Brighton and Hastings the big beneficiaries in latest Culture Recovery Fund grants

Brighton Dome & Festival Limited is to get £446,005; Brighton Early Music Festival £64,500; Brighton Fringe Ltd £75,351 and Brighton People's Theatre £25,115. Hastings Contemporary is to get £237,990 and Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition £70,913. Hastings’ Barefoot Opera gets £25,000, and The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill gets £325,000.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has announced that 925 cultural and creative organisations nationally are to receive a share of £107 million in grants and loans as part of a vital financial boost from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

This includes more than £100 million, which has been awarded in grants through Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.

As part of this announcement, funding of £3,542,035 has been awarded through the Arts Council to support 36 organisations in East Sussex. This vital funding through the Government's Culture Recovery Fund will support theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations and local venues to reopen and recover.

£3,387,439 in continuity support grants will be awarded to 34 previous Culture Recovery Fund recipients in the East Sussex, helping organisations survive and allowing them to resume programmes and events. This funding will mean people can get back to enjoying everything these organisations have to offer.

In addition to this, two organisations in the East Sussex have been awarded grants totalling £154,596 from the Emergency Resource Support strand of funding so far, with more applications undergoing assessment over the coming weeks.

Organisations receiving funding in East Sussex as part of today’s announcement include:

£446,005 for Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival (BDBF) is a leading regional and national cultural hub, reaching over 600,000 people a year through its venue Brighton Dome and annual Brighton Festival, the largest curated multi-arts festival in England. Programming ranges from music, dance, theatre, visual arts, digital and comedy alongside creative learning and participation. It is also a 5G testbed bringing artists and technologists together to explore new technologies. It has a partnership with Royal Pavilion & Museums and Brighton & Hove City Council on the Royal Pavilion Estate Masterplan.

£28,161 for Little Green Pig. Little Green Pig (LGP) is a registered charity based in Brighton that supports children and young people aged between 6 – 18 years through creative writing initiatives that build confidence, literacy and encourage self-expression. They work with children and young people based in areas of deprivation or who face challenging circumstances. Each year the team supports more than 60 children and young people across Brighton, Worthing and Eastbourne, and a further 700+ through its partners.

£25,000 for Barefoot Opera. Based in Hastings, Barefoot Opera produces high-quality, inclusive, and accessible opera. Its vision is to create Hastings: A Town That Sings, harnessing the power of music to inspire, empower and connect. As well as producing new work and training young professionals, Barefoot Opera reaches out widely into its local community, bringing people together from across generations, cultural groups and places to sing together.

£123,500 for Komedia Ltd. Komedia is an award-winning venue in Brighton that programmes over 700 events annually across comedy, theatre, music, and children's shows including acts like The Artic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons and Eddie Izzard.

£49,000 for Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft is an independent museum based in the South Downs that has previously been shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year (2013). It presents the story of artists and craftspeople based in and around Ditching since 1900, as well as celebrating contemporary craftmakers and artists.

£325,000 for The De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP). The De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP) is an iconic Grade I listed modernist building and centre for contemporary visual arts with a 1500 capacity live venue, in Bexhill, East Sussex. DLWP has been bringing communities together through culture for 85 years, through exhibitions, learning and participation and a live programme (music, comedy) for 420,000 visitors per year.

Andrew Comben, chief executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, said: “Since re-opening our doors in September we realise how fortunate we are to still be here, though recovery from the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic will be long and challenging. We’ve been delighted to welcome audiences back to our venue, but there is still some way to go before everyone feels confident about coming out to live indoor events. We are enormously grateful to receive this additional funding so we can continue to deliver great events safely as we go into the winter season.”

Julian Caddy, CEO at Brighton Fringe said: “As we emerge from a devastating period for the arts, we are enormously grateful for this support, which will help secure our ability to deliver Brighton Fringe in 2022 and beyond.”

Nick Sharratt, author and illustrator, and patron of Little Green Pig said: “As a patron of Little Green Pig, I'm delighted to hear that Arts Council England have made a grant to the organisation through the Culture Recovery Fund! The last two years have presented an incredibly tough time for small arts charities, and this will enable them to carry on their brilliant work with children and young people in school and informal settings across Sussex, inspiring young minds who have the least access to cultural resources.”

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.”

The grants are:

18 Hours Ltd £36,000

201 Dance Company £26,000

Artpod Ltd £26,500

Barefoot Opera £25,000

Brighton Dome & Festival Limited £446,005

Brighton Early Music Festival £64,500

Brighton Fringe Ltd £75,351

Brighton People's Theatre £25,115

C3 Productions £35,275

De La Warr Pavilion £325,000

Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft £49,000

E3 Production Ltd £58,556

Farleys House & Gallery Ltd £85,000

FMLY Agency Ltd £98,509

Hastings Contemporary £237,990

Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition £70,913

Jamm Hot Ltd £98,046

Komedia Ltd £123,500

Little Green Pig £28,161

LOOKOUT Brighton CIC £25,750

Lost Dog Dance £33,615

Mckeown Events Ltd £92,644

Otherplace Productions Ltd £155,001

Printers Playhouse £58,000

same sky £40,000

Small Pond Recordings £44,675

Smart Power Ltd £81,219

Spymonkey £66,156

Tempest Property Holdings Ltd £126,025

The Charleston Trust (Bloomsbury in Sussex) £428,000* including Sustainability funding

The Dream Engine International Ltd £70,933

The Spire Arts £25,000

Windmill Young Actors CIC £26,000

Yes/No Productions £180,000

Grand Total £3,387,439