SETTLE Stories has joined Skipton Town Hall and Settle Folly in receiving emergency funding from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Sita Brand, the charity’s artistic director, welcomed the £61,129 lifeline and said it meant that Settle Stories now had funding until March, next year.

“This offers certainty in uncertain times for our independent charity. This means we can continue to collaborate with exceptional artists to create transformative experiences for people and communities,” she said.

Settle Stories tenth anniversary event this year - the Yorkshire Festival of Story with writer Joanne Harris as its guest director, was held online because of the coronavirus pandemic. The planned more than 80 events went ahead, virtually, on line, and reached a global audience of thousands, with attendance more than 260 per cent up on usual, physical events.

The charity hopes there will be funding to stage the festival again in October, next year, and building on the success of digital events is planning to make more of its year round programme available online. It includes Christmas events, world storytelling day, and world book day, and is also looking at developing more learning programmes and courses for adult audiences.

Sita added: “We’ve been very busy since lockdown to ensure our audience have access to our work. Now we can build on this success. Watch this space for more digital projects”

The funding given to Settle Stories is part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund aimed at helping organisations face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future.

Sir Nicholas Serota, chairman of Arts Council England, said: “Culture is an essential part of life across the country, helping to support people’s wellbeing through creativity and self-expression, bringing communities together, and fuelling our world class creative industries."

To find out more about Settle Stories, visit: settlestories.org.uk