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Second round of Cultural Recovery Fund recipients unveiled

Some 588 arts and cultural organisations, including comedy clubs, festivals, and regional theatres, have received a share of more than £76m in the second round of the UK government’s Cultural Recovery Fund.

Successful venue applicants include London’s historic Troubadour (£647,172), Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club (£246,397), The Dec Camden (£197,385) and The Jazz Cafe (£55,000).

Festivals to receive funding include Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival (£219,232), Leeds’ Mint Festival (£100,000) and Cocoon In The Park (£100,000).

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This is more vital funding to protect cultural gems across the country, save jobs and prepare the arts to bounce back. Through Arts Council England we are delivering the biggest ever investment in the arts in record time. Hundreds of millions of pounds are already making their way to thousands of organisations.

“These awards build on our commitment to be here for culture in every part of the country.”

The announcement adds to the £257m awarded to 1,300 groups last week, bringing the grants to a total of £333m.

Organisations have been awarded grants under £1m in the first two rounds of funding this week. Darlington Hippodrome in County Durham is receiving the largest grant of £1m to run a programme of engagement activities including youth theatre courses, adult dance classes and community events ranging from themed tours of the theatre to art classes for local people.

Further details of grant awards of up to £3m and £270m in repayable cultural finance will follow in the coming days and weeks.

Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, said: “Culture is an essential part of life across the country, helping to support people’s wellbeing through creativity and self-expression, bringing communities together, and fuelling our world class creative industries.

“This latest set of awards from the Culture Recovery Fund builds on those announced recently and will help hundreds of organisations to survive the next few months, ensuring that the cultural sector can bounce back after the crisis. We will continue doing everything we can to support artists and cultural and creative organisations, with further funding to be announced in the coming weeks.”

However, The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has expressed its disappointment at the scale of the oversight, leaving major venues in an “extremely difficult financial position.”

NTIA CEO Michael Kill said: “We have been aware all along that the fund would not be able to support everyone, and will leave many businesses who have missed out on this opportunity awaiting on a perilous cliff edge.

“But given the significance of some of the businesses that have been left out, we are concerned with regard to eligibility and fair consideration around the types of businesses and the criteria they have been measured against.”