I would like to urge all cultural organisations in my constituency to apply for new funding worth £220million. The funding will be available for both new organisations who are at imminent risk of failure and existing recipients of Culture Recovery Fund grants.
The money will take the form of an Emergency Resource Support Fund, which is open to organisations who are at risk of ceasing to trade viably within twelve weeks, and in particular, those who have not interacted with previous Culture Recovery Fund schemes to date. There will also be a Continuity Support Fund exclusively open to the more than 5000 previous Culture Recovery Fund recipients as a boost those who have received support.
I hope that any cultural organisation in Thirsk and Malton which is worried about staying in business after the challenges of the past 18 months will come forward to access this support and this includes those who have already received grants from the Culture Recovery Fund. I want to make sure that we protect theatres, museums, galleries and organisations around North Yorkshire for future generations whilst safeguarding thousands of creative jobs in the supply chain.
The fund will be run by the Arts Council England British Film Institute, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund working with Historic England. Detailed fund guidance will be published very soon with the Emergency Resource Support Fund opening as soon as possible thereafter.
There will also be an investment of £20 million into the National Heritage Memorial Fund’s Cultural Assets Fund, which will support the preservation and acquisition of cultural assets at risk of loss due to Covid 19. This boosts the fund’s own investment in 2021 to a total of £40 million. details can be found on the National Heritage Memorial Fund website nhmf.org.uk
A £35 million extension to the Heritage Stimulus Fund will be managed by Historic England. This new capital funding will support a large number of projects carried out by a variety of specialists and craftspeople across the country supporting jobs in this sector over the next six months as the nation starts to re-open. This brings the total invested in the Heritage Stimulus Fund to over £80 million.
This brings the total support from the Culture Recovery Fund to nearly £2billion. Previous recipients in Thirsk and Malton are Castle Howard Estate £4.5m, the North Yorkshire Moors Historical Railway Trust £578,000, the Ryedale Folk Museum £39,950, the Palace Cinema in Malton £21,490, Rural Arts North Yorkshire £55,000, the Wesley Centre in Malton £39,000, Pickering Methodist Church £28,700 and Scampston Hall & Walled Garden £67,500.
