Once again we are delighted that Funny Women is one of 925 recipients to benefit from the third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund with an award of £27,466.00. More than £100 million has been awarded to hundreds of cultural organisations across the country in this latest round of support as announced by the Culture Secretary today.
This latest award ensures continuity of our growing community outreach programme, developing and rebuilding processes in readiness for our 20th anniversary year, and enabling support and guidance for all the amazing new talent that came through this year’s Funny Women Awards. We aim to keep these performers, writers and creators at the forefront of comedy production and commissioning regardless of ongoing reopening challenges.
Lynne Parker, Funny Women founder said: “We’ve been thrown another essential lifeline to ensure that our community continues to thrive and grow despite the ongoing restrictions and concerns around the delivery of live comedy. We’ve achieved an incredible amount this year with the Funny Women Awards: managing entries and selection during lockdown, embracing the opportunities provided by the digital environment and adapting to new platforms.
“Some of this may never have happened had it not been for the pandemic. Support from the Government has expanded the reach of the Arts beyond where any of us could have previously imagined in a remarkably short space of time.
“Our incredible team has worked hard to provide an ongoing inclusive and accessible programme of events that employs the services of performers, producers, writers and creators at all levels.”
Working from our base in the UK, we work remotely to produce the Funny Women Awards and our extended team includes regional producers across the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, the USA and Australia. We will be bringing them together again for another virtual celebration of International Women’s Day, Funny Women Around the World, in March 2022.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from. Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.”
Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives”.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Its strategic vision, Let’s Create, lays down a blueprint for England to be a country where creativity is valued and everyone has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences by 2030. Public money is invested from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package for organisations and individuals needing support and administered the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Funds.
For more information visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/letscreate.
