Cultural groups in the East to get £71m funding

Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust is one of the groups set to receive Arts Council England money

Cultural organisations across the East of England have been awarded £71m by Arts Council England over the next three years.

The grants were announced as millions of pounds were taken out of organisations in central London.

Among those to receive funding are Colchester and Ipswich museums and the group behind Luton Carnival.

Arts Council England chair, Sir Nicholas Serota, said the money would "help ignite creativity across the country".

Public money from the government, as well as from the National Lottery, is used by Arts Council England to support arts and culture across the country.

As part of the funding announcement, more cash is being handed out to organisations outside of London.

The English National Opera is to move its headquarters outside the capital, possibly to Manchester, and have a drastic budget cut as part of the plans.

Others to have lost their entire grants include the Donmar Warehouse theatre.

In the East of England, organisations such as Kettle's Yard art gallery and arts organisation Collusion in Cambridge, and Gorilla Circus based in Wisbech, will receive cash.

The University of Cambridge Museums will receive a grant of more than £1.8m over the next three years.

Kettle's Yard in Cambridge will receive almost £900,000 over the next three years

Luton Carnival Arts Development Trust is set to get £171,260 per year between 2023 and 2026.

Other organisations in Luton, such as theatre ensemble Tangled Feet and charity Music24, will also receive funding alongside groups in Bedfordshire such as Full House Theatre, which runs workshops for young people.

Rifco Arts in Watford, which produces plays and musicals that reflect British South Asian experiences, will receive almost £1.5m over the next three years.

The Tiata Fahodzi theatre company, also in Watford, and St Albans Museums are also set to receive funding.

In Buckinghamshire, well-known venues such as the MK Gallery and The Stables in Wavendon will get cash, as will the Paralympic Heritage Trust based at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

In Essex, CoDa Dance Company in Thurrock, Paper Birds Theatre Company in Maldon and the Essex Cultural Diversity Project are all set to get money.

Colchester and Ipswich museums are to receive £1,194,048 over the next three years.

The cash will support a major exhibition every year in the two places as well as learning programmes, the museums said.

Pam Cox, portfolio holder for culture and heritage at Colchester Borough Council, said it was "delighted" to "receive this record funding for the next three years".

"It will enable us to continue to provide our outstanding services and attract more visitors who can enjoy the many nationally important objects and treasures we hold across the joint service," she said.

The Food Museum in Suffolk, which attracts about 35,000 visitors annually, will get more than £1m over three years

The Seagull in Lowestoft, Suffolk, which received Arts Council England funding earlier this year, will now get £100,000 per year between 2023 and 2026.

The Food Museum, formerly known as the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, is set to get more than £1m, which will help fund a new schools offer and community exhibitions.

The National Centre for Writing in Norwich will receive £1.7m over the next three years.

Arts Council England said the money would help an education project for youngsters across Norfolk.

Norfolk Museums Service, which operates 10 sites across the county, will get £4.1m. This week it warned museum opening hours could be cut due to budget pressures.

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, which reopened last year, will get Arts Council England funding

In Northamptonshire, Arts Council England said established organisations such as Northampton's Royal and Derngate and the Core at Corby Cube theatres would be receiving funding.

Also set to get money is the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, whose recent £16m refurbishment was part-funded by the controversial sale of a 4,000-year-old Egyptian statue.