Art and creativity gets huge £4.5m boost in Milton Keynes and Bucks

Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury (top left), MK Gallery (top right), The Stables MK (bottom left) and the National Paralympic Heritage Trust based in Aylesbury (bottom right) are four of seven organisations that will benefit

The Arts Council England has handed Art and creativity in Milton Keynes and Bucks a huge £4.5m boost.

Seven organisations in MK, Aylesbury and wider Bucks will share £4,569,612 over three years as Arts Council England backs art, culture and creativity for more people in more places across the country.

Details of funding for organisations was revealed on Friday morning through the council’s 2023-26 Investment Programme.

Seven organisations in Bucks will receive a share of £1,523,204 a year, ensuring that more people in more places can find fantastic, fulfilling art and culture on their doorsteps.

Overall, there will be investment in a richly varied mix of organisations: Established NPOs such as MK Gallery, Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury and The Stables (Wavendon Allmusic Plan Ltd); a boost for the best of our museums with newly funded National Paralympic Heritage Trust linked to Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury; and ambitious pioneers and innovators like Pagrav Company Limited.

An Arts Council England spokesman said: “In our conversations and research with the public over the past five years, we have heard again and again that people want and need easy access to meaningful, impactful cultural events and creative activities in the places where they live.

"Through the investment we are announcing today, we have focused on making certain that as many people as possible in England - no matter where they come from or what their circumstances - can get hold of the very best of art and culture on the high streets and in the community spaces of their villages, towns and cities.”

The latest round of funding will benefit arts organisations, museums, and libraries in every corner of the country, including Bucks, with a clear focus on ensuring that investment is concentrated in those places that, historically, have been underserved.

"By funding new organisations in new places, we are delivering on the vision set out in our strategy, Let's Create: that everyone, everywhere, deserves to benefit from public investment in culture and creativity,” the spokesman said.

“Overall, our new portfolio is more diverse and wide-ranging than ever before. As well as renewing our support for those excellent, innovative organisations that have done so much to build England's reputation as one of the most creative countries in the world, we are investing in three exciting new organisations in Buckinghamshire, that will together help find and nurture the next generation of talent across the country. These are: National Paralympic Heritage Trust (who celebrate the legacy of the British Paralympic Movement through a series of events and exhibitions around the UK); Milton Keynes Islamic Arts Heritage and Culture Organisation (a company that aims to bring about community cohesion through creative activity); and Pagrav Company Limited (who teach, promote and present Kathak dance).”

Arts Council England South East Area Director, Hazel Edwards, said: “Today we’re announcing investment in an exciting cohort of creative and cultural organisations across the South East. From libraries, community art centres, museums, theatres, galleries, and more, these organisations will ensure that more people and more places– and particularly those who have been excluded in the past – are able to participate in vibrant and varied cultural activities.”