Garfield Weston gives £30 million of grants to UK arts organisations

Garfield Weston Foundation has provided major grants for arts organisations across the UK.

Recipients included the National Theatre, Ballet Black, Paraorchestra, Lakeland Arts, Northern Ballet and the NoFit State Circus, with grants ranging from £100,000 up to £1.5m based on the size of the organisation.

Garfield Weston Foundation's director, Philippa Charles said: "Our cultural sector is at the heart of our local communities providing not only entertainment but education and inspiration for many. Our Trustees were impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit shown across the arts in response to Covid-19 and it was a privilege to hear what organisations had been doing to not only survive but also to reinvent the way they reach audiences. What really stood out was the level of collaboration and support they had for each other and the determination to keep going, despite the increasingly difficult situation.

"We all want and need our cultural sector to thrive and, if anything, our time away from the arts has shown just how important they are to us – bringing much needed pleasure and enrichment to our lives. Arts organisations are desperate to re-open and get back to what they do best and we hope that this new funding will help many of them do exactly that."

The National Theatre received £1.5m, the largest of any grant, while both the RSC and Shakespeare's Globe received £750,000. Sage Gateshead received £875,000, Wales Millenium Centre received £823,000, Leeds Playhouse received £708,000, while Sheffield Theatres Trust received £702,400.

Grants were also given to the likes of Palace theatre Watford, Mercury Theatre Colchester, Nottingham Playhouse, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, Ballet Black, English Touring Theatre, Northern Ballet, Hull Truck Theatre, Kneehigh, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scottish Opera, Eden Court, National Theatre of Scotland, Lyric Theatre Northern Ireland, The Lowry and HOME Manchester. You can see the full list here.

Lisa Burger, executive director of the National Theatre, said: "We are incredibly grateful for such extraordinary support from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Although the pandemic continues to pose very serious challenges, this transformational gift is a huge vote of confidence in our plans to rebuild our activities, reopen our theatres, and will enable us to reimagine our future as a National Theatre for everyone."

Established in 1958, the family-founded foundation supports causes across the UK and gave over £88million last year.

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