Arts Council England today unveiled those organisations who were successful in applying to their investment programme for 2023 – 2026, which included 19 organisations from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who have been designated as an NPO by ACE.
City Arts Nottingham, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and Nottingham Playhouse from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are among the 19 successful venues added to the ACE portfolio helping them to develop new programmes and community activities and fly the flag for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’s arts and culture scene.
Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Planning, Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis, said:
“I’m delighted that we have received the full amount of funding that we bid for, enabling us to plan with confidence for the years ahead.
“This was a highly competitive process involving over 1,700 applicants, many of whom received no funding or less than requested.
“This is therefore a strong endorsement by Arts Council England of the City Council’s track record on delivering a high quality museums service.
“I would like to thank the council officers who put together such a strong funding bid which will benefit local people for the next three years.”
The full amount is £1.4m over the years 2023-26, so £474,775 a year, for our museums service.
Stephanie Sirr, Chief Executive of Nottingham Playhouse, said:
“We are delighted to have received the core NPO funding we applied for.
“It allows us to continue and build on our work both on-stage and within the wider Nottingham city and East Midlands communities. Increasing financial pressure impacts the costs of running the Playhouse and acts as a squeeze on our audience members’ household budgets.
“The continued support of Arts Council England offers us resilience in these tough times. It also enables us to consolidate our engagement with the community whom we serve which has never needed us more.
“It gives us the opportunity to advance our reputation as the producer of, and home to, first class theatre that is accessible to all.”
Suzannah Bedford, Director at City Arts Nottingham said:
“We are very grateful for Arts Council England’s continued support of City Arts. Receiving National Portfolio funding is a vote of confidence in our work, which breaks down barriers to reconnect people with art, culture and creativity.
“The funding will allow us to support artists from backgrounds that are under-represented in the arts, and to bring artistic excellence into communities that are under-served by the arts establishment.”
Hannah Trevarthen, Director of NUCOL, said:
“We welcome this investment from Arts Council England and thank them for including Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature in this new round of National Portfolio Organisations.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to deepen our engagement with communities across Nottingham, to champion the power of words to change lives, and to showcase the city on an international platform through the UNESCO Cities of Literature and Creative Cities networks.”
Arts Council England is the UK’s national development agency for arts and culture. Their work centres on ensuring England has a thriving culture and arts scene throughout all parts of the country and where all people have access to a range of high quality cultural and arts experiences.
They help to achieve this by investing public money from the Government and National Lottery into organisations and schemes to support the sector, including in their National Portfolio Organisations.
