Latest round of Culture Recovery Fund distributes £165m to major arts institutions

The government has announced the latest round of payments to arts and heritage institutions across the UK as part of the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). 

The announcement takes the total of funds distributed to £1 billion. 

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden described the latest recipients, which include the Southbank Centre and English National Opera, as 'the crown jewels of UK culture'. He added that the money invested so far 'has protected tens of thousands of jobs at cultural organisations across the UK, with more support still to come through a second round of applications.'

The Royal Opera House received £21.7m - an amount the organisation's chief executive Alex Beard called 'significant and vital'. 'This repayable finance,' he continued, 'will help address some of the immediate financial damage caused by this crisis, easing our route to re-opening and paving the way for the world’s greatest artists to once more return to our stages.'

Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Centre, said: 'We’re incredibly grateful to the Culture Recovery Board for this vote of confidence in the Southbank Centre and our business recovery plan. We lost £25 million of our income this year and this loan will help us stabilise our finances as we prepare to reopen all our venues safely next spring.'

Institutions have taken to social media to thank the government, using the hashtag #HereForCulture. It emerged in October that publicly thanking DCMS was a requirement for receiving loans and grants from the CRF. 

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