The government has given out some of the promised money to theatres, music venues and arts organisations.

Congratulations to Malvern Theatres for a much-deserved major award. Malvern is one of the best theatres outside London, punching way above its weigh, and has been expertly and shrewdly run by Nic Lloyd for many years. Let’s hope that this will help him get the Theatre through the current crisis.

I didn’t see the Swan Theatre or Huntingdon Hall in the list of grants but at the time of writing, there is a second list of awards to be announced. Let’s hope we see them in that list.

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak upset a lot of people in the arts community this week. He is quoted as saying that individual freelancers in the arts who were not getting any financial help “should retrain and find other jobs”.

He has since tried to distance himself from the ITV interview, and says he was misquoted, but it has incensed the arts community. It seemed to ignore and belittle the years of training and learning needed to be a ballet dancer, or a top musician, or actor, or lighting designer or make-up artist.