Milton Keynes live music venue receives nearly £150,000 in government funding

£141,392 has been awarded to The Stables, in Wavendon, from a government programme to help deliver a project that will help to strengthen the region’s cultural infrastructure.

The Stables is a live music venue in Milton Keynes presenting over 400 gigs each year for all tastes - jazz, blues, folk, rock, classical, pop and world music.

It also produces the IF: Milton Keynes International Festival, a world-class, multi-arts programme of extraordinary events in unusual places and public spaces. Funding will support The Stables to complete its refurbishment, improving customer experience and the venue’s environmental sustainability.

Monica Ferguson, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of The Stables, said: “We are extremely grateful to receive an award to continue with our capital project, which was put on hold due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

"The funding will help us to complete a mini refurbishment of our facilities, improving access, safety and comfort for visiting artists and audiences.”

Dame Evelyn Glennie, CH, Patron of The Stables, said: “It is welcome news to hear that The Stables has received a Kickstart Capital award and that the planned refurbishment programme will go ahead.

"It is so important to invest in adaptations that enable arts venues to provide good accessibility for audiences and artists and the Arts Council support provides confidence that capital projects put on hold because of the pandemic can be completed.”

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England has today (Friday, December 11) announced further awards from its £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund: £58.9million has been awarded through the Fund’s Capital Kickstart grants programme, and over £165million has been offered through the Repayable Finance programme.

The Capital Kickstart grants will help cultural organisations across the country cover additional costs, caused by Covid-related delays or fundraising shortfalls, to their capital projects, including building works, refurbishments and large-scale equipment purchases.

The Repayable Finance programme will provide loans of £3million and above to some of England’s largest and most prestigious cultural organisations, helping them to weather the effects of the pandemic and reopen when it is safe to do so.

These loans have been tailored specifically to be affordable for cultural organisations and are offered on generous terms with an initial repayment holiday of up to four years, a low interest rate and up to 20-year repayment term.

Today’s announcement follows several previous rounds of investment from the Culture Recovery Fund, which saw £428million distributed to over 2000 cultural organisations through the Grants programme, alongside the £3.36million Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund.

The financing announced today takes the total allocated from the Culture Recovery Fund over £1 billion, delivering on the government’s commitment help culture in every corner of the country during this pandemic.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “This government promised it would be here for culture and today’s announcement is proof we’ve kept our word.

“The £1 billion invested so far through the Culture Recovery Fund has protected tens of thousands of jobs at cultural organisations across the UK, with more support still to come through a second round of applications.

“Today we’re extending a huge helping hand to the crown jewels of UK culture - so that they can continue to inspire future generations all around the world.”

Peter Heslip, Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: “This latest investment through the Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund will secure a number of our region’s most exciting capital projects affected by the pandemic.

"We know that the investment made to date through the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund has already helped to sustain many organisations across the South East and this is another way to ensure the resilience of important spaces at the heart of their communities.

"With the extra public investment, these organisations can continue to transform their cultural spaces, ready and waiting for the public to return.”