Fifteen groups will receive four-year funding, from Streetwise Opera to Castlefield Gallery and The Edge
Manchester’s arts scene is to get a £1.1 million boost over the next four years, as part of The Cultural Partnership Agreement: grants that help community organisations with basic (sometimes prohibitive) running costs.
Fifteen companies made successful applications, with entrants judged on their ability to offer cultural opportunities for people of all ages, experiences and backgrounds.
The creative industry sector is considered to be one of the fastest growing in the UK, accounting for over 5% of the UK economy and employing 2 million people. Latest estimates from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport suggest the creative industries are now worth around £91.8 billon GVA to the UK and that the creative economy employs one in every eleven working people.
In Manchester alone, a 2016/17 council survey found local cultural organisations generated around £134.2 million GVA through employment, contracts and attracting visitors - attracting four million audience members through 11,066 productions and commissions across every ward of the city.
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Schools, Culture and Leisure, Manchester City Council, said: "Manchester has a long and proud tradition of supporting culture and the arts, and for a very good reason. Not only do the arts provide entertainment and enrich lives, investing in them also clearly makes sound economic sense.
"We want everyone in Manchester to benefit from the fantastic cultural opportunities on our doorstep, whether that is as a participant learning valuable skills along the way, or as an audience member trying something new for the first time and perhaps having their eyes opened to a new way of thinking and seeing.
"We're determined to further increase participation in the arts and our cultural partnership grants go some way towards ensuring this."
The full list of organisations that will receive grant funding over the next four years include…
Newcomers
Leading contemporary dance company, who work with up-and-coming dance artists. Performances often reflect voices that are misrepresented or marginalised within society.
Artist-led organisation that creates progressive, socially engaged theatre and performance with people who have no previous arts involvement.
Produces and broadcasts music, writing, drama and arts with young people who had little previous arts engagement.
Works with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to produce music and theatre performance.
Creates arts and cultural engagement that empowers and supports vulnerable, marginalised young men.
Previous recipients
Creative music charity with a focus on young people, emerging talent and those who inexperience inequality within the industry.
Art gallery and agency that promotes and develops the Northern arts scene.
Arts development organisation that creates access to cultural production for people that can otherwise be excluded.
Charity-run venue fostering the creativity of teens and young adults with workshops, gallery space and performance.
British chamber orchestra, famous for innovation, that runs a pioneering community programme and dementia-led research.
Manchester Craft and Design Centre
Gallery, housed in a Victorian former fish market, which aims to make contemporary visual art and design accessible to all.
Charity that celebrates regional heritage through community events, including a popular biannual festival.
The only venue of its kind outside London; chronicles the lives of Jewish people in Manchester.
Former Sunday school venue staging professional drama alongside with community outreach and productions.
Runs hundreds of inclusive arts workshops annually, for people with a learning disability.
