Scottish Government's performing arts venues relief fund hands a £750k boost to the Highlands' Eden Court theatre in Inverness, triggering a move from survival mode to recovery
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EDEN Court will receive £750,000 from a Scottish Government performing arts venues relief fund.
It is among 20 venues across Scotland to get a share of £12.5 million.
It comes a week after the Inverness theatre decided to cancel all live performances until December due to the pandemic.
Eden Court has been closed since mid-March due to the coronavirus.
In June, a Highland Council report revealed Eden Court was projecting to lose 80 per cent of its total income until the end of January 2021, and was forecasting an annual deficit of £702,000.
Chief executive James Mackenzie-Blackman said: "We can now set about moving from survival to recovery with the help of our colleagues, audiences, participants and artists – those we know and those we don’t. They made us what we are, and what we can be, and they will have a role in how we reimagine Eden Court."
A spokesman for the venue said it was grateful and relieved to be awarded the cash, adding: "We will use this lifeline investment to stabilise the organisation, reimagine our business model and provide opportunities to independent artists. We'll share more on how we will do this soon."
Designed to support performing arts venues that cannot yet reopen due to the pandemic, the fund is designed to help to:
- remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021 to enable the development and delivery of activity as soon as practicable.
- allow for specialist/core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainable activity plans.
- increase commissioning and employment opportunities for freelance artists and creative practitioners (between now and end of March 2021) to support continued public engagement while closed.
Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Theatres and performing arts venues are vital to individuals, communities and our country. Our performing arts venues effectively had to close overnight, with an almost complete loss of income. There is no doubt that in doing so they saved lives, and for that I am extremely grateful.
“We know the impact of this crisis will be long-term so ambitious action to support the future of these organisations, as well as our wider cultural infrastructure, is key. This funding will be a vital lifeline to help performing arts venues continue to weather the storm.”
Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “There are significant challenges facing Scotland’s culture sector, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This funding for performing arts venues is much needed and will help organisations tackle these challenges but we are aware that budgets are finite and it is not possible to provide financial assistance to every organisation through this route at this time.
“The Covid-19 emergency funds announced for the culture sector so far are not, by any means, the end of the support to be offered and there will be more announcements to come, not least in terms of how the £97 million Scotland has received for culture and heritage as a result of the UK Government’s funding package is to be applied. The precise nature of this is still being determined and, beyond what has already been made available, Creative Scotland is working closely with the Scottish Government to actively discuss further support for the culture sector, including for those who may not have received funding previously.”
