£20m government boost for culture and creative industries
Towns and cities across the country are to benefit from a £20m fund for culture, heritage and creative industries.
Areas will be able to bid for up to £7m for a number of projects in a certain area to help regeneration, create jobs and maximise the impact of investment. This could be for new spaces for creative businesses, bringing historic buildings back into use or redeveloping museums and art galleries.
The Cultural Development Fund, launched by Minister for arts, heritage and tourism, Michael Ellis, aims to help to grow local economies and increase access to arts, heritage and the creative industries.
It also aims to boost productivity in towns and cities across England and use creativity as a catalyst to make places more attractive to live, work and visit.
The initiative comes after the success of Hull 2017. Since Hull was awarded UK City of Culture in 2013, it attracted over £3bn of investment and created 800 jobs.
Meanwhile in May, Channel 4 revealed the shortlist of cities it is considering relocating to as part of its plans to have more people based outside of London.
Seven areas have been shortlisted for the national headquarters or creative hub, including Manchester and Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Stoke-on Trent, Belfast, Brighton and Newcastle-Gateshead.
The fund could also come as a boost to Coventry, which is gearing up for a year under the spotlight as UK City of Culture 2021, and support programmes set up in the wake of the 2023 European Capital of Culture bid from Leeds, which was scrapped last year after the city and other potential UK host cities were told the UK could not participate due to Brexit.
Ellis said: “Cultural investment can have a transformative impact on communities. Creativity, culture and heritage is what makes places special for local people and visitors alike. But it also helps attract inward investment, with businesses drawn to vibrant, exciting towns and cities.
“This fund gives more places the chance to harness the unique power of culture to regenerate communities, create jobs and boost tourism.”
