Both Ilkley Literature Festival (ILF) and Ilkley Cinema have received grants in the latest round of support from the Cultural Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.
ILF has received a grant of £27,000 and Ilkley Cinema £40,398 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund, which will help the organisations recover, develop and transition out of the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic, ILF were unable to produce their traditional two-week October festival. Despite this loss, they continued to deliver an extensive programme of work, including two free-to-access digital weekends of author talks
The Cultural Recovery Grant will enable ILF to invest in further development of its digital offer, relaunch its schools programme and remain sustainable while building back towards being able to present live events once again.
The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.
Erica Morris, ILF Director, said: “The past 12 months has been difficult for ILF. It was not possible for us to stage the festival last October meaning we had no path to generating the ticket sales which normally account for 60% of our annual income.
Although uncertainties remain, this grant puts us in a position to weather the slow march towards the end of the crisis. We are extremely grateful to Arts Council England and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for their support.”
Regarding reopening, Ilkley Cinema have said: “We know you have been waiting patiently for news and we are delighted to announce that we can finally welcome you all back on Monday 17th May with our first release of tickets going on sale Wednesday 5th May.
“Whilst closed we have made improvements to the outside seating area to provide a greatly enhanced experience and have great new food and drink options
“We will be staffing the Cinema on a daily basis from the 5th May and can deal with any telephone enquiries from that time, if you have any questions prior to that then please email us at info@ilkleycinema.co.uk
“Gift Voucher and Membership length can be adjusted to take account of any closure periods. We want to thank all our amazing customers and staff for their continued support through this difficult period and we are excited to see everyone back enjoying our Ilkley’s own premium Cinema experience”
The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.
Get the latest news from Ilkley Literature Festival at www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk and Ilkley Cinema at www.ilkleycinema.co.uk
