NPO analysis: City of Culture bidders see funding uplifts

The majority of bidders in England for the UK City of Culture 2025 title received sizeable uplifts in NPO funding in Arts Council England's (ACE) new national portfolio, according to our analysis.

Arts Professional compared the NPO funding eights areas of England that applied to be the next City of Culture – Bradford, Cornwall, County Durham, Derby, Medway, Southampton, Wakefield and Wolverhampton, – received in 2021/22, compared to what they are set to receive in 2023/24.

Our analysis found seven of the eight areas will see their funding increase, while all have at least new one organisation based in their area joining the portfolio.

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Unsurprisingly, incumbent City of Culture Bradford is the biggest winner. The city is set to receive over £3.3m per annum in 2023/24, an 89% increase on 2021/22 levels.

Three Bradford-based organisations will join an existing nine in the portfolio.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus, ACE’s North Director Pete Massey said the title was not a criterion funding bids were judged on: “We wouldn’t award organisations just because Bradford is City of Culture, but the ambition and hard work that went in to achieve the title means we had a lot of great applications.”

“[Bradford’s success] is largely down to the ambition of the local authority, who have made culture a strategic priority. They have put in place what is needed to boost the chances of arts groups, and this is a testament to their ambition and hard work.”

Art Centre Kala Sangam, which saw its NPO funding trebled, said it plans to programme more dance, theatre, music and poetry.

“The increase in our regular funding from ACE will enable us to support more artists in Bradford, have a greater role in developing South Asian artforms locally and nationally, welcome larger audiences and play a bigger role in Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations,” Creative Director Alex Croft said.

Success for shortlisted bids

Runners-up in the City of Culture race have also been rewarded with large increases in NPO funding.

Southampton will see a 58% increase. It will have nine NPOs in 2023/24, including three new additions, that will share over £3.8m.

Leader of Southampton City Council Satvir Kaur said: “I am thrilled that our work during the [City of Culture] bid process has resulted in such an uplift in regular ACE investment into our city.”

“At a time when we need to grow our local economy and attract visitors to the city, this is very welcome news."

County Durham also made the City of Culture shortlist and will receive a 56% increase in NPO funding. Two NPOs in the area are joining the portfolio, taking its total to nine.

Derby, which made the longlist of eight candidates, and Wakefield will receive 20% and 32% funding uplifts in the next NPO round respectively. Both cities have seen the number of their NPOs increase by one.

Priority areas win out

Some of the City of Culture candidates' largest increases in funding is likely to be due to their inclusion in the priority places for investment list.

Both Medway and Wolverhampton feature on ACE’s Levelling-Up for Culture Places and Priority Places and will see NPO investment more than double from 2023/24.

Since the two areas were targeted through ACE’s Cultural Compacts programme in 2020, they have developed local cultural strategies to support cultural development throughout the current decade.

In the next NPO portfolio, Medway will gain three new NPOs, taking its total to six, while Wolverhampton will see two organisations join its current three.

“We are committed to supporting the ambition and talent of our cultural sector and ACE’s funding announcement will enable local organisations to work on a bigger and more ambitious scale which will further benefit Medway’s residents and communities,” Deputy Leader of Medway Council Howard Doe said.

Cornwall loses funding

Cornwall is the only area from the UK City of Culture 2025 race that will see its NPO funding fall in 2023/24.

After receiving over £2.3m in 2021/22, it has been allocated £2.1m for 2023/24, equating to a 9.5% decrease.

The decline appears largely down to the removal of Kneehigh Theatre Trust from the portfolio – which received £450,000 per annum in 2021/22 – after it closed down.

The other eight Cornwall-based organisations in the last portfolio have retained NPO status and will receive the same, or more, funding, alongside one new addition.

Cornwall made the City of Culture longlist and formally received ACE’s Cultural Compacts funding.

The decrease in funding was noted by local arts professionals online. Cornwall-based theatre worker Ciaran Clarke tweeted the area’s funding cut was disappointing: “It’s a massive loss for one of the poorest counties in England.”

Emma Hogg, Executive Director of Cornwall-based NPO WildWorks theatre, said on Twitter that NPO results day had brought mixed emotions.

“Incredibly proud of the Wildworks teams and delighted we remain a NPO. At the same time, Cornwall has taken an investment hit and the impact will be felt by neighbour organisations and freelance friends.”