2018-22 National Portfolio - great art and culture in the East and South East

17 Jul 2017 11:43 AM

On 27 June we announced more than £167million funding for arts and culture across the East and South East, ensuring more people, in more places have access to great art and culture.

The investment has been made through our National Portfolio for 2018-22, and will see 103 organisations receive funding – from Norfolk Museums Service and Chichester Festival Theatrethrough to Turner Contemporary, Milton Keynes Arts Centre and CultureMix Arts Ltd.

As part of our investment, we were able to welcome 32 new organisations to the South East 2018-22 National Portfolio – here’s an insight into just a few of those amazing organisations.

Such as Applause Rural Touring, which has a great track-record of making sure that people living in rural and isolated communities across Sussex have access to high quality arts activities. And Cohesion Plus Kent, which organises community Mela and culturally diverse festivals across Kent, bringing communities together through the arts, public education and sport. Or Essex Cultural Diversity Project, which has a great track record of reaching out to audiences who don’t typically engage with the arts.

And for the first time, we welcomed both libraries and museums to the National Portfolio. Cambridgeshire Libraries, Suffolk Libraries and the Society of Chief Librarians all joined the National Portfolio. Libraries sit at the heart of so many communities across the country and their spaces offer a wonderful opportunity for people living in highly rural areas to experience and participate in more high quality arts and cultural activity. Both Cambridgeshire Libraries and Suffolk Libraries will have an important role in helping our investment reach into many more rural communities.

Across the South East 15 museums joined the National Portfolio, which saw organisations like University of Cambridge Museums and Royal Pavilion and Museums – both former Major Partner Museums – joined by Wardown House Museum, Watts Gallery Trust and the National Horseracing Museum.

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