The Capitol receives lifeline grant from Government

The Capitol in Horsham has been awarded £182,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced today.

The Capitol is one of only 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across the country receiving urgently needed support. £257 million of investment has been announced today as part of the very first round of the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme being administered by Arts Council England. Further rounds of funding in the cultural and heritage sector are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

Commenting on the recovery funds received for The Capitol, Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture Cllr Jonathan Chowen said:

“This funding is incredibly welcome and will support our live performance offer at The Capitol in these extremely challenging and unprecedented times for live theatre.

“We re-opened The Capitol in July, as soon as it was viable and safe to do so, as we know that arts and culture are really important for our local community.

“We have worked tirelessly to ensure the venue is safe and Covid-secure for our customers and we were delighted to welcome back our first socially distanced live performance last weekend.

The feedback from our audience was incredibly positive and we are looking forward to our Christmas programme with a mix of drama, West End musical stars and family fun.

“The funding we have received will create a vital boost for our well-loved venue and help towards securing our plans for the future recovery of live theatre performance events in the coming months, very much building on the considerable successes we achieved with the 2019 Year of Culture.”

Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture Cllr Jonathan Chowen

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, said:

“Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This funding will save thousands of cultural spaces loved by both local communities and international audiences. Further funding is still to be announced and we are working hard to support our sector during these challenging times.”

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota

For media queries please email press@horsham.gov.uk