Performing arts venues across Edinburgh and the Lothians have received £1,325,698 from the open call for applications to the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund through Creative Scotland.

Awards made to Edinburgh and the Lothians performing arts venues as part of the £5million open call are as follows: 
Assembly (The Roxy), £85,000 
Capital Theatres Trust (Festival Theatre and King’s Theatre), £250,000 
Edinburgh City Council (Usher Hall), £240,450 
Howden Park Theatre, £95,000 Leith Theatre, £138,214 
Out of the Blue, £67,034 
Queen’s Hall, £175,000 
The Brunton Theatre, £250,000 
The Regal, Bathgate, £25,000 
Designed to support performing arts venues that cannot yet re-open due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fund is helping 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   
 Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “Despite the ongoing, detrimental impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on Scotland’s performing arts venues, and on culture as a whole, it is positive that we can offer some funding to help venues navigate these extremely challenging times. I’m also encouraged to see that this funding will help venues across many different parts of Scotland where they form such an important part of the cultural life of local communities.”  

Jude Henderson, Director of the Federation of Scottish Theatre (FST) said: “We welcome the announcement of these emergency awards to performing arts venues across the country. The funds will help to support the vital work they do in serving communities, providing employment and showcasing Scotland’s world class theatre and dance offer, much of which is created by our members.” 

This news follows the £1,719,000 previously awarded to venues across Edinburgh through the targeted strand of the fund, including Dance Base, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, The Storytelling Centre/TRACS and Traverse Theatre. 

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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