Regions share £20m Heritage Lottery culture fund

The scheme will benefit cultural projects in different parts of England

Different areas of England are to share £20m of Heritage Lottery and Arts Council funding for cultural projects.

The Great Places scheme will benefit 16 areas including Barnsley and Rotherham, Coventry, Derbyshire and Gloucester.

Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said she hoped the investment would bring "real benefits" to the communities and make them better areas to live in.

Barnsley Council said the investment was "exciting" while Coventry City Council said it was "great news".

'A bold plan'

The scheme is a pilot that was one of the flagship measures from the Government's Culture White Paper.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) said they wanted to invest in arts and heritage in towns and cities that are "often in deprived areas hit hard by the decline of traditional industry."

It said all 16 of the selected areas, "have a great deal of ambition for what their arts and heritage can deliver for people from across their communities".

The 16 places which have successfully bid for funding include:

• Barnsley and Rotherham: £1.26m to spend on working with deprived communities, increasing their engagement with culture

• Coventry City of Culture Trust: £1.48m to spend on new events and art commissions

• Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft: £737,900 to spend on cultural education for children

• Gloucester: £1.49m to spend on young people's engagement with arts and heritage

• Walthamstow: £1.35m to spend on regeneration schemes

• Craven District Council in North Yorkshire: £1.34 aimed at growing the economy digitally

• Derbyshire County Council: £1.28m for the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority: £1.49m to spend on cultural diversity schemes

• Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation in London: £1.49m to support local artists and resident involvement

• Reading Borough Council: £558,400 to support a programme of cultural activity

• Rural Media Charity in Herefordshire: £748,200 to work with artists to engage communities

• Sunderland Culture: £1.25m to spend on telling the story of the city's heritage

• Tees Valley Combined Authority £1.33m to support creative organisations

• The Creative Foundation in East Kent: £1.49m to work with cultural organisations

• Torbay Economic Development Company: £1.2m to create new cultural projects in "unusual places" along the coast

• Visit County Durham: £1.49m to explore the area's heritage

Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said: "Strong local heritage and culture brings real benefits to communities. It can boost investment, attract tourists and make areas better places to live and work."

HLF chief executive Ros Kerslake said: "The Great Place Scheme is something new and really quite radical. The aim is to bring together National Lottery investment and local ambition, to make a difference to people across entire communities.

"It's a bold plan and I am looking forward to seeing some innovative and exciting results from these 16 pilot projects."