After what feels like a very long wait, 1,385 arts organisations including theatres, theatre companies, galleries, museums and arts centres have been given money in the first allocation of the government’s culture recovery fund. The money comes from a £500 million grant scheme that forms a central part of the government’s £1.57 billion culture recovery fund.

Bristol Old Vic, The Young Vic Theatre, The Finborough and Leicester Curve are among the performance venues who have received funding today.

The Young Vic has been given £961,455 to help it partially reopen and operate its outreach and development schemes remotely.  The Leicester Curve received £950,000 to help with reopening plans and Bristol Old Vic received £610,466 to develop a new business model that will combine live performance with online work. Exeter Northcott Theatre has been given £183,399 to help develop a new business model, Storyhouse in Chester has been granted £730,252 to help it stage live performances again and Poole’s multi-arts centre, the Lighthouse, has received £987,964.

The £1 billion rescue package was announced back in July, with theatres now being given the first sums of money from the amount promised by the Government to help them survive the pandemic. Recipients announced today are those who applied in the first round of applications, for grants less than 1 million, with further grants and larger loans still to be announced.

The funding is focused on helping organisations, rather than individuals, to “stay afloat” until next spring and support their plans to reopen and begin performances again, as well as to protect staff and create opportunities for freelancers. Culture Minister, Oliver Dowden, said the announcement would provide a “vital boost” for the theatres and venues “that form the soul of the nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery”.

Fringe theatre, the Finborough, has been given nearly £60,000 to secure it’s future. Playwright James Graham, whose first professional play was produced by the Earl’s Court fringe venue, described the announcement as “such a relief”. Hackney Empire, Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake, Theatre Peckham, Wigmore Hall, Liverpool’s Cavern Club, Salisbury Playhouse, Beamish Museum, The Royal Academy of Dance and the Beamish Museum have also received funding.

The grants are administered by Arts Council London, whose Chair, Nicholas Serota, said that “theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This is a difficult time for us all, but this first round of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund will help sustain hundreds of cultural spaces and organisations that are loved and admitted by local communities and international audiences. He also said that further funding would be announced later this month.

The full list of funding recipients can be found here.