As Manchester's plight as a Covid hotspot continues to have a serious impact on the cultural sector, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has published a Cultural Recovery Plan outlining how the sector will be supported and protected over the next six months while many organisations remain shut and social-distancing requirements remain in place. There are are around 200 large cultural organisations and venues in Greater Manchester, and another 500 smaller community organisations, all of which are being affected by ongoing closures. Announcing the six-month plan, Mayor Andy Burnham said: “The Cultural Recovery Plan outlines how we will protect the arts and night time economy during the usually busy winter period for the sector, with further funding opportunities, virtual events and commissioned activity for artists being developed.”
The main way GMCA supports the cultural sector in Greater Manchester is through its GM Culture Portfolio - 35 cultural organisations based across all ten districts of Greater Manchester, which receive funding to deliver activity throughout the city region.The Plan encourages them to support the wider cultural sector in the region, including renegotiating what they deliver to maximise impact and reflect what is feasible within the next six months. As well as supporting the wider sector, it focuses on building back better and ensuring activity planned before Covid-19 will continue, by
• Supporting individual artists and freelancers
• Providing cultural activity for communities hardest hit by Covid-19
• Providing opportunities for young people
• Reducing inequality, with a particular focus on BAME, disabled and working class artists and professionals
While this plan focusses on the period up to March 2021, a further plan for 2021-22 will be drawn up early in 2021, when more is known about the longer-term impact of Covid-19 on the region's cultural life.