£20 million for five areas to invest in culture

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright has announced that five locations across England will receive a share of £20 million to invest in local culture, heritage and creative industries.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport funding will help Grimsby, Thames Estuary, Plymouth, Wakefield and Worcester support and improve local cultural plans which are tailored to the strengths and needs of each area, including £3.2 million to use public art to revive the town centre in Grimsby and 3.5 million to develop the use of immersive and digital technologies in Plymouth.

The Cultural Development Fund is expected to create over 1,300 new jobs, benefit 2,000 people through skills training, and support more than 700 businesses. Through match-funding, an additional £17.5 million will be invested across the five locations.

Wright, who announced the funding as part of a major speech in Coventry, who will be the next UK City of Culture in 2021, said: “Creativity, arts and heritage make our towns and cities unique and our communities better places to live. The Cultural Development Fund will support tailored local plans that use culture to create jobs, boost tourism and ultimately regenerate communities. This is an incredible opportunity that will not only help people build careers in the arts and culture locally but also boost wider investment and diversify the creative economy.”

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “Culture, heritage and arts help to make places where people want to live, work and visit, with councils playing a leading role in supporting this. This new funding will help bring these benefits to more areas and their communities. However the impacts of culture should be felt in every community across the country whether small or large, urban or rural, economically successful or struggling to attract business.

“Councils face an £8 billion funding gap by 2025, and our core cultural services like libraries and museums will come under increasing financial pressure unless local government finance is put on a sustainable footing.”

Nicholas Serota, chair at Arts Council England, said: “At the Arts Council we believe that arts, culture and creativity have the power to transform people’s lives and the places where they live. It’s been a pleasure to work with DCMS to deliver the Cultural Development Fund, which makes significant investment across the arts, heritage and creative industries to bring about real change – and gives us the opportunity to demonstrate and quantify the impact that arts and culture have on economic growth and productivity in urban areas.”