Executive, said :
“We are delighted to have received a grant from the Weston Culture Fund and believe that it will be transformational for Windermere Jetty Museum. This funding will allow us to not only react to the pandemic-era but to robustly adapt, making the Museum a relevant, safe and fun space for our visitors. The grant also allows the Museum to expand beyond its walls to reach audiences and communities digitally, ensuring that engagement is still possible even through future lockdown periods”
The Foundation highlighted that its regular funding streams are still open and it very much welcomes applications across all areas of its grant programmes. Since April 2020, the Foundation has given away over £75 million in funding to support charities across the UK.
