ARTS organisations across Hampshire have been thrown a cash lifeline that aims to help them survive the Covid crisis.
They are among 1,385 UK organisations to benefit from a £257m pay-out by the government's Culture Recovery Fund, which has awarded grants to venues starved of income since March.
Nine organisations based in Southampton have been given a total of £1.18m.
Recipients include 'a space', which runs an arts gallery at God's House Tower, Town Quay, and is celebrating the fund's decision to award it £216,000.
Director Daniel Crow said: “It’s fantastic news.
"Following a really challenging year of closing venues we can now continue our core work of supporting Southampton’s visual artists as well as looking ahead to reopening God’s House Tower next year.”
Other recipients include The Joiners, a multi-genre grass roots music venue at St Mary's Street that has been allocated £98,000.
A spokesperson said: "This funding is massively appreciated and arrived very close to the end of the candle. This is just the beginning of the fight to get live music back to where it was for Southampton seven months ago.
"Our hearts and thoughts to those still fighting the battle every day. We stand shoulder to shoulder with you and will continue to support you any way we can."
Royston Smith, Tory MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “We have a proud cultural heritage in Southampton which supports many jobs and contributes much to the life of the city.
“This significant cash boost for the city shows that the Government is not only serious about levelling-up but helping ensure Southampton bounces back from coronavirus as quickly as possible.”
Arts venues in other parts of the county have also received a helping hand.
Play to the Crowd, an arts and education charity that runs the Theatre Royal Winchester, which has been allocated £219,134 from the fund.
Chief executive Deryck Newland said the grant would help it cope with the increasing risks and uncertainties likely to occur over the next six months.
"This has been, and continues to be, an extremely challenging time for the sector," he said.
"As with many organisations we’ve had to take extreme measures to reduce our costs, which heartbreakingly has meant restructuring our charity leading to staff redundancies, to build a more sustainable organisation for the future.
"We are grateful to the government for recognising the value of the arts.
"However, the Culture Recovery Fund won’t save every venue or arts organisation and our thoughts are with those whose future remains uncertain."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article