Museum receives funding from Arts Council England

PRESS RELEASE April 2021

Court Barn has received £37,380 from the second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

• Among more than 2,700 recipients, Court Barn will benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund 

• This award will help the museum look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery.

Court Barn, a museum of craft and design in Chipping Campden, has received a grant of £37,380 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the museum recover and reopen.

More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Court Barn in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

This much needed and appreciated award will go towards Court Barn’s reopening overheads, creating their online shop, producing professional video and audio content for their new website, exhibitions and museum digital interactives and many other exciting projects.

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. 

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”

Sarah McCormick Healy, Curator, Court Barn, said:

            “This is fantastic news, as an independent museum we rely on income from admissions and our shop. This has been so sporadic over the past year it has been difficult for us to plan ahead. The funding will enable us to put in place an online shop, create content to engage our visitors online and in the museum and to ensure that the museum continues to be a safe place to visit. All of which will help us secure our museum for the future.”

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work. 

We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”

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. 

Notes to Editors

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that 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 the bodies administering the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19. At the Budget, the Chancellor announced the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund would be boosted with a further £300 million investment. Details of this third round of funding will be announced soon.