From CAROL DRINKWATER, writer / actress / filmmaker
I feel a heavy sense of despair at the cuts that are taking pace in Britain. I recognise that money has to be conserved but the slashing of arts programmes and projects that really can make a difference to our social values strikes me as so very short-sighted.
A point in question is Arc Publications. The work they are doing is vital. They are producing books of the highest calibre and bringing to readers material that might not otherwise reach them.
If we slash everything that is innovative and creative we are leaving ourselves with a society that is soulless and barren. Such societies produce a new generation that grows up frustrated, lacking the ability to touch its imaginative side, its ability to dream and to create. This leaves us with a deadening of human potential and from that frequently come depression and aggression.
I strongly believe that the arts cuts taking place are profoundly short-sighted. Arc Publications is not a monstrous machine guzzling fortunes and its grant is money exceedingly well spent.
Please I beg you to reconsider this route and this grant in particular.