Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank by assets, won a U.K. philanthropy award for backing a circus training center in London.

UBS garnered one of eight prizes handed out at a black-tie gala last night at the Victoria & Albert Museum by Arts & Business, a U.K. non-profit organization that encourages companies to give to the arts.

The Circus Space, as the center is known, is housed in a former power station, and offers degrees in circus arts, as well as adult classes and corporate team-building workshops. UBS has sent staffers there for three- and six-hour sessions to learn circus skills and bond with colleagues.

Other winners included Deloitte LLP, the accounting firm, for its annual contemporary-art festival at the Royal Opera House; and Ernst & Young, for helping a group of schoolchildren put on an exhibition at the South London Gallery. The respective arts institutions were joint recipients of the awards.

The awards come at a “very difficult” time for arts funding, Arts & Business Chief Executive Colin Tweedy said in a telephone interview. The record 686.7 million pounds ($1.14 billion) that U.K. cultural bodies received in 2007 from companies, individuals, trusts and foundations is unlikely to be matched before 2013, he said.

The government is planning cuts, too, he added. “Public funding is likely to be severely reduced in the next eight to 10 years,” said Tweedy. In the long run, “any growth will be coming from the private sector, not from the public sector.”

To contact the writer on the story: Farah Nayeri in London at Farahn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 12, 2009 19:00 EST