ARTS organisations are fighting back against Somerset County Council’s plans to pull all its arts funding.

A gathering has been called to discuss the matter in front of Somerset College from 9.15am

The meeting comes ahead of Somerset County Council’s cabinet meeting at 10am during which a series of swingeing cuts to several services across the county are expected to be supported.

The arts cuts were among several cost saving measures announced by County Hall last Thursday.

Among the organisations affected is Somerset Film, based in Bridgwater.

Phil Shepherd, facilitator for Somerset Film said: “The cuts will mean we lose approximately £11,500 per year with the likely knock on effect of District Council funding also being cut, a loss of a further £10,500.

“In all then we are looking at a potential cut of £22,000 from our core budget to sustain The Engine Room including its free advice mentoring, 17 hours per week of drop-ins, and subsidised courses.

“For us this is critical funding enabling us to lever funds from other sources and to sustain our public service. We were gearing ourselves for a cut of up to 40% as we had been advised by SCC, but losing 100% of our funding will make it much more difficult for us to contribute to the ‘Big Society’, to build capacity through engagement with new partners.

“We are not here with our heads in the sand – we recognise the need to change, to look at how we can use experience and expertise to help develop new services, but we do need some sustaining support to help us get there.”

The County Council cabinet papers identify the risk of cutting Arts funding as being that ‘some Arts organisations may fail and cease trading’.

Shepherd comments: “The cuts set to affect Somerset Film and The Engine Room also apply to the other Arts bodies in Somerset – between them offering a range of multi award winning services including theatres, Arts centres, rural touring and more.”