Investment in creative talent and organisations can make a difference to Yorkshire - Darren Henley

Yorkshire has a rich creative and cultural heritage. It has a vibrant and exciting creative and cultural present. And with the help of the amazing arts organisations, museums and libraries based in this county, Arts Council England want to make sure it continues to have an inspirational and bright creative and cultural future for everyone living here.

We are announcing how we plan to use our investment of taxpayers and lottery players money over the next three years to make sure we do just that. Not just for those of you lucky enough to call Yorkshire their home but also for the entire country.

Organisations we fund across this county embrace the vision we set out in our 10-year strategy, Let’s Create. They offer chances and choices for everyone, whatever their background and wherever they are from, to experience and be inspired by great creativity and culture at libraries, museums, concert halls, theatres, and festivals.

For Bradford that is woven into the fabric of plans for its year as UK City of Culture. It has really ambitious ideas of how it will showcase the city nationally and internationally during those twelve months. Those plans include a thousand new performances and events – many of those specially commissioned for the year-long celebration of art and culture. To help realise those aspirations we are substantially increasing our investment in the city by more than £1.6m a year.

Yorkshire will see the biggest rise in investment by the Arts Council of any part of the North of England. The county contains some of the most exciting, innovative and ambitious organisations in the creative and cultural sector. They work at all levels and scales delivering excellent experiences which make a difference to the lives of those living and working in communities across this county. Yorkshire has a long and proud tradition, in so many fields, of making an important contribution to our national life. It is exciting to see that the organisations in this county we fund are working with others both across the country and internationally to refresh and grow the creative and cultural scene not just in Yorkshire but in England as a whole.

Our investment plans will mean us building on relationships with the organisations we already worked with in Yorkshire. And it also means us tapping into the rich seams of activity done by others. That includes four places in Yorkshire and one just across the Humber in Lincolnshire where historically our investment has been too low: Kirklees and Selby in West Yorkshire, Barnsley and Rotherham in South Yorkshire, and North East Lincolnshire. We call these our Priority Places.

I believe investment in creative talent and organisations can really make a difference to the lives of everyone and help boost growth in our world class creative industries. This is important in tough economic times like the ones we are facing now.

The organisations we are investing in will work with the communities they are based in to make sure those places and the people who live and work in them share in the benefits that great art, creativity, and culture can bring. Meaning that everyone can have the chance to be inspired by culture, explore their creativity, and help realise their aspirations in this great county they call their home.

Darren Henley is the CEO of Arts Council England.