The English Folk Dance and Song Society is delighted to have been awarded a grant of £196,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation’s Weston Culture Fund.
This fund was created to support creative and cultural organisations in restarting work, refreshing activities and re-engaging audiences following Covid-19 closures.
The award notification praised the English Folk Dance and Song Society for being ‘a key part of our country’s arts and cultural life’.
The grant is for:
• Critical adaptations and improvements to digital infrastructure
• The commission of a new performance work from our Associate Company, Folk Dance Remixed
• Other artistic support
Katy Spicer, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, said:
“We cannot thank the Garfield Weston Foundation enough for this much-needed shot in the arm. This support resoundingly endorses our mission to place the folk arts at the heart of the cultural life of England. It will enable us to present events again at Cecil Sharp House, bringing great folk music to new and established audiences online – and to support creative activity with a country-wide reach.”
Philippa Charles, Director of the Garfield Weston Foundation, said:
“Our cultural sector is at the heart of our local communities providing not only entertainment but education and inspiration for many. Our Trustees were impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit shown across the arts in response to Covid-19 and it was a privilege to hear what organisations had been doing to not only survive but also to reinvent the way they reach audiences. What really stood out was the level of collaboration and support they had for each other and the determination to keep going, despite the increasingly difficult situation.
‘We all want and need our cultural sector to thrive and, if anything, our time away from the arts has shown just how important they are to us – bringing much needed pleasure and enrichment to our lives. Arts organisations are desperate to re-open and get back to what they do best, and we hope that this new funding will help many of them do exactly that.”
Photo by Chris Walshaw, courtesy of Folk Dance Remixed
