A floudering Brentford arts centre has been thrown a lifeline after its funding was almost doubled by a coalition of the capital's local authorities.
Watermans in Brentford High Street was going to be forced to cut back on its output after the Arts Council decided to reduce its funding by nearly £500,000.
Now it may be able to pull itself back from the brink after being given a massive cash boost in the latest round of arts funding from London Councils.
The centre's funding will now shoot from £70,000 a year to £125,000 over the next four years.
Karen Bullar, chair of Watermans, said: "Watermans has won a resounding endorsement from London Councils. Projects of this size and scope take considerable time and resources to bid for.
"These two projects have been under consideration for almost a year and it's a glowing tribute to the Watermans team that they have been awarded, despite the distractions created by the recent Arts Council decision to cut Watermans funding.
"One of the reasons that the Arts Council gave for withdrawing their funding was Watermans' failure to attract increased funding from outside sources.
"This is further evidence, if any is needed, of the baseless analysis that lies behind this decision."
