Press Release: English National Ballet receives Capital Kickstart grant

[Jan McNulty]

English National Ballet receives Capital Kickstart grant from Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund

 

English National Ballet is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £3 million Capital Kickstart grant as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.

 

English National Ballet (ENB) is one of 74 organisations receiving grants totalling £58.9 million today. The Capital Kickstart grants programme helps organisations cover costs added to capital projects such as building works, refurbishments, and large-scale equipment purchases by pandemic-related delays or fundraising shortfalls. 

 

Tamara Rojo CBE, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, said: “We are so grateful to be recipients of the Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund and we offer our sincere thanks to HM Treasury, the Culture Secretary, DCMS, and Arts Council England.

“Fundraising for our transformational building was severely affected by the pandemic. This investment from the Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund allows us to meet the full potential of this transformational space for artists, makers, audiences and our local community."

 

ENB’s new building in Canning Town, East London, was designed as a versatile space to support the company’s commitment to creativity, ambition, and connection to more people.  From this new home, ENB is working to continue to create and to serve its audiences, despite the ongoing challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis. The company has launched a video on demand platform, ENB at Home, which includes recorded performances and ballet-based exercise classes for people to enjoy at home, and is working to strengthen and increase the digital distribution of its work, including engagement with local communities, youth programmes, remote workshops delivered in care homes, and Dance for Parkinson’s programmes. ENB has also presented its first digital season, the world premieres of five dance films recorded on site in the building’s theatre sized Holloway Production Studio. 

Today DCMS also announces that £165 million from the Culture Recovery Fund has been offered in repayable loans to help 11 major cultural organisations survive the loss of income caused by the crisis. This follows previous rounds of the Culture Recovery Fund, including the Grants programme which distributed £428 million to over 2,000 cultural organisations across the country, and the £3.36 million Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund.

 

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “This government promised it would be here for culture and today’s announcement is proof we’ve kept our word. 

 

“The £1 billion invested so far through the Culture Recovery Fund has protected tens of thousands of jobs at cultural organisations across the UK, with more support still to come through a second round of applications.

 

“Today we’re extending a huge helping hand to the crown jewels of UK culture - so that they can continue to inspire future generations all around the world.” 

 

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England said “Today’s announcement is another vital step in securing the future of England’s cultural sector. Supporting capital projects will help to ensure that we maintain an innovative, sustainable cultural infrastructure that supports world class creative work, while the loans announced today will enable some of our largest and most prestigious cultural organisations to weather the effects of Covid-19 and reopen when it is safe to do so. The Arts Council is grateful to the Government for their support through the Culture Recovery Fund, and we are proud to support all the organisations receiving funding today.”

-ENDS-

 

Notes to editors

 

About English National Ballet 
English National Ballet has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has been at the forefront of ballet’s growth and evolution ever since.

English National Ballet brings world class ballet to the widest possible audience through performances across the UK and on eminent international stages including The Bolshoi Theatre and Palais Garnier; its distinguished orchestra, English National Ballet Philharmonic; and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s.

Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo CBE, English National Ballet has introduced ground-breaking new works to the Company’s repertoire whilst continuing to honour the tradition of great classical ballet, gaining acclaim for artistic excellence and creativity. 2019 saw English National Ballet enter a new chapter in its history with a move into a purpose-built state-of-the-art home in East London which brings a renewed commitment to, and freedom for, creativity, ambition, and connection to more people, near and far, than ever before.
www.ballet.org.uk

 

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Createthat by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk

 

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of several bodies administering the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund and unprecedented support package of £1.57 billion for the culture and heritage sector. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.