Morecambe Winter Gardens gets £2.7m - its biggest cash award in over 100 years

The £2,743,002 grant has come from the Cultural Development Fund, which was announced this morning, Monday.

The theatre is one of more than 70 cultural organisations across the country to receive a financial boost from the fund, which aims to level up through investment in culture.

The fund unlocks local growth and productivity, promotes economic and social recovery from the impact of Covid-19, and regenerates communities through capital investment in transformative place-based creative and cultural initiatives.

The Winter Gardens is the only recipient of Cultural Development Fund money in the north west.

The money will bring a cash injection of £2.5m of capital to the building, alongside £700,000 of additional funding including £200,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fun, marking it as the largest single investment in the Winter Gardens for more than 100 years.

Proposed work at the theatre includes a two-storey extension including toilets, accessible lifts and new fire escape, full electrical rewiring, essential audio-visual and lighting equipment including an acoustic shell for the fly-tower and other essential conservation work.

Alongside the capital works, Winter Gardens Preservation Trust will work with partners including From the Field (who have worked on the Kendal Calling and Blue Dot festivals) and Morecambe and Lancaster arts groups to programme new events and music activities over the next three years.

Crucial to the development of the building is a Young Creatives Initiative in partnership with Lancaster & Morecambe College, which will see a cohort of 75 young creatives from Morecambe and Lancaster given the opportunity to have work experience, paid training from national bodies with local and regional cultural partners.

The Winter Gardens will additionally fundraise a further £200,000 (7.5%) of the remaining funds towards important conservation of the Grade II* interiors including the impressive ceramic tiles in the main foyer.

Over the three years of the grant the Winter Gardens will be transformed into a fully functioning 1,600 capacity music venue, the largest in north Lancashire and the South Lakes, amid hopes it will become a mecca for the UK touring circuit.

Prof Vanessa Toulmin, chair of the Winter Gardens Preservation Trust and chair of popular entertainment at the University of Sheffield, submitted the full application on behalf of the trust and worked with partners locally and nationally on the bid.

On behalf of the trust Prof Toulmin said: “This is an historic day for the Winter Gardens and marks the single biggest investment in the theatre for over 100 years.

"I am overjoyed for the residents of Morecambe who have showed such love and loyalty to the building over the many years of disappointment, thankful for the support of my board, our partners, our donors and funders and of course our wonderful volunteers.

"We still have a long way to go but this funding gets us nearer to our ambition of making our building sing and be known once again as the People’s Palace – the Albert Hall of the north.”

Morecambe MP David Morris said: “It is absolutely fantastic news that the Winter Gardens has been awarded £2.78m by the Government.

"It was a fantastic bid, which I was proud to support and it is a testament to how strong a bid the team at the Winter Gardens, led by Prof Vanessa Toulmin, put in.

"I believe it is the first time that an award of this type has been awarded to a trust running a project and not a council or larger organisation.

"Well done to everyone at the Winter Gardens who put this bid together and I know what a huge impact this funding will have at restoring the building to its former glory and protecting the wonderful Winter Gardens for generations to come.”

Coun Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “Huge congratulations to Prof Toulmin and her team for gaining this outstanding funding for the Winter Gardens in Morecambe.

"It will enable an amazing building to come back to life to provide entertainment to audiences from across the region. More than that it will provide a boost to the cultural sector and hope for local young people who dream of entering it.”

Dean Shakespeare, head of touring for From the Field, said: “We are extremely excited to working with Vanessa and her team to transform the venue into the premier destination for north Lancashire and Cumbria.

"We have already worked prior to this with the Winter Gardens with our successful Levellers gig in 2021 and we look forward to bringing the best to the area.”

A spokesman for Morecambe BID (Business Improvement District) posted on Facebook: "Huge congratulations to Prof Vanessa Toulmin and the team at the Winter Gardens for winning a huge £2.8m cultural grant from the government for transforming the building into a 1,600 capacity venue, adding lift access, a new two story extension, audio visual and lighting system that will enable the venue to host international acts.

"On top of the Eden news earlier this year this is a transformational development for Morecambe. Over the last few years Vanessa and the team have raised over £5 million to restore the building."

The fund, which totals more than £200m and was launched in 2019, is made up of three separate streams, the Cultural Development Fund, the Libraries Improvement Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund. It is designed to protect and improve people’s access to culture, regenerate communities, upgrade buildings and digital infrastructure and use investment to promote economic growth.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “This investment will help to level up access to arts and culture for everyone, no matter where they live.

“This funding will support brilliant arts organisations to upgrade their venues and create new projects that will be at the heart of their communities.”