Darren Henley, chief executive of Arts Council England, has released a statement addressing funding concerns for UK arts organisations:
“Our number one priority for the next three months is to support those working in arts, museums & libraries. We want as strong a sector as possible as we come out the other side of this crisis.
The measures we’ll take will include: refocussing some grant programmes to help compensate individual artists and freelancers for lost earning. This needs planning and may take ten days before we announce details.
NPOs and CPPs will continue to receive funding, but funding conditions will not apply for at least three months, with immediate effect. We can also advance grant payments to assist with cashflow.
For these organisations the priority is staying in business. In exchange for our support, we ask they honour contracts with freelancers/artists, and think about the help they can offer their communities.
This is just the start. We are collecting intelligence from across the sector so we can understand what is needed and we are in constant conversation with Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) colleagues about the short and long-term financial implications.
For more from us, including how to get in touch about this, go to: https://lnkd.in/dbhpQcM.”
