A study has revealed that London receives twice as much culture funding compared to the North.
In a State of the North report, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) showed that between 2023 and early 2025, the North received £450 million, or £28 per person, from the Arts Council.
During the same period, London received £519 million, or £57 per person.
If the North received the same per person funding as London, it would have seen £450 million more, demonstrating the lack of cultural investent being provided to Northern towns and cities.
Karen Fay, Assistant Principal and Director of Performing Arts at The Fallibroome Academy, said: “There are lots of schools doing some really amazing work and they want to do more [but] are not afforded that opportunity because the money is not there to support it.
“I think more could be done.”
Mrs Fay, who has been teaching at Fallibroome for the 15 years, highlighted how Fallibroome doesn’t receive any external funding for their performing arts department. Instead, they are funded from the central school budget.
“You’ll find that a lot of students maybe can’t do dance or theatre studies at their current school and so they will move [to Fallibroome],” Mrs Fay said, explaining how the school’s performing arts classes of drama, dance, music and media studies are well attended.
The uptake in the performing arts subjects at Fallibroome ‘goes against national trends’, due to a combination of the department’s reputation and the opportunity to study drama, dance and music as GCSEs and A Levels.
As a comprehensive school, students have the option to study all performing arts subjects or none at all, after the compulsory classes in Years 7-9.
“There’s so many positive things that performing arts can bring to a young person,” Mrs Fay said.
“Particularly at secondary school, it gives students a real breadth of things that they can do.”
Skills such as building confidence, making social connections and teamwork are some of the benefits Mrs Fay believes can be drawn from studying performing arts subjects.
Funding, however, remains a big challenge.
Mrs Fay said: “In the 15 years that I’ve been here, I’ve applied for anywhere up to 20 to 30 different bursaries, schemes, and foundations that have offered money for projects.
“I have not been successful once.”
Fallibroome benefitted from the 1997 specialist schools programme under the Labour government of Tony Blair, through which they received a grant of £100,000 to fund their performing arts subjects.
Once this programme ended in 2011, the then-head teacher of Fallibroome decided to maintain a financial commitment to maintain the subjects.
The funding dropped to £25,000 and has been this for the past five to six years, though the department has been able to ‘maintain output during all that time.’
“We can’t give these projects any more legs because we don’t have the money to do it.” Mrs Fay said.
“If we were to get additional funding, [we’d] be able to pursue the projects that we’re currently running further, because we see the impact of [them].”
Macclesfield Camera Club, founded in 1954, has recently started working with Macclesfield Writers Group to create a joint arts community project.
Vince Sparks, 65, Club President and Programme Secretary, said: “Arts can give back in terms of education, a sense of purpose and developing people.
“With the u3a groups that I work with, there’s a therapeutic benefit, a cognitive benefit, and an element of civic pride.”
u3a is a scheme for older people to learn and develop particular skills and share their knowledge with others.
The camera club is funded via membership fees, which is currently set at £75 per annum and pays for the hire of Gawsworth Village Hall, guest speakers and membership to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain.
In September 2025, the group received a Community Grant of £1,992 from Macclesfield Town Council to replace their 16-year-old projector.
“Arts funding in terms of subsidised cost or access to community and council properties [would] be quite significant,” said Mr Sparks.
“What it would allow us to do is spend more of the funds that we generate from membership on added value, like more guest speakers.”
Funding would allow the photography club to ‘enrich membership for the existing members,’ as well as attracting new members.
Mr Sparks emphasised the importance of building cultural wealth in the local community.
“The North has its own identity, its own history and it has its own people with equal talent,” Mr Sparks said.
“Funding should be balanced and various areas of the country should get their fair share of arts development.”
Of 36 responses to a poll conducted via Facebook, 72% of respondents said that arts and cultural activities are ‘very important’ to them.
When asked what the top priority should be if Macclesfield received more funding, 38% of respondents opted for ‘live music and performance spaces,’ while ‘youth arts and creative education’ was chosen by 32% of respondents.
Macclesfield has recently put in a bid to be UK Town of Culture 2028.
The winning town will be awarded £3 million in arts funding to deliver a cultural programme in 2028. The two finalists will also receive £250,000.
Ryan Smith, report author and IPPR North research fellow, said: “Young people across the North want and deserve the access to entertainment, recreation, and opportunity afforded to their peers in other parts of the country.
“There is a clear need now to address the culture and opportunity chasms for the next generation of northerners to break out of the vicious cycle of regional inequality which acts as a barrier to life chances and satisfaction.”