Local MP Maria Miller has welcomed news that three Basingstoke organisations have received funding as part of the first round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

The funding administered by Arts Council England to Basingstoke amounts to £434,672, and has been awarded to local organisations Music Beyond Mainstream, Proteus Theatre Company, and The Anvil Trust.

Responding to the funding announcement, Maria Miller said, ‘I am so pleased these organisations have received this vital cash funding from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. This will provide Basingstoke arts groups with much needed support for the next phase of the pandemic, so that they continue to enrich our community life for the future.

The funding of these Basingstoke organisations comes as part of a package supporting 1300 arts venues and organisations across the UK receiving up to £1m each as a share of £257m in Government funding.

This cash funding is part of the Government’s wider Culture Recovery Fund announced earlier this year, which allocated £1.57 billion to help protect the UK’s culture and heritage sectors from the economic impact of Covid-19.

This is the first round of grants to be announced, with a number of further funding announcements to be made over the next few weeks.