Emergency Scottish Government relief funds support performing arts venues

Published: 05 Aug 2020

Twenty venues across Scotland have received a total of £7.5m from the first strand of the Scottish Government’s £12.5m Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund.

Designed to support performing arts venues that cannot yet re-open due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fund is helping to:

• remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021 to enable the development and delivery of activity as soon as practicable
• allow for specialist / core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainable activity plans
• increase commissioning and employment opportunities for freelance artists and creative practitioners (between now and end of March 2021) to support continued public engagement while closed.

Recipients of the second strand of the Performing Arts Venues Fund, an open fund of £5m, will be announced in due course.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“Theatres and performing arts venues are vital to individuals, communities and our country. Our performing arts venues effectively had to close overnight, with an almost complete loss of income. There is no doubt that in doing so they saved lives, and for that I am extremely grateful.

“We know the impact of this crisis will be long-term so ambitious action to support the future of these organisations, as well as our wider cultural infrastructure, is key. This funding will be a vital lifeline to help performing arts venues continue to weather the storm.”

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said:

“There are significant challenges facing Scotland’s culture sector, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This funding for performing arts venues is much needed and will help organisations tackle these challenges but we are aware that budgets are finite and it is not possible to provide financial assistance to every organisation through this route at this time.

“The Covid-19 emergency funds announced for the culture sector so far are not, by any means, the end of the support to be offered and there will be more announcements to come, not least in terms of how the £97m Scotland has received for culture and heritage as a result of the UK Government’s funding package is to be applied.  The precise nature of this is still being determined and, beyond what has already been made available, Creative Scotland is working closely with the Scottish Government to actively discuss further support for the culture sector, including for those who may not have received funding previously.”