Why the Arts Council is investing £5m of new funding into Bradford 2025 - Darren Henley

So, I am really pleased to announce that Arts Council England will be investing £5m of new National Lottery funding to Bradford Culture Company – the driving force behind Bradford 2025. This money is in addition to the £1.6m of extra investment we have made in Bradford through our 2023 National Portfolio and £10m from the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The money we are announcing will help the work already going on to create an amazing year of cultural events in the city. It will help cement Bradford and Yorkshire’s place as a leading creative and cultural hub in England. On one of my most recent visits to Bradford, I went to the Alhambra to see Rambert dance company’s Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. It brought to life the original in a new way for both audiences familiar with the small screen version and those who were not.

That was true of those I chatted to during the interval and were sitting either side of me at the theatre. One couple were avid fans of the television programme but had never been to a theatre to see a dance production before. For those on my opposite side, the opposite was true. They were keen fans of ballet but had never seen the television programme. All of us were enjoying the story unfolding on the stage.

For me those two couples are a great example of what all our investment in Bradford and across the rest of Yorkshire and every corner of the country is setting out to achieve. It is about the Arts Council being what I like to call an “and, and” development agency for our nation’s creative and cultural life.

It is about being here for both those who are regular theatre goers and the newbies – both eager to see something to delight and inspire them. It is about being here for dance and theatre and literature and music of all kinds. It is about being here for a life-long museum visitor and a child excited about going to a library for the first-time. And for those who make sure they see every new visual arts exhibition and for those who until today had never walked through the doors of an art gallery before.

And that for me is also what Hull showed a really great year as UK City of Culture can do. And I know that sums up what creative director of Bradford 2025, Shanaz Gulzar, has said she and the team are trying to achieve in Bradford too. And also there is something more than that. She has spoken about the dividends that investment in creativity and culture can bring to Bradford. Kickstarting further economic investment in the city, offering chances and choices to young people and those of all ages to be inspired to be creative and gain new skills, developing homegrown talent, and giving people the chance to visit and take part in excellent creative activities and cultural experiences closer to home. And it is what the Arts Council is about too.

Darren Henley is chief executive of Arts Council England.