5 arts projects to benefit from �30k boost
Photograph by The Lantern Company

5 arts projects will receive a share of �30k worth of funding from Liverpool Business Improvement District's Arts and Culture Fund. They include:- Svara Radio, with an event at:- Williamson Square, Lantern Installations in empty shops, dot-art Schools and a projection by Pagoda Arts for Chinese New year.

Now in its 4th year, The Arts and Culture Fund was established to support smaller arts projects that will help drive footfall, activity and animation within Liverpool City Centre. The fund opens twice a year and submissions are selected by a panel.

The latest successful projects are:-

A Svara radio:- 'Public Service Announcement' event supporting a series of staged live public broadcasts and visual streams across the:- City Centre. Working with partners, they will broadcast, from:- 6 high visibility locations working with a community led line up to increase dwell time and support businesses

Lantern Installations in City Centre businesses from the Lantern Company. The project will work to lighten up the Winter nights with a stunning window gallery trail for all to enjoy. From tiny doorways to huge windows, the lanterns will provide a story and spread joy.

Dot-art's Schools project which is the 14th annual program, engaging Year 5 and Year 9 students, from local Schools. The program celebrates creating visual art and provides a platform for children to express creativity and display their artwork in the Walker Art Gallery and St George's Hall.

A Pagoda Arts cross culture program of events for Chinese New Year. 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse and a flagship gala along with other free community events will showcase the intergenerational talent and cultural heritage.

20 Stories High Williamson Square Timeline project. A communal, collaborative, community musical experience at Williamson Square. The Sound System will be a beacon for our anti-racist, EDIA agenda, building on their Black with a Capital B project to celebrate Liverpool's beautiful diversity through youth, poetry, spoken word, song, hip hop across 2 days.

Julie Johnson is Chair of Liverpool BID's Culture and Commerce Business Improvement District said:- "It's so vital that we support arts and cultural groups in and around Liverpool City Centre. These events bring colour and animation to our streets, as well as encouraging people to engage in the arts. We know that art in the public realm breaks down barriers and improves access to culture. It also brings a positive benefit to the City Centre and our businesses. It increases footfall, drawing people in and letting them see the breadth of creativity and vibrancy in the City."

James Young is from Svara:- "At Svara, we are pleased to be collaborating with Liverpool BID Company on a distinctive programme of events that will make full use of Liverpool's remarkable landscape. This partnership will enable us to deliver a unique series of broadcasting initiatives throughout 2026, providing communities across the City with a platform to highlight Liverpool's creativity, culture and innovation."

Jo Pocock is from the Lantern Company:- "Lantern Company are delighted to have been awarded Liverpool BID's Arts and Culture funding to create a new series of illuminated high street Window Galleries for visitors of all ages. These dreamlike:- 'creative portals' use visual story-telling to re-imagine an extraordinary collection of wearable artworks, beautiful lanterns, giant puppets and illuminated installations created over the last 20+ years and highlight the wealth of homegrown talent from our Liverpool team. Many of the artworks have not been seen in Liverpool before. The Window Gallery trail will uplift and inspire in equal measure and is accessible to visitors both day and night. Absolutely everyone is invited!"

Families securing cheaper mortgages across the country, as costs fall by almost �1,400 since the election

FAMILIES are almost �1,400 better off when taking out a typical mortgage since Labour came to office, new analysis has found. The average cost for a new 2-year fixed mortgage across England and Wales was:- �1,185 per month in June 2024. However, following the Labour Government's action to restore stability to the economy; with 6 interest rate cuts since the General Election, the fastest pace of cuts in 17 years; the cost of a typical new mortgage has fallen to:- �1,071 per month.

This means that families taking out a new mortgage are saving around:- �114 each month, or �1,368 a year; putting money back in people's pockets. These savings have been felt by households in every corner of the country. For example, a typical mortgage of an average house in Hendon cost:- �3,210 a year less in December 2025 compared with an identical mortgage in June 2024. The equivalent annual saving in:- Birmingham Edgbaston was:- �1,660 and was:- �1,800 in Cardiff West.

Following the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget, 2 year fixed mortgage rates shot up to over 6 per cent in October 2022. That piled misery onto families, adding hundreds of pounds onto their monthly bills when buying a home or remortgaging in the period that followed.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' management of the economy since the General Election has meant that interest rates on typical mortgages fell from:- 5.16% in June 2024 to 3.97% in December 2025.

That stands in stark contrast to the Tories' catastrophic record which saw the economy crashed and family finances fleeced.

Nigel Farage's Reform have promised to go further than the Tories' disastrous policies, splurging billions on unfunded pledges, which risks interest rates rising again, and putting up every mortgage in the country.

The news on mortgages comes alongside a wider package of measures introduced by the Labour Government that will give security to and protect the pockets of working people in their living arrangements.

As mortgage holders benefit from reduced costs, the Renters' Rights Act; coming into force on:- 1 May 2026; will see:- 'no fault' evictions banned, and it will become illegal for landlords and letting agents to:-

Increase rent prices more than once a year.
Ask for more than 1 month's rent payment in advance.
Pit prospective tenants against 1 another through rental bidding wars.
Discriminate against potential tenants, because they receive benefits or have children.

James Murray MP, Labour's Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:- "The Tories dealt a hammer blow to family finances when they crashed the economy and sent mortgages, rents and bills soaring. Labour is bringing the cost of living down. We've stabilised the economy, leading to 6 interest rate cuts and lower mortgage costs. We're also cutting �150 off average energy bills, freezing rail fares, freezing prescription fees, raising the minimum wage and lifting over half a million children out of poverty. This is the year when working people across Britain will start to feel the benefit of the change Labour is delivering."

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5 arts projects to benefit from �30k boost Photograph by The Lantern Company

Families securing cheaper mortgages across the country, as costs fall by almost �1,400 since the election

5 arts projects to benefit from �30k boost
Photograph by The Lantern Company