Dame Vivien Duffield’s foundation donating £2.5m to cultural institutions

Dame Vivien Duffield’s charitable foundation is donating over £2.5 million to support learning and community initiatives across the UK, including more than £1.5 million for some of London’s top cultural organisations during Covid-19.

The London recipients include the Tate, V&A, Natural History Museum, National Archives, National Portrait Gallery, Roundhouse, Unicorn Theatre and Royal Academy of Arts.

The Clore Duffield Foundation, which is chaired by philanthropist Dame Vivien, who is the founder of JW3 and a director of the Southbank Centre, is donating £2,551,371 to 66 cultural organisations in the UK.

The money will go toward institutions making their educational outreach and community learning work more accessible during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Old Vic, which is one of the grant’s recipients, have created an Education Hub for all schools to access, running digital workshops which have reached thousands of young people. While the Roundhouse, another recipient, built an online programme as a new home for its creative and pastoral support for young people.

Dame Vivien Duffield said: “Over the years I have realised that museums, galleries and other places of cultural interest need to engage both with children and with adults through their learning platforms.

“However, during lockdown when they were all closed, and then during the gradual reopening of their host institutions, we realised that none of the learning spaces except one had reopened, and unfortunately to this day, most remain closed.

“This donation is to help the institutions take the necessary precautions, and where possible start their learning programmes in person. It is of course also to help retain and support the learning teams which are in danger of being dispersed.”