LONDON.- Arts Council England has made a third round of awards from its £40 million Sustain fund for organisations under pressure as a result of the recession.

The awards announced today are worth around £6.2 million over two years and will help a further 18 arts organisations maintain artistic excellence during the economic downturn.

The successful applicants are combined arts, dance, literature, music, theatre and visual arts in London, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire. The awards are:

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - £1,453,000; Halle Concerts Society, Manchester – £800,000; London Philharmonic Orchestra - £556,500; Oldham Coliseum Theatre - £459,800; Chichester Festival Theatre - £427,000; De La Warr Pavillion, East Sussex- £370,000; Tricycle Theatre, London - £361,000; Apples and Snakes, London - £267,750; Birmingham Royal Ballet - £250,000; Lighthouse, Poole - £185,000; Square Chapel, Halifax - £182,200; The English Concert, London - £180,000; Manchester Camerata - £163,000; Greenwich and Docklands Festivals - £150,000; The Arvon Foundation, London - £110,000; Cheltenham Festivals - £100,000; St Pauls Carnival, Bristol - £98,000; Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall - £92,650

A total of 136 applications have been received to date and applications requesting £31 million are still under consideration. Further awards will be announced by early October. All awards from the Sustain fund are one-off and are made to cover the period 2009 – 2011.

Althea Efunshile, Chief Operating Officer, Arts Council England said; “This latest round of Sustain awards show the wide variety of applications the fund has received - from organisations of all sizes and all artforms, across the country.

“It is good to see Sustain beginning to fulfil its purpose of helping arts organisations to continue producing innovative work and attract audiences despite the difficult economic climate.”

Sustain is one of a number of measures Arts Council England is taking to help artists and arts organisations continue to produce the exciting and innovative work despite the economic downturn.