The Mayor of Copeland, Mike Starkie, has shared his joy at Copeland's recognition by the Arts council as a place to grow art and culture.

It was announced this week that Copeland will be one of fifteen places in the north where they want to develop new opportunities for investment.

Arts Council England's sets out a detailed roadmap to implement the vision of their new strategy Let's Create: by 2030.

Mayor Starkie said: "It’s fantastic news that the arts council has recognised Copeland as a place to grow the arts.

"This status from the Arts Council means we can look at how and where to develop new opportunities for investment.

"We have a thriving cultural scene, and this will mean assessing how best to invest in that, creating high-quality artistic and cultural opportunities in our communities."

The plan will highlight where there are opportunities for investment, collaboration and progress.

It follows the government's plan to invest £1.96 billion into culture through a recovery fund.

The plan stands by the idea that the culture sector should help to level up the country.

This will be great for Copeland and the surrounding boroughs moving out of the pandemic.

Let's Create was devised just before the pandemic but has become even more relevant to our community now.

Copeland has a number of well-loved arts venues but limited cultural investment to

expand this offering to engage more members of the public

It provides an opportunity to build on the arts and cultural sectors within Copeland.

Since the beginning of the pandemic Copeland has received £1,034,473 investment from the Arts Council through the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Councillor Steve Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Sport, Copeland Borough Council, said: "Investment in the arts is crucial and having a wide ranging offering right across the borough to complement what we already have to offer can only be a massive benefit to our area.

"To have such expertise look at how to increase the arts reach to everyone is incredibly welcome and we look forward to working closely with the Arts Council and others to boost our offering, excite our community and build modern arts and cultural development into our wider plans for our Borough, it’s an exciting time to be in Copeland."