Thousands of pupils in schools all over England will benefit from life skills that set them up for success as adults through a new £1.1 million investment to expand cadet units in schools.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced the expansion today (Friday 2 April), to increase capacity in existing state school-based cadet units in England, giving more pupils the opportunity to build important skills such as resilience, self-discipline, teamwork and leadership skills.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

The values of our Armed Forces – those of resilience, perseverance, and teamwork – are the same that we want to instil in all our young people. These are skills that will serve pupils both now and well into adulthood.

As we move out of national lockdown and back to normality, we want to make sure that children have a balance between academic and extra-curricular activities to set them back on track towards excellent futures. The cadets programme will widen extra-curricular activities available to disadvantaged children, as well as boost a culture of self-discipline in schools.

The success of the programme since its launch in 2012, leading to 500 units in schools, is testament to a strong partnership between schools and the Armed Forces in enriching pupils’ skill set and extending a culture of discipline in education to other areas of a young person’s life, including extra-curricular activities.

The boost to the Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) builds on the Government’s support for children’s wellbeing as they make the transition back to the classroom, as well as its £1.7 billion investment in programmes targeted at young people who may benefit from additional help with academic, social or emotional skills.

The joint Ministry of Defence and Department for Education programme (CEP) originally launched in 2012 with a target of creating 100 cadet units in state secondary schools in England, which was later boosted to having 500 units in UK schools by April 2020 due to the success of the programme.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

I thoroughly welcome the expansion of the Cadet Units in schools. This is about giving pupils the opportunity to develop a range of important skills beyond academic learning, teaching resilience, leadership and working as a team.

The scheme was introduced by the Government to increase the numbers of units which could equip young people with unique skills and experiences which can help them in day-to-day life.

Research has shown the cadets offers a range of benefits to individuals and the wider community, including:

• Increased an individual’s belief in their ability to complete specific tasks
• Improved their motivation;
• Improved school attendance which leads to better behaviour and attitudes;
• May lead to greater academic success which can contribute to increasing social mobility.

Today’s announcement reaffirms the Government’s support for achieving the ambition of having 60,000 cadets in school units, and delivers on the Education Secretary’s commitment to support School Staff Instructors (SSI) in Combined Cadet Forces (CCFs) in state schools in England to sustain cadet units in schools, which in turn will assist with the growth of cadet numbers, ensuring that many more young people benefit from what cadets offer. Funding will go directly to schools to employ School Staff Instructors.

The announcement to expand cadet units in schools and develop “soft skills” in children and young people during the pandemic, builds on the Government’s £1.7 billion investment in recovery support to help tackle the impact of any lost learning and physical time in school during the pandemic.

Leading UK businesses and research institutions will join forces to develop new technologies, from 3D imaging accelerating medicine discovery, to transforming waste into eco-friendly household products.

Announced today (Friday 2 April 2021) by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, 9 new partnerships will bring together expertise from some of the UK’s most prominent businesses and research institutions to develop innovations in support of the UK’s key priorities, such as tackling climate change and boosting medical research.

Backed by a £75.2 million joint investment from government, business and academia, the business-led collaborations will draw on existing industry and research strengths in regions across the UK, from Teesside to Bristol, to create products and technologies that can drive economic growth and create highly skilled local jobs.

Innovations receiving funding today include the development of synthetic biology to improve the cost effectiveness of drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, sensor technology to help reduce distraction for drivers, and converting waste into clean household products such as shampoo.

To mark the announcement, the Business Secretary this week visited the Francis Crick Institute, which is partnering with British pharmaceutical firm GSK in a joint mission to accelerate medicine discovery. There he learnt how the 2 businesses will collaborate by integrating next generation chemistry with new technologies to speed up the development of medicines to help treat disease.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:

As we build back better through innovation, we are putting the funding and structures in place so those at the top of their field – in business, research and academia – can develop world class products and technologies that could change all our lives for the better. The partnerships we are throwing our weight behind today all have innovation at their core.

When I visited the Francis Crick Institute this week, it was fantastic to see their ongoing work with GSK to speed up the development of new medicines. The coronavirus pandemic has taught us how vital collaboration is between industry and science and I hope partnerships like this will help in our efforts to prepare for and respond to future pandemics.

By bringing together business and research expertise in regions across the UK, we will help to drive local economic growth and create highly skilled jobs, all while cementing the UK’s status as a science superpower.

As a result of the new financial support, Unilever will partner with the Universities of Liverpool and Oxford to reduce the carbon footprint of everyday consumer products such as shampoo and laundry detergent. The collaboration will see researchers inventing and designing sustainable materials from waste by using methods such as carbon capture, helping to decarbonise the global chemical supply chain and contribute to the UK’s net zero ambitions.

Technology company Ultraleap will partner with University College London (UCL) to develop acoustic technology that allow people to ‘feel’, ‘hear’ and ‘see’ virtual 3D objects and holograms. It aims to demonstrate this in interactive mid-air applications such as VR training simulators, novel user interfaces in cars, digital signage and interactive kiosks. For example, mid-air interfaces can help reduce driver distraction during human-car interactions by enabling buttons, dials and other controls to find the driver who could hold their hand out and feel the buttons to change the audio, answer a phone call or check the navigation.

Today’s government funding is being delivered through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and is part of the flagship Prosperity Partnerships programme. It builds on the government’s commitment to raise economy-wide investment in research and development to 2.4% by 2027.

EPSRC Executive Chair, Professor Dame Lynn Gladden, said:

To tackle key challenges, such as achieving net zero, and seize new opportunities we need to harness the world-class expertise of both industry and academia.

The Prosperity Partnerships announced today do this by supporting collaborations that will develop transformative new technologies with the potential to deliver societal impact and economic growth.

Other projects being backed today include

M Squared, AstraZeneca, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) and the University of Southampton

The partnership aims to revolutionise the imaging technologies used to assess how effective new drugs will be in treating various conditions. It aims to develop tools that will provide live, high resolution 3D images on a large scale to determine the impact of drugs in living miniaturised yet realistic versions of human tissue and organs. This would provide an upgrade on current techniques which rely on the invasive and time-consuming process of using fluorescent light to determine their impact. This will help to speed up the process of discovering and bringing more cost effective and efficacious drugs to market.

EDF, University of Bristol, University of Manchester, Imperial College London and the Science and Technology Facilities Council

The project will harness world-leading expertise to develop the components of digital twins – virtual models of physical entities – that can be used to assess the condition of components of energy generators such as nuclear power plants, and their need for maintenance or remedial work. This will help in the delivery and operation of major low-carbon energy generation buildings, and will create seven new research roles and incorporate 18 PhD studentships.

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Universities of Edinburgh, Manchester and York

The partnership will utilise state-of-the-art tools and synthetic biology to improve the development of biological drugs from cells and make production more efficient. These drugs, which bring together genetic material from different sources, have transformed the treatment of life-limiting diseases including cancer, haemophilia and rheumatoid arthritis. As well as the major impact this could have in terms of new drugs to treat various conditions, it represents a major economic opportunity with an increasing portion of all medicines, currently estimated at 20%, being biopharmaceuticals and the global biologics market predicted to reach a value of $319 billion this year.

Lubrizol and the Universities of Nottingham and Warwick

Chemistry is fundamental to the UK’s manufacturing industries and is at the heart of most products that we rely on every day. Chemicals company Lubrizol will partner with the University of Nottingham and the University of Warwick in its ambitious mission to decarbonise the speciality chemicals industry. Through its unique smart molecule design and energy resilient processes, it will use its chemistry to reduce the carbon footprints of everyday consumer products such as soaps, athletic wear, medicines and cars.

Shell, Imperial College London and Diamond Light Source

The path to net-zero CO2 requires both innovation and optimisation of new technologies across the energy cycle from generation to storage, as well in mitigation such as carbon capture. This partnership aims to improve the efficiency, stability and longevity of systems by controlling the complex interfaces – the area where 2 interacting substances meet – on which these technologies rely, delivering a pathway to meet the UK’s ambitious targets for the energy transition.

BBC, University of Surrey and Lancaster University

Personalised media experiences, which are tailored to users’ preferences and their device, have the potential to create 100,000 jobs and drive annual growth of £2 billion to the UK by 2030. This partnership will build on the BBC’s work in this area, whilst harnessing the universities’ expertise in audio-visual AI and software-defined networks, together with the ability to run large-scale trials. The goal of the project is to develop systems that produce and deliver personalised experiences for millions of people whilst maintaining cost and energy efficiency.

Notes to editors

Quotes from businesses

Andy Topping, Chief Scientific Officer at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies:

We are delighted with the partnership we have with the University of Edinburgh and it is aligned with our core purpose to advance tomorrow’s medicines. We are a supporter of great science in the United Kingdom. This an exciting project that will allow us to understand, model and ultimately design CHO cells to be more efficient.

Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer, Unilever:

To achieve the UK’s net zero goal by 2050 we need a transformation of the global chemical supply chain. This partnership is an important milestone towards this, driving forward important research on new renewable and biodegradable materials for everyday products, such as laundry detergents. We’re delighted to bring together our world-leading scientists alongside those from the University of Liverpool, the University of Oxford, and our other partners, to tackle this issue.

Sinead Lynch, Chair, Shell UK said:

Shell has a target to become a net zero energy business by 2050, in step with society. I am delighted that Shell is part of this exciting research programme, which will play an important part in delivering efficiencies and improvements that will ultimately support Shell, and many others, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Tony Wood, Senior Vice President of Medicinal Science & Technology at GSK, said:

Industrialising this technology expands our work with the Crick and directly supports GSK’s R&D ambition to improve industry success rates by developing more genetically validated targets. Together we will integrate cutting-edge functional genomics and machine learning technologies with next generation chemistry to identify novel targets and help more patients.

Dr Ionel Nistor, Head of Nuclear R&D at EDF, said:

EDF is looking forward to starting work with our academic and industrial partners on this project which brings together a unique combination of expertise. SINDRI will develop digital tools to help the UK nuclear sector and other industries to reduce costs and ensure safety when designing, building and operating strategic assets.

Dr Orestis Georgiou, Director of Research at Ultraleap, said:

Inspired by swarm-robotics and 5G innovations, our partnership aims to achieve breakthroughs in sound-field control and distributed platform architectures. In effect, these advancements will help establish us as leaders in spatial computing and human-computer user interfaces, but will also open up new applications for our company to explore.

Andy Conroy, Controller, BBC Research & Development said:

Working closely with our partners, this project aims to position the UK media industry as the global leader in delivering personalised media experiences to audiences. The ambition is to build on the BBC’s pioneering work in this area, so that in the future, even more media experiences will adapt to a person’s viewing and listening needs and interactions.

Mark Davies, Senior Director Research & Development at Lubrizol said:

In a transforming world, Lubrizol provides innovative solutions by market driven research and technical foresight. We are excited to partner with leading academics in sustainable chemistry allowing us to discover and then accelerate early Technology Readiness Level (TRL) opportunities guided by our mission to help the world Move Cleaner, Create Smarter and Live Better.

About Prosperity Partnerships

The Prosperity Partnerships are supported through an investment of £22.9 million from EPSRC, £38.3 million from industry in cash and in-kind contributions, and £11.4 million from universities. An additional £2.6 million will be invested in two partnerships through UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

The partnerships announced today bring the total number of Prosperity Partnerships funded to 39 since 2017. £110 million has been invested by UK Research and Innovation, £131 million leveraged from 70 businesses, and £33 million from universities, bringing total investment in Prosperity Partnerships to £274 million.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. By investing in research and postgraduate training, we are building the knowledge and skills base needed to address the scientific and technological challenges facing the nation.

Our portfolio covers a vast range of fields from healthcare technologies to structural engineering, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry. The research we fund has impact across all sectors. It provides a platform for future UK prosperity by contributing to a healthy, connected, resilient, productive nation.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has announced details of over 2,700 organisations being offered nearly £400 million in grants and loans to help the culture and heritage sector reopen and recover.

This brings the Government’s total investment across grants, capital and repayable finance from the Culture Recovery Fund so far to more than £1.2 billion across over 5,000 individual cultural and heritage organisations and sites.

The funding was reserved in the first round of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to allow the Government to respond to the changing public health picture. With more than 70% of funding going outside of London, it will help organisations across the country as they welcome back visitors and return to normal operating models in the months ahead.

Over £170 million in repayable finance has been offered to organisations including the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. A further £81 million in new loans are being announced for 23 nationally and internationally significant organisations receiving support in excess of £1 million, including English Heritage Trust, The Lowry and Sage Gateshead.

The English Heritage Trust, which cares for 420 historic monuments, buildings, objects and places, will receive £23.4 million to cover Covid-related losses and support investment in essential maintenance. The Lowry Centre Trust, the world class Salford-based arts centre, will receive £7.3 million, which will help the organisation to continue its community outreach programming and ensure that the LS Lowry collection is appropriately cared for. The North Music Trust, which operates the flagship music performance and artistic development Sage Gateshead, will receive £3 million to support operational costs ahead of reopening and help the organisation to continue its valuable work including integrating its digital and in-person offerings.

The first round of grants and repayable finance totalling more than £800 million were allocated to ensure the immediate survival of 3,800 cultural organisations and heritage sites across the country. This second tranche of funding builds on the lifeline grants already awarded to support museums, theatres, performance venues, historic sites and cinemas as they reopen to audiences and visitors throughout the spring and summer.

Glastonbury Festival will receive £900,000 to help the festival continue in 2021, with two smaller events this year, as well as to carry the festival through to 2022.

A further £6.5 million has been awarded by the British Film Institute to independent cinemas including £138,333 for the East Finchley’s Phoenix Cinema, Britain’s oldest cinema in continuous use where Dame Judi Dench is a patron, and £45,640 awarded for the Barn Cinema in Dartington, based in a 14th century barn. This brings the number of cinemas supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas to 209.

Grants worth almost £60 million have been awarded to help theatres plan for reopening in every corner of the country from the West End’s Criterion Theatre to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. The Criterion is receiving £164,501, taking its total support from the Culture Recovery Fund to £493,504.

Nimax Theatres, which operates six sites in the West End including the Palace Theatre, the Lyric and the Apollo Theatre, will receive £898,784 from the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding will support the theatres’ preparations to re-open to audiences, such as deep cleaning, Covid-testing equipment and training for staff.

Earlier this week, the Culture Secretary visited the Wolverhampton Grand which has been awarded £568,357 to restart socially distanced events when it is safe to do so.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.

Dame Judi Dench, Oscar® award-winning actor (Shakespeare in Love, Philomena, Mrs Brown, Skyfall), a patron of the Phoenix East Finchley and the Theatre by the Lake which hosts the Keswick Film Festival and a BFI Fellow said:

Local cinemas are a vital part of our cultural lives, enthralling us with films about lives that we recognise as well as offering us stories about other cultures from around the world. They are places where people come together for a shared experience and have inspired many to make their careers on screen. We need to make sure that generations today and in the future have the same opportunities to enjoy and take part in the communal big screen experience.

Stephen Fry, Chair, Criterion Theatre Trust, said:

The Criterion Theatre Trust is just delighted to have received CRF second round grant funding in support of our plans to re-open in May 2021. Offering live theatre to a socially distanced audience presents a financial challenge, but the support extended through the Culture Recovery Fund is a boost that allows us to re-open in a Covid-safe way. The Trust will be able to continue its work and, when that glorious and happy time comes, to welcome audiences back to our beautiful theatre, to enjoy once again the irreplaceable and unforgettable experience of live theatre.

Dame Julie Walters, Patron of The Pied Piper Theatre Company, said:

As Patron of The Pied Piper Theatre Company, I’m delighted to hear that the company are being supported by the Arts Council’s Culture Recovery Fund. It’s tremendous that the value of their plays for audiences of young children are recognised.

Hugh Bonneville, supporter of Chichester Festival Theatre, said:

Underlying the UK’s international Film & TV success is the best of British Theatre. So I am particularly delighted that Chichester Festival Theatre, my local theatre, is being supported so generously by the Culture Recovery Fund. The grant will enable it to reopen its doors with confidence, renew the relationship with its audience and take its place once again at the heart of its vibrant community.

Romesh Ranganathan, comedian, said of Komedia’s award:

I’m absolutely delighted Komedia has got this funding. It means that it can continue to be the hub for both established comedy as well as nurturing new talent. This is great news for the area.

Jade Thirlwall Customs House Fellow and Little Mix star said:

The Customs House has a special place in my heart so I’m really delighted this grant will help secure its future. It’s so important for South Tyneside and it’s wonderful to see our arts centres being able to work towards opening again.

Michael & Emily Eavis, Glastonbury Festivals, said:

We’re extremely grateful to be offered a significant award from the Culture Recovery Fund. After losing millions from the cancellation of our last two Festivals, this grant will make a huge difference in helping to secure our future.

Zoë Wanamaker, Patron of British Youth Music Theatre, said:

Fantastic news. BYMT has been awarded a grant in the second round of Arts Council England’s Culture Recovery Fund.

This grant will help to underpin our Summer Season; enable the commissioning and creation of new work – 10 productions taking place around England this summer, including Halifax, Ipswich, Plymouth and London.

Thank you to Arts Council England and the DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport).

Museums across the country have also benefited from more than £25 million in this latest round of funding. The London Transport Museum which received £1,750,000 in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund will get another £875,000 to help the museum reopen to the public in a Covid secure manner. Thanks to government support, the museum will also be opening new exhibitions and community projects including hosting virtual sessions for schools and new virtual reality ways to enjoy exhibitions.

The National Football Museum in Manchester will receive £239,721, building on the £515,965 it received from the first round. The museum holds the largest public collection of football objects in the world and works with sports museums worldwide and provides guidance on collections and exhibitions. The additional funding will be used to support the museum to reopen to the public through the summer.

Comedy clubs, music venues and multi-purpose stages continue to be supported in the latest round of funding awarded by Arts Council England. Award-winning Brighton venue Komedia, which usually programmed over 700 events a year to provide a platform for performers launching their careers, will receive £123,500 to resume socially distanced music, comedy and theatre performances. £213,853 will support the leading independent grassroots venue the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds to restart live events. Iconic venues like the Camden Roundhouse are also being supported with awards of £1,500,000 to welcome back audiences to live events.

Awards have been made to benefit the widest possible range of art forms and organisations including circuses, like Cirque Bijou and Gorilla Circus, and touring groups which bring high-quality productions to people everywhere. Wise Children, the South West Theatre Company created and led by award-winning director Emma Rice, will receive £173,598 to return to rehearsals and restart their unique professional training programmes after pivoting to streaming performances online and podcasting during the pandemic.

These awards are also supporting vital supply chain organisations for live performances, like Lamp and Pencil who have received £120,307. The Hertfordshire-based production company installs, builds and maintains technical infrastructure for productions. This includes the LED displays for the West End hit musical Six and wands used in Harry Potter.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England have allocated £44 million to over 470 heritage organisations. This builds on more than £146 million awarded to the sector in the first round of awards, which included funding for revenue and capital works. Historic sites like Bamburgh Castle and Ely Cathedral, that typically attract tourists to the local areas, are also supported by this latest funding, receiving £137,400 and £210,700 respectively to help teams at these centuries-old buildings prepare for the return of modern visitors. Charlestown Harbour, a UNESCO World Heritage site and filming location for popular TV dramas and films such as Poldark and Ammonite, has been awarded £109,500 to help the site survive.

Nearly all of the original £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund has now been allocated, with over £1.2 billion in grants and repayable finance offered to more than 5,000 individual organisations and sites, and further grants to be finalised over the coming weeks. £188 million has been given to the devolved administrations through the Barnett formula, with Northern Ireland receiving £33 million, Scotland £97 million and Wales £59 million. £100 million has been given to national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust.

At last month’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a £300 million boost for the Culture Recovery Fund, as part of a wider £408 million package for arts and culture taking direct government investment in the sector since the start of the pandemic stands at almost £2 billion. Further details on the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund will be available in due course.

ENDS

Additional quotes:

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work. We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.

Ben Roberts, BFI Chief Executive said:

People have been missing the big screen experience and we know they are looking forward to cinemas being able to reopen from 17 May onwards. The Culture Recovery Fund has been a lifeline to survival for local independent cinemas up and down the country, ensuring that they will be able to welcome their audiences back. In bringing the latest films from blockbusters to British films and new discoveries from around the world as well as screen classics, the local ‘cinema paradiso’ is often the only form of culture and entertainment in their area and are vital to their communities. We need them back and thanks to the fund screens will soon light up once more.

Ros Kerslake, CEO of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

Spring is definitely here, bringing not only sunshine but that sense of optimism and hope for the future. We are all looking forward to heritage places and other visitor attractions reopening and I am very pleased that we have been able to support DCMS in delivering this vital funding to ensure the UK’s heritage sector can rebuild and thrive, boosting local economies, creating jobs and supporting personal wellbeing.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:

The value of our heritage sites and the people who run them has been amply demonstrated, as they have provided an anchor for so many of us through the dark days of the last year. Vital grants from the Culture Recovery Fund have helped them survive and will now help them recover, as the places we all cherish start to reopen in the months ahead.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic, said:

We are so overjoyed to be in receipt of this grant – it means more than we can say. It allows us to welcome people back into the building, and importantly, it allows us to invest in what tomorrow looks like. With it, we can invest in our current and future workforce, including in our freelance theatre community, and also innovate, and for that we are profoundly grateful.

Paul Greengrass, BAFTA award winning and Oscar® nominated director (Jason Bourne, Captain Phillips, United 93, Bloody Sunday) and a BFI Fellow said:

Going to the local cinema was a vital part of my life when I was growing up. It embedded a passion for movies within me that has sustained me through my whole life; later, having the opportunity to experience films from around the world was a priceless gift, giving me insight into other cultures, other experiences, and reminding me that the greatest gift cinema can bestow is to remind us of our common humanity. Independent cinemas have always been dedicated to their audiences and the art of film, but they do so much more – providing a focus for their communities and enabling a range of activities by other organisations and charities. Thankfully this funding will enable more of them to survive, reopen, and welcome us back.

Adrian Jackson – Chief Executive & Artistic Director Wolverhampton Grand Theatre said:

The wonderful news we have received today has generated an incredible air of excitement within Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. Our theatre is an immense cultural pillar for Wolverhampton and the Black Country and has stood proudly on this site since opening its doors on 10 December 1894. Many great artistes have learnt their craft here throughout the decades, and thanks to the grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, the future of the theatre is now firmly safeguarded and secured. The Grand is an anchor for creativity which provides cultural enrichment for our community and a platform for many established and growing performers, technicians and theatre professionals. We are now able to begin the process of reopening the theatre and we look forward to welcoming our audience back in the coming months when the Grand Theatre’s heart will once again beat loudly in Wolverhampton and beyond.

Larissa Joy OBE, Chair, The Foundling Museum said:

The Foundling Museum is thrilled to receive this very welcome Culture Recovery Fund grant, and it could not have come at a better time. Not only does this help us keep the engine of the Museum running, and ensure we can continue to support artists, but it means that we can continue to do the vital work we do with care leavers and early years children from the local Camden community, with all the challenges they are facing at the moment.

Kate Mavor, English Heritage’s Chief Executive, said:

This loan will play an important role in steadying the English Heritage ship, giving the charity the financial security we require to become self-sufficient. We applied for it because we felt it was the best way for the charity to thrive and to invest in the sites in our care. This finance package will support vital conservation at our prehistoric monuments, castles, abbeys, and historic houses and we are grateful to the Government for its confidence in us. First and foremost though, we depend on the public for support and we really appreciate the huge amount of goodwill they’ve shown the charity throughout the pandemic, particularly our members.

Emma Rice, Artistic Director, Wise Children, said:

We are so grateful for the support Wise Children has received through the Culture Recovery Fund, and want to express our heartfelt thanks to the Chancellor, the Culture Secretary, HM Treasury, the DCMS and Arts Council England.

The pandemic has been a dark chapter for us all, but this news truly is the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve spent the past months asking ourselves how we might get back to making work and how we will deal with the uncertainties and risks that lie ahead. This backing is just what we needed to start answering these vital questions. The Culture Recovery Fund gives us a shot of security, energy and hope which will help us get back to doing what we do best – making beautiful, life-affirming and joyful shows. It’s not going to be easy but this strategic and welcome support will help us emerge from the pandemic stronger, healthier and more creatively resilient.

Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6 Music presenter and host of this year’s digital Cheltenham Jazz Festival, said:

Such great news that Cheltenham Festivals have received some funds from the Culture Recovery Fund. Here’s to more cultural feasts for everyone – right in the heart of town.

Cheltenham Festivals Leadership Team said:

This second grant from the Culture Recovery Fund will ensure that Cheltenham Festivals can continue to create cultural experiences which bring joy, deepen curiosity, connect communities and inspire change. Without this crucial support from DCMS, Cheltenham Festivals would have struggled to survive the impact of the pandemic due to the loss of live events and box office receipts. Instead we were able to pivot all of our work in 2020 to digital, culminating in an award-winning hybrid Literature Festival in October which reached our largest ever audience. In 2021 we are now in a strong position to deliver a full programme of Festivals and outreach work and build on Cheltenham Festivals’ digital transformation.

Thank you to Oliver Dowden CBE, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to DMCS and to the Arts Council England for this incredible investment and confidence in Cheltenham Festivals and culture in the South West.

The Seal Alliance has launched a new government-backed campaign to ‘Give Seals Space’ and reduce the shocking impact that human disturbance can have on these vulnerable marine mammals.

As the public go out for walks over the Easter weekend, the Seal Alliance warns that getting too close to seals can lead to their injury and death, even up to several months later.

The UK is home to 38% of the entire world’s population of grey seals and 30% of the European subspecies of common seals, yet these precious mammals face an extensive list of threats including climate change, toxic pollution, entanglement, collisions with vessels, plastics and other marine debris. Of these threats, disturbance from human interaction is a significant and growing problem.

Seals are vulnerable to any kind of human interactions, either deliberate or unintentional. The ‘Give Seals Space’ signs and leaflets will raise awareness of the simple steps the public can take to protect these precious creatures. It features four easy-to-remember steps:

• Keep well away from seals (use a camera zoom or binoculars) so that they can’t smell, hear or see you
• Keep dogs on a lead when in an area where seals might be present
• Never feed seals
• Take all litter home

Young seals are most affected by disturbance and only 25% are likely to survive to the age of 18 months in a bad year. If people are being noisy or startle the vulnerable animals by getting too close, this wastes their energy, meaning young pups struggle to haul out of the water to rest and digest their food.

Female seals are heavily pregnant or pupping during the summer and getting too close or disturbing them can lead to seals stampeding on rocks, which prove fatal to both mother and pup. The impact on seals can also be invisible but results in mothers not being able to build sufficient fat reserves so they cannot feed new-born pups adequately.

The campaign is a timely reminder as the public go out for walks, take part in water activities or fly drones over the Easter weekend, and as lockdown measures gradually ease across the UK. The Seal Alliance is urging the public to exhibit special caution as seals have ventured further inshore on beaches and coastlines that have become quieter during lockdown.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

Seals are one of our most iconic marine mammals. They can be found along our coastline around the UK, and we must do all that we can to protect them.

Disturbance by members of the public can be detrimental to seals, but this is entirely preventable. I would urge everyone to follow the guidance, give seals the space that they need and respect this vulnerable marine species.

This campaign will raise vital awareness ahead of the bank holiday weekend and help protect some of our most treasured marine wildlife.

Andy Ottaway, of the Seal Protection Action Group, said:

Our precious coastal wildlife is coming under increasing human pressure. We need to be aware of the harm we can cause by getting too close to our seals and the often tragic consequences when we do.

Sue Sayer, of the Seal Research Trust, said:

I have witnessed bleeding, grazed flippers, ripped-out claws and gashed bellies that leave blood trails across the rocks after a stampede. Seals need our help so please keep yourself downwind and your dog on a lead.

If a seal is looking at you, it has been disturbed, so please move further away. Use your camera and binoculars, stay quiet and out of sight. If we follow these simple rules we can enjoy watching seals for longer and without harm – a win–win for both people and seals.

The Seal Alliance has used funding to produce leaflets and signage, for the public and wildlife tour operators, with guidance on how to ‘Watch Seals Well’ so not to disturb them. The funding has also allowed the Alliance to employ a ‘digital ranger’ to help promote messages across social media platforms.

Key messages and resources can be found at https://www.sealalliance.org/downloads