Olympiad gains £28 million for cultural projects

Published Tuesday 15 May 2007 at 16:30 by Nuala Calvi

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has pledged £28 million towards the Cultural Olympiad, the festival designed to showcase British artistic talent in the run-up to the 2012 Games.

Around 70% of a £40 million Legacy Fund, jointly financed by the Big Lottery Fund, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England, will go towards cultural projects.

Speaking in Liverpool today, Jowell said: “A Legacy Trust - £40 million to support cultural and sporting engagement across the UK in the run-up to, and during, the 2012 Games - will leave a lasting legacy across the whole of the UK.

“The majority of the money in the fund - around 70% - will be spent on cultural projects. There’ll be one major arts project, running for five years, and a handful of large grant programmes each year.”

The news will go some way towards addressing concerns in the arts world that there was little or no funding for the five-year Cultural Olympiad, after the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games warned most of its budget would be spent on mandatory ceremonies.

Jowell also said she wanted Britain’s cultural offering to be the best there has ever been, using Ancient Greece as its model.

Louise de Winter, director of the National Campaign for the Arts, welcomed the announcement. She said: “Our members were looking for clarification on what proportion of the £40 million from the Olympics Legacy Trust would be given to the arts, as they need to know on what basis to plan for events.

“I’m delighted that Tessa Jowell has announced that 70% of the Trust - approximately £28 million - will be made available for cultural projects. Better still, there are also indications of the type of activity that is proposed.”

However, she warned the arts sector needed to be funded at a “sustainable and consistent level” if it was to be able to put on a show for the 2012 Games.

“This is why we are continuing to take the case to Treasury for a Comprehensive Spending Revue settlement that also makes up the shortfall of funds that will be lost from the Lottery,” she added. “Without a healthy arts sector, there can be no cultural festival.”

Further details of the projects comprising the Olympiad, being organised by LOCOG, will be announced next month.