'Lifeline' for arts in Blackpool as Grand, Viva and Tower Circus get share of rescue funds

The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the entertainments industry is well known, having been well documented by The Gazette’s Arts in Crisis series in recent months.

But yesterday’s announcement – part of a £257m giveaway in the biggest tranche of funding yet to be handed out from the government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund – means there is, at last, a spotlight at the end of the tunnel.

More than £4.4m of the cash has gone to Lancashire, split between 30 organisations, from music venues and theatres to performing arts groups and museums. You can see the full list of where that money is going here.Eight of them are on the Fylde coast, with the biggest single award going to the Grand Theatre in Blackpool.

Bosses have welcomed the venue’s £483,666 grant, which has been hailed as a “lifeline” after the lockdown had pushed the venue perilously close to the edge.

Others to receive six-figure sums included Viva Blackpool, the Lowther Pavilion and the firm behind the Blackpool Tower Circus.

Tony Stone, chairman of the charity which operates the Grand called the grant “an absolute lifeline”.

“Since March we have been unable to earn any income as shows have been cancelled or postponed,” he said.

“We have relied on generous individual donations from our supporters, along with grant support from Arts Council England and Blackpool Council, plus the furlough scheme to avoid insolvency.

“This additional grant makes the difference between permanent closure and the potential to return when it is safe and viable to do so”.

Ruth Eastwood, chief executive of the Grand, added: “It is with very mixed feelings that I welcome news of this grant.

“It comes at a time when we have had no choice but to put our entire team, includingmyself, at risk of redundancy.”

While she said the theatre had “no choice” but to lay people off, she vowed to use the money “wisely” to prepare for the return of audiences.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “We have worked around the clock to get this funding to arts organisations.

“It will give many of our wonderful theatres, museums, art groups and cultural venues a helping hand to get them back on their feet.”

Sir Nicholas Serota, Arts Council England chairman, said the latest round of funding would “help sustain hundreds of cultural spaces and organisations that are loved and admired by local communities and international audiences”.

The announcement comes days after Blackpool’s Winter Gardens was given £846,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund.