Cumbria will receive more than £12 million over the next four years to invest in arts and culture.

Arts Council has announced it will increase funding by 14 per cent per year in Cumbria every year and will invest a total of £12,467,616 over four years from next April in its national portfolio organisations.

It hopes the increased funding will enable people to enjoy arts and cultural activities and have access to those opportunities close to home.

The funding will go to 12 organisations across Cumbria including Eden Arts, Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven and Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle.

Jane Beardsworth, Arts Council’s North director, said: “We are delighted to support the cultural sector in Cumbria.

"There is a wealth of creative talent, making and showing work for residents and visitors alike. Some of it responds to the unique Cumbrian landscape or to the concerns of local people in a creative response that resonates locally, nationally, and internationally.

"Our national portfolio is very competitive so we congratulate all the successful applicants and will continue to support other work in Cumbria through our other funding programmes.”

The 12 organisations in Cumbria are some of 230 across the north to be included in Arts Council's national portfolio from 2018-2022. A total of £414 million Grant in Aid and National Lottery money will support these organisations over the next four years.

Arts Council's national portfolio forms the backbone of England's cultural infrastructure. The council said its increased spending, with an extra £21 million per year in the north, shows the depth and breadth of arts and culture in the area and illustrates how the council is spending more money than ever before outside London.

Cumbrian organisations who will receive funding include:

*Highlights Rural Touring, based in the Eden Valley, which organises over 160 high quality professional events each year in village halls, schools and community centres, including theatre, dance, music and children’s shows.

*Rosehill Theatre in Whitehaven.

*Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal.

*Theatre by the Lake in Keswick.

*Prism Arts based in Carlisle which develops projects which enable disabled people, young people and older people to engage in the arts.

*The Cumbria Museums consortium, a partnership between Tullie House in Carlisle, Lakeland Arts Trust and the Wordsworth Trust.

*Eden Arts, based in Penrith, which has built a reputation for creating projects and festivals with wide engagement across Cumbria which are rooted in rural life and local tradition, such as the popular Winter Droving festival.

*Art Gene in Barrow, a unique, independent, international research facility founded and led by artists Stuart Bastik and Maddi Nicholson.

*Octopus Collective in Barrow, an international sound art and new music organisation.

*Grizedale Arts, an organisation which runs a wide-ranging, holistic programme of artist residencies, socio-economic development, education, exhibitions, events, agriculture and food projects, seeking to create a new paradigm for art and the art institution.

*The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal.