Arts centre to get £900k for building improvements

An arts centre in Leicester is set to receive nearly £900,000 in government funding for "crucial improvements" to the building.

Attenborough Arts Centre, run by the University of Leicester, said the cash will be used for new facilities for disabled users and a range of upgrades to "optimise visitor experience, environmental sustainability and income generation".

The grant was awarded from the Creative Foundations Fund, part of the £270m pot through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England.

Jennifer Francis, chair of Attenborough Arts Centre advisory board, said the investment would "secure the future of our well-loved building".

The centre said it developed its proposal with 288 people drawn from across user groups and communities, whose views and ideas "directly shaped the plans".

The centre added it will continue to work with its communities and specialist estates teams from the University of Leicester to deliver the refurbishment over the next 18 months.

Francis added: "We are deeply grateful to receive this major grant from DCMS and Arts Council England.

"Their vital investment secures the future of our well-loved building and ensures that we can look confidently to the future, as we approach our 30th birthday in 2027."

Professor Sir Nishan Canagarajah, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester added the investment was a "powerful endorsement of what makes the University of Leicester distinctive".

"The Attenborough Arts Centre exemplifies how a university can work alongside its local community to shape inclusive cultural experiences that are informed by lived experience and underpinned by research," he said.

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