West Sussex Music Trust to receive grant from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

West Sussex Music Trust, lead organisation of West Sussex Music Education Hub, to receive grant from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

• West Sussex Music among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund 

• This award will secure the future of the charity and ensure wider access to high quality music education for thousands of children and young people across the county 

 

West Sussex Music Trust, the lead organisation for the West Sussex Music Education Hub, has received a grant from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen.

 

More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including West Sussex Music in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

 

Following a punishing year for the Trust, the funding will ensure the Hub can continue to provide accessible music education services for children, young people and schools – including subsidised or free tuition and music group membership for those facing financial difficulties. Most importantly, it will strengthen the organisation, ensuring a more stable future for both the Trust and the Music Education Hub. It will also enable West Sussex Music to roll out our plans to reach more young people, with music making and learning opportunities that are needed and relevant to them.

 

Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.

 

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

 

“Our record-breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.

 

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”

 

 James Underwood, CEO of West Sussex Music, said:

 

‘This is fantastic news. As an independent charity and the lead organisation in the county’s music education hub, our ability to survive the pandemic is critical to children and young people, schools, and parents/carers – now more than ever before. 

 

“This funding, and our new hub board, will allow us to find ways to help the music education sector in West Sussex to recover and rebuild, placing music firmly at the heart of young people’s lives and future.

 

“Changes we’ve made recently to how we operate lay the foundation for more of this money to go directly to young people’s music making, and the life-long benefits that brings. We know that music will be an important part of improving young people’s well-being, and this will help us to work towards making sure that no young person misses out.”

 

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

 

“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.  

 

We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”

 

The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.

 

Notes to Editors

 

West Sussex Music is an independent charity that delivers high quality music education to the schools and children of West Sussex. We’re funded by income from parents and schools, from charitable donations, and from the Department for Education’s national music education hubs grant, administered by Arts Council England.

 

We make music with more than 25,000 children across the county, every year, through instrumental and singing lessons; whole class first access programmes, lunchtime and after school music activities, workshops and singing projects, and continuing professional development.

 

Outside school, children and young people enjoy making music with us in bands, choirs, and orchestras at every stage of their musical development. We help schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils, their families, and the community.

 

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk

 

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.

 

At the Budget, the Chancellor announced the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund would be boosted with a further £300 million investment. Details of this third round of funding will be announced soon.