Devon and Cornwall to get £5.8m culture boost

Nearly £6m of government funding is being made available to arts organisations in Devon and Cornwall.

Funding includes £3m for North Devon Council while Devon Libraries is in line for £207,000.

Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, which last year faced closure, is to receive nearly £1.5m while £498,000 will go to Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, said the money would "support recovery and growth".

The Cultural Investment Fund was launched in 2019 with some funding already received by organisations in the South West.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said a new tranche of £58.8m had now been made available.

Bryony Robins, artistic director at the Royal Cornwall Museum, said the money would be spent on roof and other repairs, allowing the museum to stay in its current building - a former bank.

"The building needed so much work on it that we had to think about relocation," she said.

"This means we can stay in the building."

She said that further funding of at least £350,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Cornwall Council was in the pipeline.

The museum was also hoping for £600,000 from the government's Shared Prosperity Fund to ensure its long-term future as a community arts centre.

North Devon Council's £3m from the cultural development fund will be used in part to refurbish two Grade II-listed buildings in Barnstaple to create a performance venue at Bridge Chambers and a creative space at 36 Boutport Street, the government said.

Sarah-Jane Mackenzie-Shapland, head of place, property and regeneration at North Devon Council, said the funding was "brilliant news".

"Bridge Chambers is a hidden gem and so The Bridge Trust are extremely excited to be given the opportunity to bring the building into community use," she said.

Devon Libraries is to take £207,000 from the Libraries Improvement Fund which would go towards "building upgrades" and the improvement of digital services.

Meanwhile, four museums in the region will benefit from funding for "urgent museum maintenance and infrastructure works".

These are:

Lucy Frazer said: "This funding will support brilliant arts organisations to upgrade their venues and create new projects that will be at the heart of their communities."

Darren Henley, chief executive of Arts Council England, said investment in creativity and culture was a "catalyst" for improving wellbeing and raising aspirations.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, also welcomed the funding.

He said: "Culture, heritage and the arts all contribute to people's sense of belonging and place.

"These grants will help to reinforce this."

Launched in 2019, the £200m fund is made up of three streams - the Cultural Development Fund, the Libraries Improvement Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund.

In this round of funding, £32.4m has gone to eight Cultural Development Fund projects, £4.9m to 27 projects as part of the Libraries Improvement Fund and £21.4m has gone to 36 museums through the Museum Estate and Development Fund.

It follows an extension of tax reliefs for theatres, orchestras and museum and gallery exhibitions in the Spring Budget, the government said.

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