This annual review covers the year of April 2020 to March 2021, during which time our top priority was to deliver emergency support to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people and organisations working in the culture sector.
During 2020/21, we made nearly 12,000 emergency funding awards totalling £68 million in value. This is alongside 1,582 funding awards made through our existing funding programmes totalling £93 million in value. Thanks to substantial additional funding from the Scottish Government, this is far in excess of the normal level of support that we deliver each year (typically around 1,300 funding awards) and the staff of Creative Scotland have worked tirelessly and with enormous dedication to deliver this emergency funding efficiently and effectively, and at considerable pace, in the most challenging of circumstances.
Alongside our emergency response to COVID-19 was the continued provision of Regular Funding to 121 of Scotland’s key creative and cultural organisations; the availability of Open Funding for Individuals and Organisations; and broad support for different aspects of creative and cultural provision through Targeted Funding, including amongst a host of other funds, support for Youth Arts and the Youth Music Initiative.
Highlights of what this funding supported and helped to deliver to the people of Scotland are provided in this Annual Review.
