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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Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis
Emily Sergeant
A series of ‘everyday fixes’ to help combat the rising cost of living crisis are soon to be rolled out nationwide.
Kicking off with two measures today, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he plans to ban retailers from making ‘misleading’ claims to customers about discounts.
The Government says shoppers have ‘increasingly complained’ about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as increasing prices only to then immediately advertise ‘discounts’ to make savings look larger than they really are, which goes on to create an uneven playing field for honest competitors.
The Prime Minister also wants to see an end to so-called ‘subscription traps’, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions, and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost.
Set to come into force in January 2027 and saving people an average of £14 a month for every unwanted subscription, the changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders. and a ‘much easier’ exit to contracts.
Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis / Credit: gov.uk | Piotr Cichosz (via Unsplash)
A new 14-day cooling-off period will also be introduced to let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.
Certain charitable memberships, like the ones for cultural and heritage organisations for example, will be excluded from the new subscription rules due to the fact they have a unique role in preserving the nation’s history, landscapes, and cultural collections.
The Prime Minister says he is ‘determined’ to use every chance he gets to restore fairness and take pressure off people.
“I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps,” Andy Burnham said. “Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life, but I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives.”
He concluded: “These are just two of the everyday fixes we’re going to be rolling out.
“We want to put more money in people’s pockets and give people hope that politics really can work for them and their everyday lives.”
Featured Image – Piotr Cichosz (via Unsplash)
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Bury man jailed for life after being found guilty of murder at New Year’s Eve party
Emily Sergeant
A man has been handed a life sentence following the murder of another man at a New Year’s Eve celebration in Bury.
Antony Junior Murray, aged 25 of Tarn Drive in Bury, appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court last week (7 August) where he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years after being found guilty of murder.
It follows the death of 23-year-old Joe Burton on New Year’s Eve last year.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that emergency services were called to reports of a disturbance at an address on Tarn Drive at approximately 11:56pm on New Year’s Eve (31 December 2025), and upon arrival, officers discovered Joe ‘unresponsive’ at the bottom of a staircase with a significant amount of blood around him.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Joe was pronounced dead at 12:43am on New Year’s Day (1 January 2026).
A post-mortem examination later confirmed he had died from a single stab wound to the back.
At the scene, Murray initially denied any involvement and claimed he had returned home from a pub to find the victim unresponsive, however officers quickly identified inconsistencies in his account.
Initial enquiries – including phone and location data – showed that Murray had been at the address throughout the evening.
Joe had been in a relationship with Murray’s sister and had been invited to the address earlier that evening, and then further investigation revealed that Murray, Murray’s sister, the victim. and another individual had been at the property together, drinking and setting off fireworks to see in the New Year.
CCTV footage recovered from the scene captured the events leading up to the incident, including the fatal attack, and showed Murray assaulting Joe and placing him in a headlock, before proceeding to stab him in the back.
Following a detailed police investigation, Murray was charged with murder and was subsequently found guilty at court.
“Murray carried out a brutal attack on Joe and then attempted to mislead officers about his involvement,” explained Duncan Thorpe, who was the Senior Investigating Officer on the case.
The Manc -
2nd April 2021 
