Building cultural infrastructure across England

As with so many plans over the last year, the coronavirus pandemic meant that our intention to launch the Cultural Investment Fund in March 2020 was put on hold while we delivered the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. The arts and cultural sector, despite rallying to provide connections with their communities and digital content during lockdowns, has been hit hard by the resulting building closures and diminishing income streams and we know that the road back will be challenging.  

So, I’m pleased to share that the Cultural Investment Fund is now being launched and we’ll be working with our colleagues from Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver it.  

Aiming to help improve existing and deliver new cultural infrastructure across England, the three capital funds are Cultural Development Fund (CDF), Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) and Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF). An award of £3,965,000 from the Cultural Investment Fund has already been given to Coventry City of Culture which started on 15 May, and more than £12 million has already been committed to support the regeneration of the National Railway Museum in York. 

The Cultural Development Fund  

Culture connects people to places, shaping how they feel, creating jobs, forging connections and strengthening the feeling of community. The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) will support places outside of London to invest in creative, cultural and heritage initiatives that are designed to make places more attractive to live and work in and to visit. This builds on the success of the first round of the Cultural Development Fund round launched in 2018, which has resulted in five successful and innovative projects in places across England.

With a budget of £18.5 million in 2021/ 22, it recognises the transformative power that culture can have on economic and social growth and productivity – and successful projects will reflect the needs of each area, bringing together partners such as a local authority, a university or a Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver ambitious and innovative initiatives to enable real local transformation. 

The Museums Estate and Development Fund (MEND)  

The Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) is available to non-national Accredited museums and has a budget of £18.8 million for 2021/ 22.

Grants from this fund will help museums to carry out work on vital infrastructure and maintenance issues delivering on recommendations from the Mendoza Review of museums in England commissioned by DCMS. And, while supporting these repairs, we also want to help museums become more environmentally sustainable - so when a roof is repaired, it will be lagged as well to save on heating costs. And the refurbishing of any items connected with access will include improvements to ensure better access for disabled people and people with access needs. 

The Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) 

Libraries sit at the heart of our communities, providing a safe space for residents while offering services such as reading groups and back to work programmes. The Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF)  has a budget of £5 million  for 2021/ 22 which will help libraries to deliver these services and reach their local communities.  A grant could be used to refurbish a library to make it more suitable for delivering cultural events like plays and writing workshops, or health and wellbeing classes. Or it could support the improvement of library buildings by increasing baby-changing facilities or purchasing furniture or equipment.

Acquiring more computers could help local people apply for jobs and improve their digital literacy skills and updating software might be useful for ticketing events and better communication with library users. LIF funding can also be used to make libraries more accessible or environmentally sustainable.   

Looking to the future  

The Cultural Investment Fund was originally proposed as a five-year programme. We  currently have funding agreed for 2021/ 22  with potential future funding to be confirmed at a later date.  

All the information you need about the application process is available on our website.

I urge you to look at the guidance for each of the three funds to see if  the  Cultural Investment Fund  is right for your organisation.