£710k to save venues in Bedford - including Esquires - as part of Government's £257m Covid package

Bedford Esquires, Bedford Players Trust, Video Design Ltd and LPH Concerts & Events will all receive a slice of the Government's £257million Covid recovery boost.

Esquires will receive £173,783; Bedford Players Trust - which operates The Place Bedford - will get £101,990; Video Design Ltd - which works with the biggest artists in the world - will receive £242,840; and LPH Concerts & Events - which hosts the events at Bedford Park - will get £192,259.

The organisations which applied for grants under £1million in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund were informed of their awards this week by Arts Council England which is distributing funding on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

A spokesman for Bedford Players Trust said: "After months of not being able to completely fulfill our main goal, we are looking forward to bringing performances back to The Place. Like our audiences, we miss live theatre and we are going to work closely with our regular community groups and professional artists to broaden our offer for digital, outdoor and live performances."

The allocation is the biggest tranche of funding distributed to date from the Culture Recovery Fund, bringing the total amount of grant funding awarded so far to more than £360million. Further funding for organisations is due to be announced in the coming days and weeks.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said: "The government is here for culture and we have worked around the clock to get this record investment out to the frontline.

"It will allow our wonderful theatres, museums, music venues and cultural organisations to survive this crisis and start putting on performances again - protecting jobs and creating new work for freelancers."