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Island Cultural Groups Get £490k Government Covid Grants

Jack Up The Summer — an Island recipient of the Cultural Recovery Fund

Groups and businesses working in the cultural sector on the Isle of Wight are receiving a total of £489,264 in Cultural Recovery Fund grants from the government.

The groups on the Island form part of 2,700 cultural and creative organisations across the UK getting a share of the current £400m funding round from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The kinds of organisations included in the support cover theatres, galleries, performance groups, art organisations, and local venues.

It's intended that the funds will help them reopen and recover from the closures enforced by coronavirus safety laws.

Among those receiving grants are the company behind this summer's "Jack Up The Summer" festival, who've received £98,623, and Spotlight IOW Ltd, a theatre training company based in Shanklin. £28,667 was given to Commodore Cinema in Ryde.

"We are over the moon to receive the news that we will receive funding from the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund!A spokesperson for Quay Arts, who received £60,071, said:

"We are so grateful to continue to make culture thrive on the Island during such difficult times for all arts organizations and venues.

"This award will allow Quay Arts to continue to develop the Island’s cultural ecosystem and build greater resilience in these uncertain times.

"It will also allow Quay Arts to continue to provide arts programmes and activities with which people of all backgrounds can engage."

Sarah Moss, event organiser of the "Jack Up The Island" festival stated:

"We are absolutely delighted and extremely grateful to announce that we have been awarded lifeline funding thanks to the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure our much-loved festival, Jack Up The Summer, has a bright and sustainable future.

"This funding will allow us to continue to deliver high-quality affordable, locally accessible, life-affirming musical entertainment, enabling people of all ages to enjoy the festival experience, whilst making a positive contribution to our Island community.

"In being awarded this contribution towards project costs, Jack Up The Summer has been recognised as a culturally significant event to the Island; which we find incredibly humbling.

"We wish to thank the Island’s MP, IW Chamber of Commerce and Visit Isle of Wight for their support throughout the past year and we will continue to work together with other Island events as we collectively embark upon the road to recovery."

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, added:

"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."

Here is the complete list of Isle of Wight recipients:

Brading Roman Villa,£35,278
Shanklin Theatre Limited, £37,000 
Spotlight Iow Ltd, £107,000 
StageGear Rentals Limited, £43,266 
Steve Ross Foundation for the Arts, £60,071 
Strings Bar & Venue, £52,000 
Sugar Stack Productions Ltd, £98,623 
Ventnor Arts Club, £26,026 
Ventnor Exchange, £30,000 

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