As a third year drama and theatre undergrad you’d think that I’d know what an Arts Council England (ACE) Project Grants looked like, and maybe even what it takes to apply for one. But, until last week’s Culture Forum I had no idea at all.

I want to summarise, from the perspective of someone who had the bare minimum of knowledge about ACE Project Grants (the new Let’s Create scheme included), what I was able to learn from the forum. I also want to highlight the points that stuck out when first learning about the grants, including how to apply for them, what’s changed with them, what’s happened in Peterborough, and how they’re going to be used in future.

The Culture Forum (20/07/2020) was led by ACE representative Natalie Philips who has been working with Peterborough as part of her role with ACE for the last two years. Natalie opened by talking about the new Let’s Create strategy; a 10 year plan to help improve cultural engagement across the country and support the UK’s reputation as an internationally recognised country of culture.

An emergency £1.57 billion investment into the arts being has been announced the Government. This is priamrily to bail out larger organisations or venues, with the money being given out in big chunks (£1 million+); This money will be available as either grants or loans (more guidance will be available from the end of July onwards). Loans are more likely to be targeted at commercial organisations/venues.

Not much more information about the bailout is available but collective intelligence in the forum was that themes that ACE and the Government are focusing on are: the: “Crown Jewels” (buildings and capital), Revenue (economic drivers), Local Importance of the organisation in the community, and the Sustainability/viability of the project/organisation (i.e ACE won’t want to invest in something that doesn’t have any longevity).

ACE will oversee the delivery of some of this bailout but has also reopened it’s own Project Grants ( Lottery funded). These grants are more targeted at activity by individuals and cultural organisations.

I was previously unaware that individuals could apply for grants in order to support solo projects. ACE Project Grants by allow artists to apply for funding to provide them with the time to create a project, or just to think about how they will survive in the current climate. Bottom line, you don’t need to have a huge project lined up in order to be eligible for a grant. Though activity with the public is also welcome / encouraged.

However, if you want to improve your chances of being given the grant one thing Natalie did let us know is that a focus on partnerships, and evidence of existing partnerships will help the chances of a grant being successful.

Natalie also highlighted a strategic aim of ACE is for the Project Grants to address inclusive access for artists and audiences who are under represented in the sector. This includes arts who are disabled, including making the application process available through multiple mediums including BSL (British Sign Language) available on demand, video, easy reading guide, and audience guidance. In addtion to this, funding applications that engage with the disabled comunity are hoped for.

Artists and audiences from other under-represented parts of the community are also encouraged - such as those who are young or emerging, with diverse heritage or are economically disadvantaged. If you want to make an application and have connections to these communities, Natalie encourages you to make your work and your connections known, either through partnerships, social media, or advising her directly. By doing this, ACE can better identify those who are making genuine connections with these communities as opposed to those who are doing so in order to access funding.

This doesn’t mean that applications that don’t have a focus on any of these groups won’t be considered. ACE essentailly just wants to strongly encourage those that align with their equality objectives and can help to reach the outcomes outlined in their Let’s Create plan.

One piece of uplifting advice Natalie gave was that there should be no need to lobby local MP’s or councillors - those conversations are already being had. Another piece of advice was again emphasising the importance of creating partnerships (be it digital, artistic, or community based) that will strengthen both your application and your place as an artist in the community. However, ACE recognise that, even with partnerships in place, audiences might take a while to come back and numbers will be low at first so advise those hoping to host events to be considerate of their audiences and the confidence they might not have yet when it comes to attending events. In addition proposing a 50 date tour within a strong evidence of how this won’t be impacted by COVID might not be the best timing.

Natalie also gave a brief breakdown of what ACE have provided for Peterborough in the last few years. Last year alone ACE invested £642k into the Peterborough, however, Natalie said, that none of this funding was applied for by anyone with a BaME background, which considering the diversity within the city, is surprising. It was discussed that this might be because starting an application for the first time can be pretty intimidating when you’re someone who doesn’t know your stuff (like me!). So it was agreed that the Culture Forum would programme a self-help session where we can help each other out with applications - keeps your eyes peeled for that.

So what changes have been made to the application process to address these issues? Plans for improving the process have been delayed in order to get the funding out to those who need it as soon as possible, but she’s reassured us that the changes, especially those that will broaden the people benefitting from the funding, are coming.

The changes that have happened are as follows:

engagement - there won’t be as much stress put on actual physcial engagement of audiences, ACE will look more at how meaningful each engagement is (i.e it’s impact) and judge the success on this as opposed to the numbers of attendees.
match funding - there used to be a need for 10% match funding for any grant given by ACE but this is no longer essential (though is preferred.). Instead partnerships are identified as important - proving you have support from people or organistions is just as valuable as proving you have financial support.

Timescale: there are 4 or 5 steps any grant application has to go through before you’ll get approved. Seeing the breakdown of how the process works is a really useful insight into what actaully happens with an application and why it takes time.

Step 1 - eligibilty check (technically this happens before you apply, it happens when you register and takes a couple days so make sure you do this well in advance of when you want to make an application).

Then you make the full application.

Step 2 - risk check (ACE look at your application and check the risks).

Step 3 - written appraisal (this step is ONLY for applications for £15k+ and these applications will take longer than others).

Step 4 - decision meeting (this happens within 6 weeks for applications below £15k and within 12 weeks for applications above £15k).

Step 5 - decision letter sent out to applicant.

ON GOING SUPPORT AND INFO: Any other information you might want about applying for a grant to Arts Council England can be found on their website or in the powerpoint provided by Natalie (see below).

Natalie’s email is natalie.phillips@artscouncil.org.uk but please note that she won’t be able to offer any individual feedback at this time as all staff time is being taken up with process grants. BUT there will be a future Peterborough Culture Forum which will allow for peer-to-peer support on applications.

AND STOP PRESS Cambridge Arts Network are hosting two webinars about Arts Council England’s Project Grants on Weds 29 July, 4-5pm (for new applicants) or Weds 5 Aug, 3-4pm (for experienced applicants). Book HERE - signing up will also give you access to a recording of the session afterwards.

All the best

Sarah Saxby

Student Placement - Jumped Up Theatre

Attendees:

Natalie Philips – Arts Council England

Kate Hall - Jumped Up Theatre

Sarah Saxby - BA theatre

Natalia – MA theatre

Emily Steele - Cine-Sisters & Gateway film Festival

Kaine - Korp

Penny Hansen - Cresset Theatre

Judi Aston - One to One development Trust