Shoreditch Town Hall has support from the government just in time for its festive programming. The money came from the third round of the £1.57bn put towards the Cultural Recovery Fund and will help to keep the building running during winter. It will also finance the Town Hall’s Christmas-themed parties and comedy shows.
The building requires extra heating during the colder months, said Beth Byrne, CEO of Shoreditch Town Hall. “We’re all experiencing hikes in utility costs. That affects places of work just as it does at home,” she said.
Byrne is adamant about the importance of funding cultural programmes, saying that “the last 20 years have been spent trying to encourage organisations to think more about the income they can raise on their own”. Many venues have ended up in jeopardy because they were self-reliant before the pandemic and it’s the venues that relied on government funding that have survived.
“It’s cruel because the more resilient organisations have been hit harder than others. There is definitely a strong argument for increased state funding,” she said.
The Town Hall also received funding from the first two rounds of the Cultural Recovery Fund and was “100% reliant on it…It has absolutely allowed us to survive. It’s as clear as that.”
