Liverpool Irish Festival is a proud recipient of Liverpool City Council funding, which is delivered through their Culture and Arts Investment Programme.
Providing discretionary funding, on top of statutory funding, in a city with as many economic hardships as Liverpool is incredibly difficult. Culture Liverpool, the cultural office at the Council, works hard to secure this funding. Today, we have learned that rollover funding for 2022-23 has been secured, for which we are hugely grateful. In support of this achievement, we thought we would share the associated press release (below).
For the Liverpool Irish Festival, the Council’s investment is both a show of trust and a much-needed resource. It provides roughly a fifth of our annual funding, supporting artists and developing work for audiences to enjoy. Association with the Council, professionalises us, makes us part of Liverpool’s cultural offer and connects us with many other cultural providers across the city. The funding acknowledges our place in Liverpool’s civic life, provides representation for Irishness in Liverpool and resources creative charitable work. In 2021 we had over 34,000 visits to our events and exhibitions. These visits not only generate hotel stays and public transport usage, but also volunteer activitiy, artist support and much needed community connectivty. We are deeply committed to barrierless access and this funding assists us in our delivery of all of the above.
We are indebted to Culture Liverpool, Liverpool City Council and Cabinet for generating and authorising this outcome. Thank you.
Press release
Funding boost for city’s cultural sector
Some of Liverpool’s much-loved cultural organisations have received a funding lifeline which will create jobs, attract visitors and boost the local economy.
Today (Friday 4 March 2022), Cabinet has given the green light to award £2.712 million to 27 cultural organisations as part of the Culture & Arts Investment Programme (CAIP). The city council funding will be invested in theatre, music events, festivals, visual arts and neighbourhood programmes that are representative of, and engage with, Liverpool’s diverse communities.
This means that the vital sector –which boosts the local economy by around £30 million– has experienced no reduction in city council funding and can move forward with delivering events, exhibitions and shows, which will help them recover and aim to get back to operating at pre-pandemic levels.
Latest figures presented as part of the Cabinet report show just how hard-hit the city’s art scene was by Covid-19. In 2019/20 the funded organisations reached an audience of 2.7 million, dropping to just over 260,000 in 2020/21. Last year, recovery was slow but venues attracted around 1 million visitors.
During the height of the pandemic the economic impact dropped by almost £5 million and nearly 100 jobs were lost.
Funded organisations
Those organisations receiving funding for 2022/23 are:
20 Stories High, Africa Oyé, The Black-E, Collective Encounters, Comedy Trust, DaDa Disability & Deaf Arts, FACT, First Take, Homotopia, Liverpool Irish Festival, Liverpool Biennial, Everyman & Playhouse (LMTT), Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, Metal Culture, Milapfestival Trust, Merseyside Dance initiative, Open Culture, Open Eye Limited, Pagoda Arts, Royal Court Theatre, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Squash Nutrition, Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat, Tmesis Theatre, Unity Theatre, Writing on the Wall.
The CAIP programme contributes to a number of priorities outlined in the Council Plan which aims to make the city culturally diverse, internationally ambitious, empowered and authentic.
Reaction
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Councillor Harry Doyle said:
“It goes without saying how valued culture and arts are in Liverpool and I am proud that we are able to invest in organisations which help drive economic growth, boost community pride and promote wellbeing across the city.
“Each of the 27 organisations play a vital role in the cultural fabric of our city – the programmes they curate, events they hold and performances they stage are engaging, entertaining, thought-provoking, boundary-pushing – exactly what Liverpool is renowned for.
“We know that Covid decimated this sector and we want to do as much as we can to help it revive and thrive. It’s an exciting new chapter for the arts in Liverpool and the sector is are ready to welcome back visitors and showcase exceptional talent in an exceptional city.”
Bluecoat
Mary Cloake, Chief Executive, Bluecoat, said:
“Liverpool has demonstrated that it really understands the power of culture to connect communities and inspire individuals. This funding means that culture will remain central to the city’s identity and its post-pandemic recovery. It will ensure Bluecoat can play its part by providing a creative home for art and artists, for the people of Liverpool and its visitors.”
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, said:
“Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is enormously grateful for the continued long term support and commitment shown by Liverpool City Council with its funding of culture. This support will help us to reach over 350,000 people with our concerts, over 70,000 young people making music in our learning programme and youth activity, and literally millions around the world through our recordings. We are proud to both serve and represent our city in our work, and we can only do it with this investment and support from Liverpool City Council.”
Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres
Mark Da Vanzo, Chief Executive, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres, said:
“Since 2008, Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year, there has been an increasing sense of pride and support for our city’s cultural organisations and individuals. We simply would not be the organisation we are today without the continued support of the city through the city council’s Culture Liverpool team. The fact that this support has been maintained through recent unprecedented times is testament to the hard work of our councillors and officials and the value the people of Liverpool place in culture.”
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MEDIA CONTACT
Liverpool City Council – Sarah Latcham, Communications Officer, +44(0) 7793 660570. Follow all of Liverpool City Council’s news at www.liverpoolexpress.co.uk Twitter @lpoolcouncil Facebook @lpoolcouncil Instagram @lpoolcitycouncil
Any one interested in reading the official meeting minutes, in which this decision was made, can see the Cabinet meeting notes, here.