New investment in a world-class theatre and charity in Nottingham, after years of cuts, has been welcomed by officials.
Nottingham Contemporary art gallery and the Nottingham Playhouse had been among the five key cultural organisations to receive funding from Nottingham City Council.
In 2023/24, the council provided them with a share of £198,000 – that’s down on the £232,000 given out the previous year.
However, in March 2024, just months after the council’s finance director declared the council effectively bankrupt, all contributions to the cultural sector were slashed in what were described as “devastating” cuts.
In the years since, following the appointment of a new leadership team, council officers, and a team of Government commissioners, the financial crisis at the authority has improved.
As part of a £25 million investment package, the council has now promised to begin reinvesting in arts and culture in the city.
Around £200,000 – every year for the next five years – will be made available to invest in the development and commissioning of new activities across the city.
Lee Henderson, chief operating officer, and Amanda Farr DL, chair of the board of trustees at Nottingham Playhouse, said: “We are encouraged to see that support for cultural organisations features in the latest Nottingham City Council proposals.
“Alongside creating and presenting ambitious theatre, our work at Nottingham Playhouse supports local employment, skills development, hospitality and visitor economy activity, while helping to attract audiences and investment into Nottingham.
“Many of the council’s proposals chime with our own aims: ensuring cultural opportunities are taken into the community, commissioning and producing new work to attract visitors to the city, and ensuring access for all through our audience development work on inclusivity and accessibility.
“Our own participation department offers over 60 different programmes which create life-changing experiences, such as our flagship drama provision Shine, working with 14 community partners to deliver free theatre sessions for young people.
“Our Amplify artist development programme, with over 1,000 members, feeds into the local artistic community. Recent successes such as Punch transferring to the West End and Broadway demonstrate the wider impact that work developed in Nottingham can have nationally and internationally.
“Continued investment in arts and culture is vital at a time when access to creative opportunities is under increasing pressure from rising costs and reduced provision elsewhere. Sustained support allows organisations such as Nottingham Playhouse, a registered charity, to continue delivering cultural, social and economic value for Nottingham and its communities.”
The council says the fund will provide small grants of approximately £5,000 to community organisations, festivals, artists and cultural organisations, as well as some larger co-produced, commissioned events, which can bid for grants of up to £25,000 to develop longer-term cultural tourism events for the city.
The cultural investment fund is a new grant fund, though the council says it has previously offered similar funds through different funding streams in the past.
Councillor Ethan Radford, the deputy leader and executive member for finance said : “It is an acknowledgement that, prior to the last two years, whilst we were experiencing our financial challenges, it is an area the council had to step away from.
“It was seen as a nice-to-have, whereas in actual fact it is a key and critical part of the local economy.
“Not only does it provide jobs for people, but it provides enrichment activities and things people can actually enjoy.
“It isn’t a nice-to-have; it is a critical part of the economy. You look at places like Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, they have a really strong and robust cultural offer.
“We are not there yet, but this is certainly the first step towards layering that money back in.”
