Leicester Theatre Trust, which runs the Curve Theatre, has been awarded more than £1m in the penultimate round of Arts Council England’s (ACE) ‘Sustain’ programme. Despite opening less than 18 months ago after receiving £14.7m from ACE, Curve is one of only three organisations to receive more than £1m from the fund. One of the others is the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), which has been given a grant of £1.2m. The ICA has been widely reported to be under imminent threat of closure, and a spokesperson for ACE told AP that the ICA’s Sustain grant is in two parts: “The first £600k has addressed cashflow issues by replacing lost income… We have recently confirmed a second payment of £600k… on the basis that key conditions are met.” ACE is “taking measures to ensure that our investment is secure”. The Curve, which has seen its Chief Executive and Chair stand down in less than five months, has received Sustain funding despite not yet having received its entire Lottery grant – the remaining 2.6% (£0.4m) is expected to be paid in March.
