UK Government announces emergency relief funding for the arts

 Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street 

The UK Government has announced emergency relief funding to help the arts and culture sector weather the ongoing impacts of Omicron.

In England, £30 million will be added to the Culture Recovery Fund for arts organisations and £1.5 million to a hardship fund for creative freelancers. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive extra funding to the devolved administrations.

This is an important result, aided by thousands of supporters of the Public Campaign for the Arts who asked the Culture Secretary to deliver an emergency relief fund.

However, there is still more that needs to be done to ensure that UK culture is protected. The Chancellor has increased the Culture Recovery Fund by just 1.5% at a time when some theatres are losing as much as 40% of their annual incomes.

The Music Venue Trust is warning that grassroots venues are “on the brink of collapse”. Events and contracts are being cancelled whilst many people still cannot access the financial support they need.

We will keep campaigning to ensure that UK culture is protected through this very challenging winter. Please join us by signing and sharing our petition.

If you can, please also consider a donation to your local arts and cultural organisations via the Arts Map, or to organisations such as Help Musicians and the Theatre Artists Fund who will be sending support directly to creative freelancers over the coming weeks.

CFTA Team

CFTA Team

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