The Government has announced which projects will receive Levelling Up Culture grant funding.
In March last year, the previous Government invited Worcester City Council to submit plans for projects that could benefit from the Levelling Up money for cultural projects.
Following last year’s General Election, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, announced the Government was minded to withdraw the funding, subject to consultation.
Worcester City Council worked with its partners and made a case for the funding of each of the projects.
The Government has now announced which projects will receive money.
A total of £1.7million has been allocated towards the conversion of the Corn Exchange, part of the Scala Worcester project to create a new centre for arts and entertainment in the city centre.
The Government has also allocated £370,000 for the creation of office space to support the new arts centre.
An additional £233,000 has been allocated to create an outdoor performance space outside the Scala building in Angel Place.
Government officials confirmed that these projects were chosen because of their advanced nature and the impact on economic growth.
Other projects, which included a Learning Centre project at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum, will not receive Levelling Up Culture funding.
Councillor Lynn Denham, Worcester City Council Leader, said: “We thank the Government for allowing us to make the case for investment in cultural projects in Worcester. I am really pleased as a result, we have been awarded partial funding.
“I also thank our Member of Parliament, Tom Collins, who has been talking to Government Ministers about these projects.
“We recognise that the Government is in a very difficult financial position, and that tough decisions were made.
“I understand that this news will come as a disappointment to those involved with projects which were not awarded Levelling-Up money.
“Building work started last month at Scala, which will be a new centre for arts and entertainment here in the centre of our city.
“It is an incredibly exciting project and I would encourage people to find out more and sign up for regular updates at scalaworcester.co.uk, or to search Scala Worcester on social media.
“This additional money allocated by the Government will enable us to provide additional facilities in the Corn Exchange building, which is part of the Scala development.”
Tom Collins, Member of Parliament for Worcester said: “To have received any of this funding at all is a real win for Worcester, and to see the Scala Project backed in this way is extremely good news.
“The Scala project, with its inclusion of the Corn Exchange, collaborative working space and improvements to Angel Place, will lift our city centre, but more importantly it will create amazing opportunities for our local artists and young people.
“It has been a huge team effort to save any of this funding, and I want to thank everyone involved in making it happen, including our City Council staff, Councillors (especially our Council Leaders Lynn Denham and Jabba Riaz) and our Government Ministers who recognised the value of Worcester and this project.”
