Arts groups in Tower Hamlets learned if they would get Arts Council England funding today with the Rich Mix arts centre receiving a 59 per cent cut.

Galleries, theatres and arts organisations in the borough applied

for three-year funding from the body which has had its government backing cut by around �100 million.

The Bethnal Green Road centre, which houses a cinema and live performance spaces, will get �921,779 between 2012 and 2015, a 59.1 per cent drop on their previous grant in real terms.

Rich Mix director Jane Earl said: “We are grateful to the Arts Council for their ongoing support.

“We will be looking at how best to use the resources we have to support the local community.”

Other groups received smaller drops in funding including Cardboard Citizens, a theatre company for homeless people, who saw an eleven per cent cut until 2015.

The Hanbury Street charity was awarded �489,876.

The Spitalfields Festival group, who put on live music events, will get �144,369, 14.9 per cent less than previously and the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre in White Horse Road will receive �664,290, down 4.4 per cent.

But not all arts groups saw drops in their funding levels, with The Chisenhale Gallery near Victoria Park seeing a 1.3 per cent rise to �505,210.

Over 1300 applications were made across the country for the funding which will start in April 2012, with 695 organisations succeeding, down from 849 in the previous settlement.

There were also 110 groups who were awarded funding for the first time including the Bow Arts Trust in Bow Road, who provide affordable studio space for artists and run education programmes.

They will get �153,630 over the three years.

Marcel Baettig, their chief executive, said: “I’m delighted.

“It’s fantastic that they have decided to partner with us and help us to expand our work.”