Posted on: 27th March 2025

A new National Poetry Centre, spearheaded by Professor of Poetry and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, is to receive a significant cash injection after ministers confirmed funding.

The £5million funding, originally announced under the previous Conservative government in March 2024, has now been reconfirmed after a further government consultation.

The new centre will make its home in the University of Leeds’ Trinity St David’s Church – once the home of Halo nightclub – on the edge of campus on Woodhouse Lane.

The University’s Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage, who was appointed Poet Laureate in 2019, said the new centre will give poetry a national home.
“We are a nation of poets, the home of the English language, and poetry has been the voice of Britain for 1500 years, but until now it has never had a proper home.”

“Thanks to this excellent news, the National Poetry Centre will become a reality. Poetry is enjoying a surge of popularity, offering people from every walk of life an accessible and memorable means of expression. Leeds, at the heart of Britain and the crossroads of the country, is the perfect place for a national and international headquarters."

The centre will include a 250-seat performance theatre as well as a bookshop, library, café, offices, recording facilities, rehearsal spaces and study rooms.

Read the full article here.