Placemaking

An arts charity in the North West of England will receive a funding boost of more than £800k after successfully applying to Arts Council England’s (ACE) Place Partnership Fund.

ACE has awarded Culture Warrington a £600,000 grant to create a two-year programme focused on developing the Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival (WCAF).

Culture Warrington, which oversees Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Pyramid Arts Centre and Parr Hall, will also get match funding from Warrington Borough Council and Warrington Business Improvement District of £240,000. 

Describing the grants as “game-changing”, Culture Warrington said it plans to use the money to renew its focus on “accessible large-scale, outdoor and family-friendly events” across three new project areas – community engagement, artist development and children and young people.

The programme will see the creation of four new jobs before the end of the year ahead of the festival in the spring. The enhanced WCAF will also incorporate a Fringe Festival, artist training opportunities and a young producers’ project.

Leah Biddle, Director of WCAF, said: “Our established festival has continued to grow and evolve each year, and this investment will ensure we can create a transformational change within Warrington’s cultural sector.

“We have responded to feedback to create a new children and young people’s programme, enhancing existing activity and developing unique opportunities to explore pathways into the creative industries.”

Russ Bowden, Leader of Warrington Borough Council, added: “High-quality cultural events are an essential part of Warrington’s offer, as they play a crucial role in making our area an attractive and vibrant destination to visit, as well as bringing social and health and wellbeing benefits."

Arts Council England (ACE) has extended its 2022-25 Creative People and Places (CPP) for one year in response to "challenges facing organisations following the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living". 

The current programme's end date is now 31 March 2026, with a knock-on for the subsequent investment round, which will run across 2026-29 rather than 2025-28.

ACE said it wanted to remain “flexible and responsive” to the sector's needs and hoped that the extension would provide "security and stability" to existing CPP projects and "further time for developing plans" for those interested in applying to the next round.

Current CPPs must apply for the extension year in early 2024 when applications open. They can apply for their current level of funding level, pro-rata.

The CPP programme is funded by the National Lottery and distributes £38m to selected locations across England. Funded projects are part of ACE’s National Portfolio.

Applications for the next round of funding in 2026-29 will open in Autumn 2024, with organisations in 142 previously announced locations eligible to apply. 

Salford City Council has set aside a total of £475,000 for arts, culture, and heritage with money from the UK government's Shared Prosperity Fund.

Under the scheme voluntary and community organisations will be able to bid for money for projects celebrating the city’s arts, culture and heritage.

The funds are being managed by Salford CVS and applications for grants of up to £10,000 are open until noon on Monday 9 October.

Salford City Council secured the funding after submitting proposals to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which manages the fund in the city-region.

Councillor David Molyneux, Greater Manchester’s lead for Resources and Investment and leader of Wigan Council said: “Putting local authorities at the forefront of the funding allows those working at the heart of communities to engage with local people and ensure funds can be spent in a way to deliver maximum benefit."

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, said: “We’re looking forward to bringing our proposals to life for the benefit of local people and visitors to our vibrant city.”

Belfast theatre company Bright Umbrella has announced plans for a £2.6m two-theatre complex in the east of the city.

The 150-seat Sanctuary Theatre and the Little Theatre, which are both part of the same arts centre, will become the permanent base of the company, which has signed a 50-year lease and aims to use drama to improve cross-community relations.

Housed in Mountpottinger Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, which dates from 1875, the theatres are located between the predominantly unionist areas of Castlereagh Street and Albertsbridge Road and the largely nationalist Short Strand.

The location is a short way from the peace line in Cluan Place, where sectarian rioting was once a nightly feature, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

“The church sits directly on what is arguably Northern Ireland’s most notorious interface,” the theatre company’s mission statement says.

“Many buildings and sites in the vicinity are derelict. Levels of paramilitary influence are high. Violent incidents and murders ramp up community anxieties, but despite this there remains a strong sense of community belonging.”

Bright Umbrella plans to refurbish the historic church, with backing from both sides of the community. The planned upgrades will preserve original features including the stained-glass windows, pews, vaulted roof timbers and the plaques and monuments honouring soldiers from the First World War.

“The original plan was to tour classical plays to other people’s theatres, but when we started to rehearse at Mountpottinger we realised it would be a wonderful performance space,” said artistic director Trevor Gill.

“We know funding’s tight but we are quietly confident that we can get the money we need,” he added. “We hope construction work will start in January 2025, with the opening a year later.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has accredited three new Creative Enterprise Zones in the capital.

Westminster, Brent and Islington are the latest areas to be given Creative Enterprise Zones status, bringing the total number to 12.

Across these zones, £1.2m will be allocated to nine projects seeking to make workspaces more sustainable, which is expected to benefit more than 500 businesses in the creative industries.

The Creative Enterprise Zone scheme launched in 2018 and was designed to help communities, artists and businesses enter the creative sector by providing more permanent workspaces, creative skills training, and support for start-ups.

According to the Mayor’s Office, the 12 zones will deliver 71,000 sqm of affordable creative workspace, support 800 businesses, deliver 500 jobs and support 5,000 young Londoners to get jobs in creative industries by 2026.

Khan said the zones have been “a game changer for culture in London”.

“I’m proud that our investment has helped these areas to protect local artists and enable them to bounce back from the impacts of the pandemic faster and stronger than the wider industry,” he added.

“It is vital that we continue to invest in our creative future, providing opportunities for young and emerging talent to thrive as we continue to build a better and fairer London for everyone.”