Starting from now

It’s really exciting to say welcome to 985 arts organisations, libraries, and museums from our new National Portfolio - 275 of which are receiving regular investment from us for the first time. And many of those have their home in places where we’ve not regularly funded an organisation before.  

One thing unites them though. They have exciting plans to create engaging and excellent cultural experiences for people living across the country.  

Our investment of £445 million a year will support them to do just that, to develop new projects and ideas, and to help achieve the vision set out in our strategy Let’s Create.  

 

More People, More Places 

Our investment is about making sure that the creative talent of everyone has the chance to flourish. It’s about making sure that in more places, more people get the chance to experience the best in creativity and culture. And it’s also about making sure that our creative and cultural sector is world renowned, is collaborative, is innovative and is inclusive.  

All this is important because the money we invest isn’t our own. It’s taxpayers’ and National lottery players’ money. And as such it’s our job as the development agency and champion of creativity and culture to make sure that everyone gets the benefit of our investment. As I said when launched Let’s Create: we are an Arts Council for the whole of England.   

It means investing £130 million in 78 places where we know for too long our investment has been too low. It sees Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery receive regular funding. One of the country’s first purpose-built museums outside of London, it was also one of the first to have a gallery dedicated to South Asian culture. It will see funding going to Mansfield. That means investment for the town’s library and for the Palace Theatre. The theatre has been at the heart of the Nottinghamshire town since it opened in 1910 and welcomes 140,000 visitors a year. There is also investment for Barnsley libraries for the first time. It will also see funding for the Island Collection which works to establish the Isle of Wight as a significant cultural destination for those that live there and those that visit the island. A big part of that is helping support the creative and cultural life of children and young people and providing opportunities for career development.  

 

Creating opportunities  

Creating just those kind of opportunities for children and young people is also a big part of the work we are investing in. It’s the kind of work that Zest Theatre from Lincoln does by giving a voice to young people through not only in theatres but festivals, the work they do in schools and by using digital spaces. Or by Artswork based in Southampton which uses art and culture to give children and young people the chance to explore and fulfil their potential and empower them. And it’s seen in the activities of Rotherham based Grimm & Co which inspires and nurtures creativity and writing in young minds.  

Investing in excellence 

We are also investing in some of the nation’s most iconic names known across the globe which attracts millions of visitors each year, span so much of our cultural heritage. We’re welcoming Blackpool Illuminations to the portfolio. Our investment will allow them to share their expertise and collaborate to lead a network of light festivals across the North of England. It’ll help share the spectacle and magic the Illuminations bring to the seaside resort to even more people and places. This portfolio will also welcome back the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Opera House. These organisations are known for the excellence of their performances and the amazing grounding they provide in the skills that are needed to sustain our world class creative and cultural sector. That same ambition and quality, innovation and experimentation, and excellence is seen in all the organisations we are investing in. It’s seen in the inspiring and pioneering work of the award-winning Ballet Black. It’s also the case for the internationally applauded ensemble of disabled and non-disabled professional musicians Paraorchestra. And as Bradford prepares to become the UK City of Culture in 2025, we’ve increased our investment in the annual Bradford Literature Festival. The ten-day event hosts an impressive array of authors, poets, speakers, musicians and artists from Bradford, the UK and across the globe. 

Building for the future 

Inevitably with any new portfolio there has been change – along with newcomers, others are leaving the portfolio or receiving different levels of investment than before. We’re doing our part to make sure that change is managed fairly and compassionately as possible. This includes the £10.5 million Transition funding for organisations leaving our portfolio, equating to seven months’ additional investment to help them plan for their future. We’ve made a further £8.6 million of investment through the Transform programme, to support organisations who are receiving lower levels of funding than in the last portfolio to restructure their businesses over the next three years.

When Let’s Create was launched in 2020 I said that over the course of the decade in front of us the world in which we’re operating will inevitably alter: economic, social, political and environmental challenges will shift and evolve, and new opportunities will arise. I didn’t anticipate the scale of the challenges that both the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis would pose. But I stand by what I said at the time – that if we’re going to support the cultural sector to be fit for the future, we have to make sure that everyone, everywhere, benefits from it and can be part of it. 

We believe our investments through this portfolio will help us to do just that. And by doing so will help build a country in which every single one of us has the opportunity to benefit from a rich creative and cultural life.