Eastbourne theatres and gallery receive cash to help them recover from pandemic

The Royal Hippodrome Theatre has received £188,744 from the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund with Printers Playhouse getting £83,672 and the Towner Art Gallery a further £140,500.

The money will help the trio survive the pandemic, which has seen them hard hit by restrictions on public gatherings since March.

Eastbourne and Willingdon MP Caroline Ansell has welcomed the cash injection.

She said the three are part of 1,300 museums, theatres and arts organisations sharing £257 million of government funding for the sector announced this week as part of a wider £1.57 billion pot to help the arts.

The MP said, “This is much needed money for some of Eastbourne’s much-loved cultural settings and it again shows this government is doing all it can to help Eastbourne weather the storm of this dreadful pandemic.

“I am constantly making the case to the government for our town and I am delighted we continue to receive generous and unprecedented government support to ensure we can bounce back once the threat of this virus is over.

“I will continue to make this case so that as many businesses, jobs, sectors and organisations are saved as possible. That’s my job: to do all I can to protect as much as I can.”