The National Lottery is making £160 million of emergency funding available for individuals and organisations in the cultural sector. 

Two new National Lottery funds have been launched by Arts Council England to support individuals and independent cultural organisations. In the coming weeks, a third fund, to support National Portfolio Organisations will be launched.

The money from these funds will support individual creatives, arts organisations, museums and libraries as they face the most serious challenge to their existence since the Arts Council came into being at the end of the Second World War. The funds are to help artists and cultural organisations to get through this unprecedented crisis. By providing basic financial support, they wants to afford practitioners and organisations time to stabilise, to think, and to plan for the future.

Read the full statement from National Lottery CEO, Darren Henley here