Arnold‘s The Bonington theatre and cinema has been awarded £66,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced.
The Culture Recovery Fund was set up to tackle the crisis facing our most loved cultural organisations and heritage sites.
The Bonington is one of 33 cinemas across England that will benefit from £5 million awarded by the BFI as the final applications for independent cinemas are processed ahead of the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the final awards to be allocated from the first round of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
The latest grants, awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, build on over £1 billion awarded to a huge range of cultural and heritage organisations over the last year.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said “We are very pleased to have received this vital grant from the BFI Culture Recovery Fund.
“The Bonington Theatre and Cinema plays an important role in its community and we welcome this boost to ensure we can reopen when this pandemic ends and provide local people with entertainment and much needed relief from the past year.
“The entertainment industry, especially cinemas, have been hit very hard and will take a long time to recover but we can’t wait to reopen our doors again.”
Gedling MP Tom Randall said he was delighted funding had been awarded to The Bonington.
He said: “Our cultural institutions play a very important role in our lives and I know how valued the Bonington is. I’m really pleased that Gedling residents will be able to benefit from the Culture Recovery Fund and I look forward to the Bonington re-opening soon.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “From restoring Georgian lidos and Roman baths to saving local screens and synagogues, our Culture Recovery Fund is helping to save the places people can’t wait to get back to, when it is safe to do so.
“All over the country, this funding is protecting the venues that have shaped our history and make us proud of our communities, whilst safeguarding the livelihoods of the people that work in them.”
