Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Grimm & Co and the Brudenell Social Club get Culture Recovery Fund support

Operations worker Will Poppleton mows the grass around Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos' Solitaire at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Picture: Tony Johnson.

The venues have been awarded help from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, it has been announced today.

The investment is aimed at saving 1,385 theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and ensure they have a sustainable future and is the biggest tranche of funding distributed to date from the Culture Recovery Fund.

This funding will help allow performances to restart, venues to plan for reopening and to protect jobs and create opportunities for freelancers. yo

Kaiser Chiefs at the Brudenell Social Club. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe.

Those organisations who are set to receive funding will find out this morning from distributor Arts Council England (ACE) what they will receive. Today’s recipients are those that applied for grants of under £1 million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund.

They include Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, which gets £804,013 to help it adapt its buildings to new regulations and help it continue to reopen safely.

The shows work by British and international artists including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Its collection of the works by Moore is one of the largest open-air displays of his bronzes in Europe.

Grimm & Co, based in Rotherham also gets £86,000 to help it survive and continue to provide support for children with creativity and writing.

The literacy charity supports children aged seven to 18 to improve their confidence and skills and counts actor and screenwriter Mark Gatiss, author Joanne Harris MBE and poet Ian McMillan among its patrons.

The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds will get £220,429 to host a free weekly event, as well as stream events while working with partners such as Music:Leeds and Made With Music.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.

“These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country - from the Beamish museum in County Durham to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Bristol Old Vic.

“This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.”

Sir Nicholas Serota, chairman of Arts Council England, said: “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 admired by local communities and international audiences.

"Further funding will be announced later in the month and we are working hard to support creative organisations and individuals during these challenging times.”