AIM responds to announcement of further support

AIM welcomes the Government’s announcement today that more support will be available for organisations struggling with reduced demand due to the rapid spread of the new variant. Most importantly, a further £30m will be available from the Culture Recovery Fund to help organisations up to the end of March, answering AIM’s calls for clarity on remaining funding from the £300 million announced earlier this year. Museums and heritage organisations will also likely benefit from an extra £638 million in local authority grants in England, business rates relief this year and next year, a cut in VAT to 12.5% for leisure and hospitality, and changes to statutory sick pay.

AIM Chair Andrew Lovett said, “I’m glad to see this commitment from Government to helping culture get through the next few months, mirroring the commitment we’ve seen from our visitors over the last few months to coming back to our sites and enjoying what we have to offer”.

AIM Director Lisa Ollerhead added, “Museums and heritage have a major part to play in helping communities recover from the pandemic and I’m delighted to see this extra bit of help for our sector to recover first. It’s especially good to see this announcement now: staff and volunteers in the sector are exhausted and this news will allow many to go into the Christmas holiday period, which is so important for income heading into the rest of winter, with new hope for the new year.”

We await details from Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund on how this funding will be accessed. The emergency support schemes for organisations facing imminent insolvency have remained open throughout. We will also continue to engage with funding bodies in Scotland on support for their museums.

Following the announcement about pan-economy support in England, the Welsh government has announced £5.25 million for cultural organisations to remain stable over winter. AIM warmly welcomes this additional funding which will be open for applications 12 – 26 January 2022.

In the meantime, please do contact AIM if you need urgent help. You can email Lisa directly on [email protected]