Funding for the Arts, Culture and Heritage sectors

Following the announcement that £29m has been allocated by the Executive to provide support for the culture, language, arts and heritage sectors impacted by the coronavirus pandemic the Department for Communities can now provide details on the programmes as follows:

Covid-19 Culture, Languages, Arts and Heritage Programme 2020/2021

The Community Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund

A £2million fund for community based culture, arts and heritage projects in response to Covid-19 to be distributed by the Community Foundation NI who will prioritise projects which support people with disabilities and those who are vulnerable.

Open to all community organisations which can deliver new projects as part of the Programme’s renewal strand. Any constituted organisation can apply and their primary purpose need not be related to arts or heritage. Groups can apply for awards from £2,000 to £20,000 for expenditure up to 31 March 2021 for a wide range of projects related to culture, arts, creativity and heritage.

For further information contact the Community Foundation Northern Ireland

National Lottery Heritage Recovery Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Recovery Fund will deliver a £5.5m programme of supportaimed at helping the heritage sector recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This fund closed at 12pm on 27 November 2020

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/heritage-recovery-fund-northern-ireland

Stability & Renewal Programme for Organisations

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland will deliver a £7.75m Stability and Renewal Programme for Organisations to supportthe arts and cultural sector in its recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Grants of up to £500,000 will be available to organisations working in the arts and cultural sector to help them respond to the immediate impacts of the Covid-19 crisis, including help with re-opening, adapting and stabilising their organisations in the long-term.

This fund closed at 12pm on 27 November 2020

Further details, including Guidance Notes and FAQs, are available at http://artscouncil-ni.org/funding/scheme/stability-and-renewal-programme-for-organisations

Sign Language COVID-19 Support Fund

£430,000 of funding was made available to support the survival, maintenance and sustainability of the sign language sector impacted by COVID-19 through the support of community based activities and the development of new avenues for participation and engagement through the pandemic.

Applications for funding have now closed.

The fund was open for applications from Wednesday 4 November to Tuesday 1 December 2020.

The Ulster-Scots Covid-19 Resilience Fund

The Ulster-Scots Covid-19 Resilience Fund will provide small grants (up to £3k) to help groups with overhead costs and Covid-19 safety; language grants for innovative projects promoting the Ulster-Scots language (up to £10k); and large organisation grants (up to £30k) to help larger groups replace income lost due to the pandemic.

Most of the fund (£660k) will be allocated for small grants, which will be assessed on a first come, first served basis.

Some of the schemes closed on 2 December, for the most up to date information please visit:

www.ulsterscotsagency.com/community-projects/apply-for-funding/

Irish Language Funding

The Irish language community will directly benefit from £1.2m of funding, aimed at providing financial support for community and Irish language groups through ongoing Covid difficulties. Two of the funds will be administered by Conradh na Gaeilge, as follows:

1. SPG+ Relief & Relaunch Fund 2020-2021 (Covid19) - £460,000

This fund is aimed at Irish language community groups dealing with ongoing challenges and difficulties brought about as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially concerning financial implications of Covid-19 and staffing and programme income losses, since the beginning April 2020.

This scheme closed on 2 December, for the most up to date information please visit: https://cnag.ie/ga/cistecovid

2. Community Events Fund: Towards Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia 2021

This fund is a stimulus fund to create increased, renewed and new opportunities for communities to use the Irish language in 2021.

This scheme closed on 2 December, for the most up to date information please visit: https://snag.ie/cistecovid/

Programme to support Irish language community facilities

Ciste Infheistíochta na Gaeilge are delivering a £610,000 programme of support, aimed at helping organisations who are managing community capital facilities in the Irish language community sector.

Comharchiste Covid applications close on 2 December.

This scheme closed on 2 December, for the most up to date information please visit www.ciste.ie

The D/deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund 2020/21

The D/deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund 2020/21 is managed by the University of Atypical on behalf of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and DfC. The scheme aims to provide much needed financial support to D/deaf and disabled artists at a time when their potential to generate income has been seriously impacted by the closure of art galleries, theatres, music venues and other creative outlets due to covid-19.

This fund closed at 4pm 18 December 2020. Further information can be found by contacting the University of Atypical at the below link:

https://universityofatypical.org/contact/