Cultural organisations generated £27million for the city of Liverpool in one year

As reports reiterate yet again the economical importance of cultural organisations in Liverpool, Getintothis’ Amaan Khan reports the details.

Arts organisations in Liverpool prove again that they have a significant standing even if valued in economic terms, by generating more than £27 million in a single year.

The figure was brought to light in a new report The Social Impact of the Arts in Liverpool 2015/16 which looked at 36 cultural organisations in Liverpool that are funded by Culture Liverpool Investment Programme (CLIP). The report was commissioned by Liverpool City Council and written by Collective Encounters.

It found that a whopping 29,840 cultural activities took place in the city within the year with 66% of them targeted at special groups like young people, veterans, homeless etc. At least 4.6 million people attended such funded events and festivals with more than 258,000 people taking part in the cultural activities.

Cultural future of Liverpool shows glimmer of hope with the new Ten Streets project

The 36 organisations looked at by the report were the likes of Africa Oyé, Bluecoat, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Arts, Liverpool Irish Festival, Liverpool Philharmonic, Metal which brought us events like last year’s performance of Steve Reich‘s Different Trains, Milapfest who we saw participating now and again at Liverpool International Jazz Festival, Tate Liverpool etc.

The 36 organisations generated £27 millions into the city from a variety of local, national and international sources, while the funding enabled them to raise a further £15,140,917 from public and private sources. Mayor Joe Anderson remarked “We know about the economic boost generated by the sector, but what’s more important is the positive, priceless impact on the day-to-day life of residents and their communities shown in this report.”

The report notes such events as:

• Transitions by Collective Encounters – used theatre to help 55 adults with experiences of homelessness, mental challenges and addiction to achieve nationally recognised qualifications.
• Stand Up to Stigma by The Comedy Trust – gave people accessing mental health services a chance to hone their comedy skills
• Meanwhile Space by Metal – helped raising community spirit and physical environment of Liverpool’s Picton by engaging members of all ages and various background.
• Young DaDaFest – had around 250 disabled people to engage in weekly music and theatre workshops enabling them to socialise and engage in art forms relevant to them.
• Veterans in Practice by FACT – saw veterans meet every week to work on film, web, or performance objects.

The Mayor further adds, “Here are 36 examples of how continually investing in culture can result in unparalleled improvements in people’s health and wellbeing.  At the same time it succeeds in generating pride among those who live here and showing the world that we are an ambitious, creative city which will always push boundaries and always have social justice at our heart”

Hopefully, the report will continue to foster positive responses from the governing bodies, enabling arts and culture around the city to develop even further and more freely than ever before. We hope it also helps defending the case of organisations that face the peril of closure or a similar unfortunate fate.

The full report can be found at www.cultureliverpool.co.uk/impactreport.