MANY arts organisations across Bradford benefited this week from almost £2 million in emergency funding from the Arts Council England, but one theatre company based in Eccleshill was dealt a "huge blow" and missed out on the recovery package.

Bloomin' Buds Theatre Company, a group which increases access to the arts in working class communities, was unsuccessful in their bid for the funding, while 1,385 organisations across the country were awarded £257 million in grants.

"We were unfortunately unsuccessful in obtaining arts council cultural recovery funding," said Katie Mahon, artistic director of Bloomin's Buds. "This has been a huge blow, however, we will not give up the fight to bring arts and culture to the doorsteps of the working class communities.

"We are putting in place our plan of action to try and steer our way through these difficult times, with working class artists entitled to no financial support from the government, families to support and working class communities feeling the strain as things get tighter.

"We're a small organisation that's not core funded and we survive grant to grant," said Katie. "We're financially sustainable until the end of December, after which time we will be in trouble.

"This Arts Council money was set up to fund venues that make money from ticket sales, but the kind of people we're working with can't afford tickets to big venues, so we understand it's not the Arts Council's fault.

"It's a huge blow for us. We need to find some funding over the next two to three months, otherwise, we're not sure what the future holds for us.

"Bradford Producing Hub provided us with a Spare Bob grant for £500 which will give me some time to research how we can apply for other funding.

"We have a core team of four people, 11 working class artists and we're sending creative packs to 37 families across Eccleshill."

To reduce the impact of the pandemic on mental health, Bloomin' Buds has been delivering arts and craft parcels, along with CDs and music to elderly people and families with children so they can access creativity at home during this isolating time.

They have also made their plays and performances public on Youtube for people to watch free of charge.

"We work with working class communities to provide arts and crafts and other activities. It just feels like working class communities have been left out of this funding.

"We won't give in," said Katie, who grew up on the Thorpe Edge estate. ""We're working hard to secure future funding."