Greater Manchester Culture Fund delivers £13m

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has shared more than £13m across 40 local arts and culture organisation in the latest round of its culture fund.

This year’s Culture Fund grants are the first to be awarded since the local authority agreed a new, three-year approach to cultural investment, focused on the role arts, culture and creativity can play in economic prosperity and the health and wellbeing of people.

“I’m pleased to see that this year’s cohort – which includes music festivals, museums, and community spaces – captures that breadth and depth of cultural excellence in Greater Manchester,” Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said.

“[Culture and creativity] help shape communities and provide an outlet for us to express our thoughts, feelings, and experiences, which is why the Culture Fund is putting a new focus on organisations and projects concerned with physical and mental health and wellbeing.”

A number of organisations are receiving funding for the first time, including Headspace Bolton, an arts group run by and for people with lived experience of neurodiversity and Portraits of Recovery, a visual arts company in Oldham working with people affected by addiction to drugs and alcohol.

GMCA says it has now increased cultural investment by 40% since 2017.

Upon announcing this year’s funding recipients, GMCA also said it is working with Oldham Council, Arts Council England and Oldham Coliseum to “develop and secure provision in the borough, and funds have been ringfenced to ensure continued high-quality cultural activity in Oldham”.