The Liverpool Irish Festival are pleased to anounce that we have been awarded Cultural Recovery Funding from Arts Council England, under a project they have labelled ‘Here for Culture’.
In 2020, we have made almost 20 funding applications, far higher than we would normally make. Before today’s news, just five had been partially successful, so to receive this news is a valuable lifeline for us and indicative of our importance to the national programme. The success of the application vouches for our expertise, relevance and unique offer. It also places us among one of 30 organisations in Liverpool that made successful applications, bringing £5.5m in to the region.
Arts Council England and HM Government have stated:
“Here for Culture is a movement that unites the public, government and cultural organisations in support of our fantastic cinemas, theatres, music venues, museums, galleries and heritage.
“Whether on the global stage or quietly in our own lives, culture inspires, uplifts, comforts and entertains us. Now, in these challenging times, it’s our turn to provide a lifeline and show our support. The government is #HereForCulture with an unprecedented £1.57 billion of funding coming through on top of the furlough scheme, bounce-back loans and emergency grants. The public has been #HereForCulture as organisations have innovated online and outdoors.
“Culture creates jobs, supports livelihoods, and brings joy to everyone. The UK leads the world in the creative industries and we can all feel pride in that.
“Now, in these challenging times, it’s our turn to show our support for culture. With an unprecedented investment through the £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund, the government is #HereForCulture so it can weather the storm of coronavirus and come back stronger.
“We want people to make sure that where they are able to visit local culture venues in their communities, they do so in a Covid secure way. Plus, with more and more culture being curated online, there is no better time to support and enjoy all the new and exciting ways culture is available to us.
“By being #HereForCulture, we aren’t just supporting the people in the industry, we’re also supporting communities across the country.
“And we are #HereForCulture too”.
This funding will continue the work that the Liverpool Irish Festival does to share Liverpool, Liverpool Irish and Irish creativity, bringing Liverpool and Ireland closer together using arts and culture. To see shining examples of this work, we highly recommend you joining us for our festival, which kicks off this week. Please, come along to one of our exceptional events – www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/events