Rural art projects funding slashed

Apr 28 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

RURAL arts projects have been hit with massive funding cuts to pay for London’s 2012 Olympic games, it emerged yesterday.

While many city arts projects continue to have access to millions of pounds in grants, parts of Northumberland are having to make do with much less.

The Arts Council has slashed the value of grants available to projects in Berwick and Hexham as it struggles to make do with a 35% reduction in funding as Government cash is diverted to London for the Olympics.

In just one year, according to figures revealed yesterday, the two rural areas saw nearly £83,000 wiped off the value of Arts Council grants.

In Berwick, the funding body made just £19,988 in grants available in the last financial year. But in 2005-2006 arts bosses managed to award £221,314 to the Northumberland constituency.

These cuts come despite proud boasts by the Council of its dedication to invest in “under-appreciated” cultural projects.

In its rural manifesto setting out why areas such as Northumberland are important, the funding group acknowledges that outside of city centres “the facilities tend to be multi-purpose or borrowed. The practical obstacles to putting it on, and seeing it, are often much greater”.

Despite this recognition of the greater difficulties involved the Council has made substantial cuts, while at the same time some urban districts such as Newcastle North have seen an increase in the value of grants available.

Berwick MP Alan Beith said that even although the Arts Council was doing a lot to support some rural organisations, the funding cuts were unduly harsh on Northumberland.

The Liberal Democrat said: “The scale of the difference is really something worrying, and perhaps from a rural point of view we had not really appreciated the impact this will have.

“These figures do suggest that money diverted to the London Olympics is biting far deeper than thought and will have an impact on rural projects.”

Mr Beith acknowledged other Regularly Funded Organisations still receive large and continuous cash handouts form the Arts Council. The RFO groups, including the Alnwick Playhouse, do not need grants to run and have access to a different source of Council funds. Although there has been some reductions to this pot, it continues to offer more than £500,000 for ongoing causes.

Michael Walton, currently leader of Tynedale Council, said the recent opening of Kielder Observatory, which received some Arts Council funding, showed “just why we need this money”.

“It is entirely wrong that Northumberland should lose out in any way to fund the Olympics.

“I think the games will be a great gain for the country but it is just wrong that we should have to go without just to subsidise London’s Olympics. We have a very successful relationship with the Arts Council here, they have contributed to some great projects, and we shouldn’t have allowed that to be jeopardised by funding changes.”

Jim Smith, who sits on the Arts Council North East board, said there was often a lot of speculation when a grant was turned down that it was “yet another Olympic knock on effect”.

“Regardless of the Olympics the Arts Council continues to do a lot of good in the region, and in Northumberland,” he said.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which awards the cash to the Arts Council, said the Government made a commitment in January to prevent funds being diverted from the arts to the Olympics.