Virtual model of Shibden Hall to be created to allow tourists to continue to 'visit' home of Gentleman Jack

Calderdale Council will use part of a £35,000 Arts Council England emergency coronavirus response grant to create the 3D model, which will allow people to visit Shibden virtually from their own homes.

The grant was one of 738 handed out to individuals and independent organisations in Yorkshire from the fund, which was designed to help alleviate the immediate pressures faced by artists, organisations, museums and libraries over the summer. In total, more than £5m was awarded.

Coun Susan Press, Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for public services and communities, said: “We know that many people have been missing the chance to visit Shibden, and with travel restrictions due to the coronavirus, this may continue for some time. As well as providing online access to interior views, the new model will allow disabled visitors to see the first floor areas, where access may be difficult for them otherwise.”

The rest of the money would be spent on retaining and adapting its educational services, which have lost money while schools were unable to visit its museums during lockdown.

In total, 553 Individual artists and creatives have received £1.2m of the money, with the remaining £3.8m split between 185 organisations.

In Leeds, they include Leeds Lieder Festival, which receives £30,000, Leeds Print Workshops, which has a £15,000 grant, £18,000 goes to the East leeds Project, MAP charity receives £25,000, Thought Bubble Festival receives £35,000, the Brudenell receives £23,600, and Yeadon Town Hall is to receive £35,000.

Leeds West Indian Carnival was granted £30, 824 to offset the financial challenges faced by cancelling this summer’s carnival .

It is the largest West Indian carnival street parade outside London, attracting up to 150,000 visitors.

The emergency response funding will help to replace the loss in earned income and ensure the charity is still sufficiently resourced to cover its monthly running costs, and also support the Leeds-based carnival designers.

A carnival spokesperson told the Yorkshire Post many of the designers had already bought materials and dedicated many hours to creating costumes before the decision was made to cancel.

She said: “These are mainly volunteers, whose houses are completely over taken by sequins, feathers and glitter. They have already bought materials, so what we want to do with the money is to support our designers in their artforms.

“We’re exploring ways in which we can still use their art in some way. We still want to bring our culture to the people of Leeds in some way.”

She said the team were “extremely grateful” tot he Arts Council for the grant.

Fabrication, which has shops in Albion Street and in York, and a workshop space in Vicar Lane, was awarded £34,715.

It was the first time the organisation has applied to the Arts Council for support, after it was put “in real danger” of closing.

Founder Dawn Wood said Fabrication missed out on Government support for retailers by just one penny - and with no sales or income from workshops, was unable to pay £26,000 in rent for Leeds shop.

“We have lost something like £40,000 since March and were in real danger of closing,” she said. We were already in the process of setting up a ‘click and collect’ option for online sales, and we managed to bring that in by mid-April, but it wasn’t enough to cover costs.

“This grant means that we are now covered, both for the quarter that has passed and going forward, so if things are a bit quieter , we don’t need to worry. We’ve got something like 65 sellers in our shops, so it means their businesses are safe too.”

The Albion Street store is re-opening tomorrow, but it has also come with a cost, as shields have had to be fitted around tills.

Dawn, who is a freelance costume designer, said the Arts Council grants have been a real relief across the arts sector, for the many freelance artists and creatives who might otherwise supplement their incomes with bar and restaurant work, which is no longer possible.

“It is a really worrying time,” she said. “A lot of the work we thought we had - theatre productions that had been booked in for months, for example, simply no longer exist.

“The grants are a huge help.”

Halifax's Piece Hall also received £35,000.

Chief executive Nicky Chance-Thompson said: "We are really grateful to the Arts Council for their £35,000 emergency support at this time. In conjunction with other support, this additional funding has meant that we could keep the Piece Hall going during this crisis and are able to reopen in the coming months.”

Other recipients to receive £35,000 include the Deer Shed Festival, Theatre Royal Wakefield, Ryedale Festival, Yeadon Town Hall and Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival.