Light Cinema secures Culture Recovery Fund grant

The Light Cinema in Stockport has received a grant of over £290,000 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which supports cultural and heritage organisations affected by the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The grant for the Stockport cinema is part of a £2.928 million grant for the Light’s ten locations nationwide awarded by the British Film Institute (BFI) on behalf of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Ben Roberts, Chief Executive at the BFI, said:

Across the country, local independent cinemas are lifelines for communities and often the only form of culture and entertainment. As well as bringing people together to enjoy the magic of the big screen, local cinemas are hubs for educational and film activities and provide thousands of jobs. The pandemic has made clear just how important local communities are and the support of the Culture Recovery Fund means that many cinemas will be able to reopen and play a vital role in local economies and regeneration.”

The grant will ensure that the Light Cinema in Stockport can reopen as restrictions are eased. This will ensure their broad film programming and important community engagement can restart, as well as protecting 220 jobs across all the group’s locations.

Keith Pullinger, Deputy Chairman & Founder, The Light Cinemas said:

We want to thank everyone at the BFI and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for supporting us through the process to receive a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund. Covid-19 has devastated our finances and this grant is essential to protect our future and ensure our survival.

“There is still a lot of work to do, but we now have a platform to start rebuilding our business from. Our landlords and suppliers will need to play their part but this will help protect the jobs of the 220 people who are employed at our cinemas. We look forward to delighting our guests once more when we reopen all our sites later this year.”

In his roadmap out of lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on 22nd February that cinemas were expected to reopen no sooner than 17th May.

In addition to the Light Cinemas, the most recent round of funding also supported other independent screens, as well as a number of historical and heritages across England, totalling £13.5 million. The DCMS’s Culture Recovery Fund last year provided over £1 billion of support England.