Coronavirus: Arts Council of Wales announces £7m emergency fund

The Arts Council of Wales has unveiled its £7 million rescue package to help protect the Welsh cultural sector against the impacts of coronavirus.

Full details of the scheme will be published next week, on April 7, as the funding body affirmed its commitment to the organisations and artists that are most at risk with a multi-million pound resilience fund.

It follows similar packages announced by Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.

The £7 million resilience fund has been joint financed by the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh government, and will comprise both individual and organisational support.

Arts council chair Phil George said the money would “address immediate financial crisis and hardship” in the Welsh arts sector amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We have already relaxed funding requirements for organisations and individuals who have grant funding in place, allowing them to respond flexibly to the new challenges that they face. But today we go further.

“The Arts Resilience Fund will bridge the gap between immediate crisis and a future of new creative activity post‑coronavirus, a future which is already stirring in the imaginations of our inventive artistic community,” he said, adding that he felt it “essential” that every effort is made to ensure that the arts in Wales survive.

The fund will join several other support packages already announced by both the UK and Welsh governments, including a £500 million Wales-focused business support plan, which is open to arts organisations.

Nick Capaldi, the Arts Council’s chief executive, added: “Our immediate task is to ensure that the opportunities offered by this unprecedented range of support are clear and easily understood and we’re working round the clock to finalise the practical detail.

“We know that those working in the arts are anxious for firm detail, but we hope that they’ll feel the arts in Wales are best served by taking a day or two longer to get this right. We’ll provide details of the fund on Tuesday, April 7.”

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