Sustain backs quality

Countering the adverse impact of the recession on artistic programming has been “a driving force” of the Sustain fund, an Arts Council England (ACE) spokesperson told AP following the announcement of the penultimate award. It included £500,000 to the Bluecoat and £406,000 to English Touring Opera. Applications from the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Kube, London Sinfonietta, Shaftesbury Arts Centre and Tamasha were refused. Many organisations partly blamed their financial problems on a loss of income from sponsorship, trusts and foundations. Of 109 awards made so far, only 9 have been to organisations with a turnover of less that £250,000 p.a. “This programme had to be a swift, efficient and very strategic investment,” said the spokesperson. “To have had a process [of] hundreds or even thousands of small awards would mean that a lot more was spent on administration and it would have taken a lot longer.” She added that ACE believes that awards to larger organisations will help to sustain smaller companies which collaborate with them. ACE has announced that it is releasing further Lottery funds so that the remaining applications “can be assessed against criteria and not against budget”. ACE will now undertake a review of Sustain before deciding if further support is needed to weather the recession and what form it might take. The next round of Sustain funding will be announced in January.