Stephen Crocker, Norwich Theatre Royal chief executive.
- Credit: Danielle Booden
Almost £2.5m in grants will be paid to arts, film and heritage groups across Norwich, the government has confirmed.
Thousands of organisations across the UK will receive cash from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport s (DCMS) Culture Recovery Fund to help them survive and recover from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
This includes 43 groups in Norfolk and six more in Waveney, totalling £4,750,008 in grants. Half of that (£2,306,363) will go to groups in the city.
In addition, Norwich Theatre Royal is one of 23 organisations across the country to receive repayable finance from the government, in the form of a £2.5m loan.
It will get £474,900, along with another £100k specifically for Norfolk Showground Ltd, which manages the events venue to the west of Norwich.
RNAA managing director Mark Nicholas said the funding would secure its future and culminate in the return of the Royal Norfolk Show in 2022.
He said: The last 18 months have been extremely challenging for organisations such as ourselves and this grant will enable the RNAA and Norfolk Showground Ltd to power forward in the months ahead as we welcome visitors to Norfolk Showground. This funding will help us invest in the Showground site, deliver the roll-out of summer and autumn cultural programme and enhance our systems and process to improve our resilience in dealing with changes as a consequence of the pandemic.
For many years, Sir John, of Salle Farms, near Norwich, would head to Champagne country in France to bring back bottles of bubbly for fundraising events at the Royal Norfolk Show to support the work of Manson House. Over the years, the branch raised tens of thousands of pounds towards it, he estimated.
Sally Mitchell, a RABI trustee for 14 years until 2004 who also served as its deputy chairman and was chairwoman of the Manson House committee, suggested it would have been better if the matter had been raised at a general meeting first.
“I was really sad and sorry actually that they are selling the homes and they have actually got to the stage of selling the homes without having a wider discussion,” she said. She hoped the board had explored all the possibilities first, she added.
Mother and child looking at dolls in a toy shop. Dated: November 16, 1959.
- Credit: Archant Library
We might be taking tentative steps towards eased lockdown restrictions, but Mother s Day on March 14, 2021 will look a little different to our celebrations from years gone by.
Rather than popping out to our Mum s favourite cafe for afternoon tea, this year we are looking for ways to send a Mother s Day takeaway.
Instead of visiting scenic spots to meet our relatives, we are scrambling to coordinate a Zoom call with our families.
Mother and daughter looking at Tiny Tears doll in a Beccles toy shop. Dated: December 1, 1967.
The owners of the Coffee Cafe, Andrew Nelson and Claire Grist.
- Credit: Claire Grist
The owners of a mobile coffee shop have thanked the community for supporting their small business, after the pandemic left them fearing for the future.
It was a “dream come true” when best friends and co-owners Claire Grist and Andrew Nelson, launched the Coffee Café, which they built inside a 1960s vintage horse trailer back in 2018.
The owners of the Coffee Cafe - a converted vintage horse trailer - have now signed a contract to pitch at Loch Neaton in Watton.
- Credit: Claire Grist