LONDON, April 2, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Britain is to offer hundreds of millions
of pounds in grants to aid the recovery of cultural venues and heritage sites
hit by the pandemic, the government announced on Friday.
Some 2,700 organisations including the Glastonbury music festival will
benefit from the grants which amount to o400 million ($550 million and 470
million euros), the ministry of culture said in a statement.
The money is part of a o1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund set up by the
government to help the ailing sector survive with venues shuttered amid
restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said the 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,” he added.
Under government plans for easing restrictions, sites such as museums,
theatres and cinemas will not reopen until May 17 at the earliest.
Beneficiaries of the new grants include the National Football Museum in
Manchester, the Royal Shakespeare Company and a number of independent cinemas
and theatres.
The English Heritage Trust, which cares for historic monuments, will
receive o23.4 million to cover Covid-related losses and support investment in
essential maintenance.
Theatre and film stars Judi Dench, Julie Walters, Hugh Bonneville and
Stephen Fry have all welcomed the funding.
Because of coronavirus restrictions, Glastonbury Festival organisers said
Wednesday a virtual event would be streamed online in May after being forced
to cancel performances to audiences for the second year in a row.
Britain, one of the countries the worst hit by the pandemic in the world,
has recorded nearly 127,000 deaths from Covid and 4,350,266 cases.
However, daily positive tests have fallen steadily in recent weeks amid a
succesful vaccination campaign.