Arts Council England (ACE) has announced that a further £6.2m is to be invested in a total of 18 arts organisations over the next two years as part of the Sustain initiative.

The £40m Sustain programme was launched in a bid to maintain artistic excellence during the recession, and aims to help organisations that are currently under pressure during the 2009-11 period. Among the recipients of the latest Sustain awards is Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, which received a grant of £1.45m - the largest share of funding - while Halle Concerts Society in Manchester netted £800,000.

London Philharmonic Orchestra (£556,500), Oldham Coliseum Theatre (459,800) and Chichester Festival Theatre (£427,000) were also among the recipients of ACE funding, as well as De La Warr Pavilion in West Sussex (£370,000). A total of 10 applications for Sustain grants were declined, however, with ACE still in the process of considering requests for a share of a further £31m funding; the latest round of which will be announced in October.

Althea Efunshile, ACE chief operating officer, said: "This latest round of Sustain awards show the wide variety of applications the fund has received - from organisations of all sizes and all artforms, across the country. "It is good to see Sustain beginning to fulfil its purpose of helping arts organisations to continue producing innovative work and attract audiences despite the difficult economic climate."

Image: Yorkshire Sculpture Park – Jonty Wilde