Arts and cultural venues across Cumbria have welcomed the Government's £1.5bn support package - though concerns remain over longer-term uncertainties facing the sector.

The support package, announced by the Government on Sunday, will provide arts, entertainment and cultural venues, as well as museums and English Heritage locations, with £1.57bn in emergency support to help the sector weather the short-term shocks brought about by Covid-19.

Venues, theatres and museums across Cumbria welcomed the news yesterday, though questions are still to be answered on exactly how much support places in Cumbria will get.

Andrew Mackay, director of Tullie House in Carlisle, was glad at the news, but questioned how much support for each individual venue the headline figure translated into.

"Given the sheer number of venues and organisations that this support package will be shared by, from the biggest venues in London to places like the Lowry in Salford or the Sage in Gateshead, I question whether it's sufficient," he said.

"Especially given that we don't know what the breakdown in the funding is going to be, or how it's going to be distributed."

Mr Mackay added that funding for venues like Tullie House was a challenge even in normal times.

"The funding for nearly all cultural organisations is often on a knife-edge," he said.

"It's a very fine line, and we need visitors to use us otherwise we really struggle.

"That's what it's like at the best of times, and coronavirus has undoubtedly been the worst of times."

He expressed gratitude to Carlisle City Council and the Arts Council for its continued support throughout the pandemic.

"But we need to match that support, by generating revenue, to survive.

"We've got about 40 per cent of our staff on furlough at the moment, and what we're trying to do is reopen, but we're going to have to do so in phases.

"We need to make sure that people come back in sufficient numbers for us to release people from furlough."

Tullie House will be partially opening tomorrow, for the first time since lockdown began.

"We're opening the cafe and the gardens as phase one," Mr Mackay said.

"If that works OK, then the following week on the 16th we'll open the temporary exhibition gallery which is Treasures of China, which was very successful before lockdown.

"If that's successful, we'll open up as a third phase after that.

"And again, with our events we're going to take our time to make sure things can be reopened safely.

"A lot of our community activities cater to young people or elderly people, which is why we're particularly keen to be as cautious as possible with reopening in that way.

"However, we can only survive in the long term if people use us. To become sustainable, we need more visitors than ever before."

Another of Carlisle's cultural venues, The Brickyard on Fisher Street, is in normal times the city's premier space for independent and up-and-coming acts to perform live music.

Director Andy Bartlett said he was grateful that the Government was helping the industry, particularly in light of the significant financial strain being shouldered by the public purse as a result of Covid-19.

However he said that with live venues still left in the dark as to the date on which they can reopen, there were still major uncertainties to grapple with.

"The major issue for me right now is that I want to hear more from the Government as to what the plan is going forward, so we can plan for our reopening," Mr Bartlett said.

"It's not as simple as being told we can open this Saturday, we need a month to promote events, sell tickets, get the advertising out there.

"I completely understand that it is very difficult to plan these things, because of how much things are still uncertain.

"But it's the uncertainty that is so particularly stressful for businesses right now. I don't know anyone who begrudges the situation - I think everyone in the business community recognises that it's affecting everyone.

"But anything that helps to provide a bit more clarity would be welcome."

Lee Martin-White, chairman for the Carnegie Theatre Trust in Workington, echoed these concerns, particularly in regards to suggestions it may be 2021 until theatres can full reopen.

He also raised concerns that small, independent venues like the Carnegie would lose out on funding from this package of measures.

"Knowing what funding pressures the Government's under right now, it was welcome to hear this news. But I think for us, the devil will be in the detail, he said.

"From the information available at the moment, it'll be managed through funding partners, one of which is the Arts Council.

"One of my concerns is that they will only provide funding to those venues that have already had funding through the likes of the Arts Council.

"The Carnegie hasn't, and quite often that means we are left without funding."

While an official word on the issue has not been forhcoming, Mr Martin-White said there were suggestions in the industry that a 2021 restart was looking increasingly likely.

"Clearly, right now all indications are that we will not be able to put on any performances until next year.

"That leaves us in a very precarious position, and it's something we need clarity on."

The Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, which has made headlines in recent weeks after announcing it could not avoid job losses as a result of Covid-19, said the announcement was "great news" for the industry, but that it was too early to say what funds would be made available to the venue.

A spokeswoman for Theatre by the Lake said: "Theatre by the Lake welcomes the government’s announcement of a £1.57bn package of support for the arts, culture and heritage sector; this is great news for our industry and for the arts in the UK.

"Thank you to everyone who has lobbied, campaigned and made their voices heard in support of the theatre industry and in making this happen.

"We are waiting for more details before we are able to comment on what it means specifically for Theatre by the Lake; as of yet we do not know what funds may be available to us, or if funds can be secured in time to prevent redundancies.

"We will update further when we know more. Thank you again for your support at this time."