Gloucester Guildhall and Museum receives recovery funding boost
Gloucester City Council has been awarded a grant of £50K from the third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help the city’s cultural sector recover from the pandemic.
More than £100million has been awarded to cultural organisations including Gloucester Guildhall and Museum of Gloucester in the latest round of support.
Gloucester Guildhall offers a variety of live shows such as music, comedy, theatre, dance, and contemporary film as well as participatory workshops and art exhibitions, and sees over 50,000 people passing through the doors annually.
The grant will compensate some of Gloucester Guildhall’s loss of income as a result of months of closures; as well as go towards developing a long term business plan to improve services and events for the future.
While the funding awarded to the Museum of Gloucester will go towards making significant improvements to their website.
Over the past year the city council in total has received over £250K in funding from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
Cllr Andrew Lewis, cabinet member for culture and leisure at Gloucester City Council, said: “We are grateful to be awarded with these much needed recovery funds from the Arts Council England who have helped our venues to get through some of the really tough challenges thrown at us over the past year.
“These funds will compensate from some of the lost income from Gloucester Guildhall from cancelled and postponed gigs as well as to make improvements to the Museum of Gloucester’s website. The funding will also allow us to develop some ambitious plans for Gloucester Guildhall as we revise and improve our events and services for the future.”
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from. Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives.”