Just two short weeks after celebrating the support Northern cinemas are set to receive through the BFI Culture Recovery Fund (over £3.5m to date), we were faced with the harsher reality of a new national lockdown, the closure of all cinemas still open in the region and further disruption to the sector at large. The promise of further funding was welcome then and even more pressing now, so we’re pleased to see that the BFI have now launched round two of the Culture Recovery Fund.

This round makes available a further £14m in grants to independent cinemas in England, with support intended to help venues transition back to a viable and sustainable operating model during the period April – June 2021. Round one awardees, some unsuccessful applicants and those who didn’t apply are able to apply for Business Sustainability Grants in round two – full eligibility criteria and funding details can be found in the guidelines which are available via the BFI now.

As with round one of the Culture Recover Fund, we encourage all eligible cinemas in the North to consider an application. The deadline is midday on Monday, 1 February.

The new national lockdown has also prompted an update to our own funding programmes. We’ve removed the upcoming deadline on our Propeller Awards microgrant scheme, which is now a rolling opportunity. Applications can be made at any time and our team will aim to provide feedback as soon as possible.

We’ve also amended the activity window to allow exhibitors to plan in-person events beyond the current restrictions. Applications can be made to support projects taking place from January 2021 – March 2022.

While exhibitors can’t plan in-person screenings in the coming weeks, we welcome any applications for online audience engagement projects whilst venues are closed.

If you’d like to discuss the Culture Recovery Fund, the support available to exhibitors through the Hub, or your organisation’s plans for the future, our team is available for one-to-one meetings. You can book a Hub Surgery now.