The Arts Council has announced a £160 million emergency response package of support across the cultural sector in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
This includes:
- £90 million for National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs)
- £50 million for organisations outside of the National Portfolio
- £20 million for creative practitioners and cultural workers
Councillor Harman Banger, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “It is important we support our cultural sector and the livelihoods of those who work in it during these difficult times.
“Organisations and individuals are finding really innovative ways to stay engaged with audiences digitally, providing families with some welcome relief and positivity.
“These funding opportunities will help sustain the invaluable work of our city’s artists, creative practitioners, tech businesses and freelancers.”
NPOs will be contacted directly and those benefiting will need to show how they will support the freelance creative practitioners on whom they rely.
Organisations outside of the National Portfolio or Music Education Hubs can apply for a maximum of £35,000. The funding will be available to organisations with a track record in publicly funded culture with the aim to get them back on their feet and continue to work in the future. Organisations benefiting from this fund will need to support the freelance creative practitioners on whom they rely. The Arts Council is also encouraging organisations to develop new ideas to harness the power of digital to share creativity.
Artists, creative practitioners and freelancers will be able to apply for grants of up to £2,500 if they have a track record in publicly funded culture. £4million of this will be set aside for grants to benevolent funds targeted at other cultural workers.
Round one funding for organisations outside of the National Portfolio or Music Education Hubs, artists, creative practitioners and freelancers opens for applications on Thursday 9 April, 2020, and applicants will need to register on Grantium by 13 April in order to make an application for this round.
Round two opens for applications on Thursday 16 April, 2020, and applicants will need to register on Grantium by 27 April to make an application for this round.
For further information on the funding available and the application process can be found at Arts Council England – Covid-19 support.
Other sources of potential funding for the cultural sector have also been identified and more information on this can be found at Financial support for the cultural sector.
