Additional £300m boost to Culture Recovery Fund

The Chancellor is expected to announce a £300m boost to the Culture Recovery Fund as part of almost £410m additional support for Britain’s arts, culture and heritage industries in the Budget on Wednesday 3 March.

The extra £300m will further expand the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund and includes:

• £1.15bn of grants and loans (£880m grants and £270m loans).
• £100m for National Museums and cultural bodies.
• £120m Capital Kickstart Fund to restart and accelerate capital projects.
• £188m Barnett consequential for the devolved administrations – £97m for the Scottish Government, £59m for the Welsh Government and £33m for the NI Executive.
• £15m administrative support.

The Culture Recovery Fund was launched in July and, to date, has awarded over £800m in grants to over 3,000 organisations in England. A second round of funding will be awarded by the end of March 2021, with a third funding round supported by this extra £300m of investment.

Responding to the news, AIM Chair Andrew Lovett said

“In face of the cataclysmic financial shock caused to the UK by COVID-19 and the competing demands this creates it is tremendously heartening to see that the Government is continuing to back culture. I welcome this latest investment through the Culture Recovery Fund because investment it is – providing a future for such a valued part of our lives. The returns will be great and long-lasting.”

Details on how to apply for the additional funding will be published by DCMS in due course. AIM will update related advice pages as soon as available.

UK Gov Culture Recovery Fund>>

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