Chineke! awarded Weston Culture Fund grant
Chineke! Foundation has been awarded a grant of £150,000 by Garfield Weston Foundation as part of the Weston Culture Fund.
The Weston Culture Fund has distributed more than £30 million to Arts organisations across the UK to support the recovery of the sector. The grant will allow Chineke! to deliver projects from April 2021 onwards.
Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, Founder and Artistic & Executive Director of Chineke!, says:
"Everyone associated with Chineke! is incredibly grateful for this generous donation from the Weston Culture Fund which will do so much to take us on the path back to normality following the debilitating restrictions of the past year. Following months of only being able to perform "online" we cannot wait to reconnect with our audiences in live concerts - the Garfield Weston grant will enable us to do just that. Thank you!"
The Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, says:
“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.”
Established over 60 years ago in 1958, the Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, grant-making charity which supports causes across the UK and gave over £88million last year. It has donated well over £1billion to charities since it was established.