A pot of £15.2m will be available for cultural organisations across England in the latest round of funding under the government's Cultural Development Fund, it has been announced.
So far, 20 projects have received a combined total of £76.8m from the fund since 2019, with arts centres, community venues and heritage buildings among the beneficiaries.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said this year’s round will be the first time since 2019 that projects in London are eligible to apply to the fund.
Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson said the further funding will extend government's work to level up access to arts and culture in a bid to ensure that everyone has high quality opportunities on their doorstep.
“I encourage applicants to put forward ambitious proposals which will make a real difference to the lives of even more people across the country, and help to preserve the UK’s position on the world stage as a cultural and creative powerhouse,” he said.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England which is delivering the fund on behalf of DCMS, said the money will bring the transformative power of creativity and culture to more people in more places, across the country.
"By investing in the infrastructure that cultural organisations need, we can help them make an even bigger impact on the places where they're based, benefiting the communities they work with," he said.
Speaking separately at an event last Wednesday (24 January), Parkinson said the government's Cultural Education Plan will be published shortly.
"The development of a Cultural Education Plan represents an important opportunity for the range of people and organisations who have a stake and an interest in cultural education to work together and to work with us in government in a practical and tangible way to respond to that, and to improve the lives of children and young people," he said in a speech at the Association of British Orchestra's annual conference.
"The Cultural Education Plan, which we will publish very soon, aims to highlight the importance of high quality cultural education, promote the social value of it, to support career progression pathways, to address skills gaps and to tackle disparities in opportunity."