Northern venues have received over £58 million from the government’s latest round of emergency funding designed to support arts and heritage institutions during the pandemic.
The Culture Recovery Fund has supplied £300 million in grants to over 2,700 organisations – as well as £81 million in tailor-made loans for cultural landmarks.
A number of Manchester sites are set to take a further portion of the overall pot – including galleries, museums and clubs.
The Lowry in Salford will receive £7.3 million – which will go towards funding community outreach and caring for the prestigious LS Lowry collection.
The National Football Museum – which houses the largest public collection of football objects in the world – will receive £239,721; with the extra funding used to support the museum reopening to the public in the summer.
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Chief Executive of the National Football Museum Tim Desmond said the organisation was “over the moon.”
🗣️ "Hugely relieved"@The_Lowry in #Salford is one of 2,700 organisations to benefit from a £400m pot of grants and loans from the government.
The Culture Secretary says it'll help them reopen and recover.
NEWS! 🗞️ Today we’re announcing £58.3 million of investment in grants to 507 arts & cultural organisations across the #North, as part of government’s #CultureRecoveryFund – providing vital funding to help organisations plan for reopening and recovery! #HereForCulture@DCMSpic.twitter.com/zdfJ4iqLKH
— Arts Council England, North (@ace_thenorth) April 2, 2021
Elsewhere on the recipients list, Manchester Pride is set for a £553,642 boost, with Greater Manchester Arts Centre getting £375,000 and Manchester Young People’s Theatre enjoying £96,555.
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The University of Manchester has received further funding for Whitworth Art and Manchester Museum, with Oldham Coliseum Theatre handed £56,600.
Beloved music venue Band on the Wall also confirmed it would take a six-figure sum from the pot – being awarded a grant of £154,000.
Gavin Sharp, CEO, Band on the Wall stated: “The pandemic continues to put cultural organisations at risk of closure, and while there is some light at the end of the tunnel, these are still incredibly challenging times in our sector.
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“The Cultural Recovery Fund represents an essential lifeline to Band on the Wall, and we are now one step closer to bringing much-missed live music to the stage again.”
Nonetheless, there were a number of glaring omissions. The most high profile of which was iconic comedy club Frog & Bucket – which failed to get the £60,000 it asked for.
Several venues – including the Frog – that have struggled during the pandemic have launched a special event to raise vital funds ahead of reopening to customers called Manchester’s Big Night In – which will take place on April 10.
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How will the Government’s new digital ID alternative for alcohol sales work?
Emily Sergeant
All licensed venues across England and Wales now have the choice to introduce digital proof of age for alcohol sales alongside physical.
Instead of having to hand over physical ID that contains personal information, such as names and home addresses, customers now have the choice to simply provide confirmation that they are 18 or over on their phone – helping to better protect privacy and personal safety in the process.
This means that, no matter whether you’re buying a drink at your favourite pub, heading to a festival, or enjoying a night out at a concert, you won’t need to worry if you’ve left your ID at home.
According to the Government, this new change will benefit businesses greatly too, as certified digital services are able to check that an ID is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it much easier than the alternative can, which therefore helps to reduce the risk of any fake or borrowed IDs going undetected.
Well, according to the Government, it could be as simple as a customer showing a QR code for staff to scan, or tapping their phone against a compatible reader, where staff will then receive a clear confirmation on their device that the customer has passed the age check.
This change follows a 2024 Government consultation where it was reported that 72% of respondents supported the use of digital identities for age verification when buying alcohol.
Digital Government Minister Stephanie Peacock reiterated that ‘it will remain an individual or business’ choice whether to use or adopt [digital ID]’ and that physical ID will ‘still remain a valid way’ for customers to prove their age.
“This groundbreaking change in the law will mean you do not need to carry a physical ID, nor hand over sensitive personal information such as your name or address just to prove your age, allowing everyone to feel safer on a night out,” she concluded.
Featured Image – Robin Worrall (via Unsplash)
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Manchester to host G20 Summit in 2027 with more than a dozen world leaders descending on the city
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed as the host city for the G20 Summit next year.
It was already announced back in November last year that the G20 Summit would be coming to the UK in 2027, and plans were apparently already being discussed to host it in Manchester even before Andy Burnham became Prime Minister and Number 10 North was set up.
But now, ahead of this year’s leaders’ summit being held in Miami in December, it has been confirmed that the G20 Summit will arrive in Manchester in November 2027.
Manchester is said to have been picked to host the leaders’ summit because of its ‘cultural heritage’.
Bringing together 19 of the world’s largest economies and two major multilateral bodies – the European Union and the African union – G20 members who will be invited to attend the summit next year make up 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population as a whole.
Manchester has been confirmed to host the G20 Summit in 2027 / Credit: 10 Downing Street | Paul Kagame (Flickr)
G20 members are also some of the UK’s closest economic partners, the Government insists.
17 of the UK’s top 20 global export markets attend the summit, as do 18 of the UK’s top 20 sources of foreign direct investment.
The presidency of the G20 is currently held by the US but will pass to the UK after the leaders’ summit hosted by the president at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in December.
The 2027 summit will be held at Manchester Central, it has been confirmed, and other locations across the UK will also host other G20 events as part of the year-long presidency, but these are yet to be announced.
The Manc -
2nd April 2021 
