Photo credit: M Gonzalez-Noda

More than £100 million has been awarded to hundreds of cultural organisations across the country including the Military Wives Choirs, in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today. The third round of funding will support organisations from all corners of the sector as they deal with ongoing reopening challenges, ensuring they can thrive in better times ahead.

The Military Wives Choirs is a community of nearly 2,000 women in 72 choirs across the UK and internationally that come together to celebrate a love of singing and a communal understanding that comes from our members’ shared experiences of the Armed Forces.

Despite a challenging 18 months where our in-person activity was interrupted, and choirs were unable to perform, we are now looking ahead to a bright future and this award from the Culture Recovery Fund will help to secure and stabilise our activity. 2022 promises to be a very exciting year for us, as we look to celebrate our 10^th anniversary as a charity. The funds will be used to offer our network a series of performance opportunities at regional concerts across the UK, provide training for our network of 71 Musical Directors and direct welfare support to our choirs, and launch a recruitment campaign to encourage even more growth amongst the community we serve.

Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, said:

“Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from. Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.”

Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5,000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.

 Laura Wright, Ambassador for the Military Wives Choirs, said:

" I am thrilled to hear the Military Wives Choirs have been awarded a second Arts Council grant from the Culture Recovery Fund. This organisation is so close to my heart and truly deserves this recognition, the funds will help to continue their vital work in bringing women with military connections together through music and will also assist the celebrations planned in 2022 to mark their 10th anniversary. Wonderful news!"

As both an independent charity and a subsidiary of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, the Military Wives Choirs work collaboratively with SSAFA in their mission to provide support to our Forces and their families.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said:

“This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives”.

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Setting a strategic vision in  Let’s Create that by 2030 will help England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.  

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Funds. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.