MORE than £1.61million has been awarded to 13 organisations across Somerset - including £600,000 for Glastonbury Festival.

The funding is being provided in the next round of the Culture Recovery Fund.

In Somerset, the following organisations have recieved grants:

  • Frome Cheese & Grain (Mendip) - £38,000
  • Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd (Mendip) - £600,000
  • Hordern Ciani Ltd (Mendip) - £27,685
  • Jackdaws Music Education Trust (Mendip) - £25,000
  • The International Music Exchange (Mendip) - £25,000
  • The Rubbish Art Project (Mendip) - £24,901
  • Dedication Stories Ltd (South Somerset) - £40,000
  • AF Live Ltd (North Somerset) - £34,367
  • Arcadia Spectacular Ltd (North Somerset) - £117,810
  • National Children's Orchestras of Great Britain (North Somerset) - £187,015
  • Positive Fokus Ltd (North Somerset) - £72,000
  • Weston-super-Mare Town Council, Blakehay Theatre (North Somerset) - £39,238
  • Valley Fest Ltd (North East Somerset) - £97,422

As well as in Somerset, hundreds of arts, heritage and cultural organisations across England will receive a share of £107 million from the additional £300 million announced by the Chancellor at March’s budget for the Culture Recovery Fund. This brings the total cash support package made available for culture during the pandemic to close to £2 billion.

Phil Gibby, South West area director of Arts Council England, said: “This Culture Recovery investment from the Government is a huge vote of confidence for our sector. We have all come a long way since the start of the pandemic, and the journey towards recovery has not been easy.

"Whether it’s grassroots music venues of The Louisiana in Bristol and Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, theatres in the cities of Truro, Exeter, and Salisbury and the coastal towns of Ilfracombe and Barnstaple, or unique companies like Diverse City who have been committed to their communities throughout the pandemic, I’m pleased we’ve been able to support over 110 organisations in the Arts Council’s south west area through this third round of funding."

And 12 organisations in the South West have been awarded grants from the Emergency Resource Support funding - including the Onion Collective in Watchet.

The Onion Collective opened their newest venture, East Quay, earlier this year.

Chard & Ilminster News: FUNDING: Onion Collective's East Quay. Pic: Jim Stephenson 2021

READ MORE: East Quay in Watchet now open

Georgie Grant, co-director, of the Onion Collective, said: “We are so grateful to have won this funding, it has been a challenging year and thanks to Arts Council England support through the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund we can continue to deliver our creative and educational programming which both brings people into our town and supports communities living here.

"We are delighted to have opened our doors and to now be able to welcome people in.”