As reported on 4BR, the latest round of Cultural Recovery Fund support has been of benefit to numerous organisations that operate in England.

And whilst the brass band community will look at the figures that have been paid to a small number of top bands, they only formed a very small part of a total of 2,272 awards made in a total of over £261 million to help them recover and reopen following a year of enforced shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beneficiaries

Headline beneficiaries with a direct link to the brass band movement include organisations such as Brass Bands England (£43,136) and Kapitol Promotions Ltd, organisers of the National Championships of Great Britain (£50,000).

Bands and ensembles that gained awards included Brighouse & Rastrick (£68,600); Grimethorpe Colliery (£47,515); Black Dyke (£38,040), and the brass ensemble Old Dirty Brassstards (£50,768). The National Childrens Orchestra (£210,000) and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (£125,000) also received financial support.

Education establishments such as the RNCM in Manchester (£133,033) and the University of Manchester Student's Union (£104,914) and businesses such as Satcol (£87,976) and other organisations such as Making Music (£44,429) and Music Partnership North (£205,577) received assistance. Tameside Cultural Services will benefit from £98,165.

Regional money

Of the 11 regions that gained money (including 1 award made in Scotland for £35,500) and four in Wales (£466,327) — 666 were made to those based in London (amounting to nearly £83 million) and 308 in the South East (£37.2 million).

The South West (248 — £26.7 million); North West (245 — £27.15 million); West Midlands (217 — £23.2 million); East of England (172 — £17.9 million); Yorkshire and Humberside (165 — £19.9 million); East Midlands (150 — £14.7 million) and North East (96 — £11.1 million).

There were also many other organisations that gained substantive help — from the combined arts Artichoke Trust to the theatre group Zippos Circus4BR

A-Z

There were also many other organisations that gained substantive help — from the combined arts Artichoke Trust (£994,682) to the theatre group Zippos Circus (£297,000) with others receiving anything from just under £2 million to under £10,000 — including such diverse organisations as the famous Glastonbury Festival, Wigmore Hall and Canterbury Cathedral.

Orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (£480,000); London Symphony Orchestra (£423,000); City of London Sinfonia (£123,750) alongside the Halle Concert Society (£658,000) gained help as did the Cornwall International Male Choir Festival (£26,600); the English Folk Dance & Song Society (£169,770) and the Hastings International Piano Competition (£71,060) amongst many more.

Almost 100 independent cinemas will share around £6.5 million with other venues and organisations also benefitting.

In his Budget in March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a further £300m for the fund, which is yet to be allocated.

Full details

The full breakdown of the payment details of the latest round of payments can be seen at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/culture-recovery-fund-data