This means that Global Grooves has now raised £1m for the transformation project from a variety of sources including Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Mossley Town Council, Arts Council England’s Small Capital Fund, Foyle Foundation, Youth Music, Action Together, Jigsaw Housing and Sports England.
Construction work will now get underway in January, 2021.
Once the first phase of works is complete, anticipated to be in summer 2021, local people will be able to access high quality arts facilities, including theatre, cinema and live arts venue, mixed arts studio and numerous specialist visual arts studios.
A year-round programme, expected to consist of live music, theatre, dance and cinema, will begin once the new venue has launched officially later in the year.
The Northern Carnival Centre of Excellence will continue to develop Global Grooves’ world-reaching Carnival arts portfolio, nurturing new and emerging artists, creating large-scale new Carnival productions and hosting a wide range of workshops, courses and masterclasses from internationally renowned teachers and arts.
Global Grooves CEO, Leon Patel, said: "Carnival is all about making sure everyone in the community can engage with high quality cultural experiences.
"This Cultural Capital Kickstart fund grant will enable us to create Tameside’s only dedicated arts and cultural hub and ensure those high quality cultural experiences are right here, on people’s doorsteps.
"We’re incredibly excited for work to get underway."
Angela Chappell, Relationship Manager, Arts Council England, said: "As relationship manager lead officer for Global Grooves and national lead for Carnival arts within Arts Council England, I am delighted at their recent success with capital kickstart.
"The development of The Vale is of national significance to the Carnival arts sector as this will be one of few specialist creation spaces for Carnival arts in the UK and the largest in the North, which we hope will provide new opportunities for innovative work and, in particular, the next generation of Carnival arts leaders and creators.
"This capital development is also a unique and very exciting new facility for Mossley and Tameside which will provide opportunities for local artists and creatives, as well as being home to workshops and activity that local people can take part in or experience as audience members which is particularly important as there is currently low engagement in arts in the borough."
Global Grooves is one of 74 organisations receiving grants totalling £58.9million.
The Capital Kickstart grants programme helps organisations cover costs added to capital projects such as building works, refurbishments, and large-scale equipment purchases by pandemic-related delays or fundraising shortfalls.
For further information about the work of Global Grooves, please visit the website (globalgrooves.org) or contact Sophie via: [email protected]
