Today I met Sir Peter Bazalgette, the chair of the Arts Council, to talk about the final details of our Newcastle Culture Fund – a £600,000 a year initiative that arts organisations can apply to fund core activities. The fund will be put to full council for agreement this week.
Our city benefits from vibrant and popular cultural institutions, but given the scale of government cuts, it is not possible for us to play as significant a role in their funding in the future. The culture fund is a response to this new understanding and we’ve worked closely with the Arts Council and the venues themselves to make it a reality.
