{"id":595472,"date":"2025-11-26T17:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/595472\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T17:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:48:23","slug":"equity-members-rally-against-bristol-city-councils-planned-635k-arts-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/595472\/","title":{"rendered":"Equity members rally against Bristol City Council\u2019s planned \u00a3635k arts cut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Equity has condemned plans by Bristol City Council to cut its Cultural Investment Programme by \u00a3635,000. The response came ahead of a demonstration against the cuts at College Green this morning (26 November).\u00a0Organised by local arts and community groups, Equity members were joined at the demo by artists and members of the public concerned about the impact of the cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Attending the demo Kim Hicks, a Bristol-based actor and Equity member who is Chair of the union\u2019s Bristol &amp; West of England Branch, called the proposed cut \u201cnot only short-sighted but also unnecessary, making up a tiny proportion of the \u00a320.8m they need to balance their budget.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Equity is trying to establish what proportion of the overall funding of the Cultural Investment Programme \u2013 which funds arts and culture projects and organisations across Bristol \u2013 the planned \u00a3635k cut represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The union is encouraging members to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsurvey.co.uk\/s\/Budget-2026-27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">respond to Bristol City Council\u2019s Budget 2026 to 2027 Consultation<\/a>, which sets out the council\u2019s plan for cuts, and to attend today\u2019s demo against the cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kim Hicks, actor and Chair Equity\u2019s Bristol &amp; West of England Branch, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe plan by Bristol City Council to cut \u00a3635,000 from its Cultural Investment Programme is not only short-sighted but also unnecessary, making up a tiny proportion of the \u00a320.8m they need to balance their budget. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYet it will have an outsized impact on Bristol\u2019s cultural ecosystem. Most recently, the Cultural Investment Programme has supported 40 projects and 26 organisations \u2013 from community based projects to collectives of local artists, alongside flagship events and organisations such as St Pauls Carnival and Bristol Pride. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese artists and organisations make the culture that enriches Bristol\u2019s communities, brings in money to the wider economy, and creates the sort of pride that led to the city being named a UNESCO City of Film. But without this funding artists will lose not only their ability to create, but also to work. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe call on Bristol City Council to reverse this decision and recognise the tangible economic contributions and community benefits that come from properly funding artists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Background<\/p>\n<p>Equity members have stood strong against plans to damage the arts and entertainment industry in Bristol. This includes successfully campaigning to stop the sale of Bottle Yard Studios, a major production facility in the city, and opposing cuts and detrimental decision-making delays to the Cultural Investment Programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsurvey.co.uk\/s\/Budget-2026-27\" class=\"c-button c-button--primary o-shadow has-press-effect u-color-white\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Respond to the Budget Consultation  <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Equity has condemned plans by Bristol City Council to cut its Cultural Investment Programme by \u00a3635,000. The response&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-595472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115617261357761252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}