For many years there has been an overwhelming divide between the North and South whether that has been through class, government funding or politics. Recently it has been made clear that the government wants to attack our share of funding for all things culture and creativity, despite The North’s illustrious nature when it comes to music, art, fashion and theatre.  This must change. 

 Since the start of the pandemic, venues in the North, (particularly Manchester,) have been hit hard considering that they were, of course, the first to close and last to re-open. This has taken a toll on not-for-profit venues however it has been made worse by the abundantly clear disparity between the grants given in the South in comparison to the North. 

 Could we blame Arts Council England for such a regional disparity? Well… yes! As much good as they do for continually celebrating and supporting arts across England their funding has been mostly awarded to already well-established institutions like the National Theatre, which although is somewhat understandable due to its high recognition, it should instead mean that funding must be to be more evenly distributed to wider regions. 

 It is our time to be given an equal opportunity in sharing such important culture so why are we being forced to miss out?  

It is no good providing us with a sparkling, new facility like the proposed Factory International venue if you disregard the history of the city when you forget to fund the venues, galleries and theatres that have stood for years, allowing creatives to flourish and movements to be made for decades. 

 So, I’ll leave you with this, where has the sudden interest been all this time? Why aren’t you doing more to protect what we have thrived upon for years? We want change.