Theatres win extension to Culture Recovery Fund grants until June reopenings

Theatres in England are able to extend grants awarded in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund, which will allow them to use the money until the end of June, Arts Council England has confirmed.

It follows warnings from theatres that without an extension to the conditions originally attached to the money – requiring grants from the first round to be used by the end of March – their futures would be at risk.

Arts Council England has confirmed that the terms can be extended, “providing any unspent grants are needed during April to June”, and can be deployed for costs that are eligible under the terms of the fund. This includes new work and remounts, freelancers’ costs, and digital capture, creation and distribution.

A spokeswoman for ACE said: “We contacted all CRF1 recipients to advise them of this and to outline the steps they need to take to request permission for an extension.”

However, according to ACE, an extension will not be granted if it believes some or all of the costs set out by applicants are not eligible. In such cases, it could reduce payments or ask for the funds to be returned.

News that theatres can apply for an extension has been welcomed by theatres that raised concern about the March deadline.

The venues The Stage spoke to had all been awarded the maximum possible – about £3 million – in the first CRF round, and were not able to apply for more funding in the following round. They had warned that without an extension, the funds would have been wasted and their ability to operate beyond March was in jeopardy, and that the extension was needed to bring them in line with organisations awarded money in the second round.

Norwich Theatre Royal chief executive Stephen Crocker said: “I am very pleased that Arts Council England was able to agree an extension to the CRF first-round grants and bring their period of use in line with second-round grants.”

He added: “With this additional flexibility we can start planning for the future and, following the new roadmap for easing of lockdown, we look forward to more details of the mitigations and Covid-secure requirements for full-scale reopening of venues in June.”

Birmingham Hippodrome artistic director and chief executive Fiona Allan told The Stage: “It was terrific that ACE and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport responded quickly to changing circumstances by enabling recipients of the first round of CRF grants to extend the terms of their funding through to the end of June – much needed by all as we continue to navigate through continued lockdown and inability to trade for several more months.”