Published: 25 Jan 2018
Note: Following the decisions announced last month awarding Regular Funding to 116 organisations, the Creative Scotland Board met on Friday 2 February and agreed that £2.6m of additional funds will now be allocated in order to further enhance the 2018-21 network.
Creative Scotland is pleased to announce the network of organisations that will receive Regular Funding for the three-year period, April 2018 to March 2021, following the conclusion of an open application process.
The Regular Funding Network 2018-21 consists of 116 organisations, of which 19 are new and 97 continue with three-year funding, supported by £99m Grant in Aid funding through a three-year commitment from the Scottish Government, as set out in the recent draft budget statement.
Regular funding provides three-year funding to a wide range of organisations which create, present and support excellence, reaching out to all parts of Scotland and internationally.- Janet Archer, Chief Executive
The network demonstrates creative excellence, potential and ambition, with significant reach throughout Scotland, and internationally, and across many areas of creative practice including craft, dance, literature, music, screen, theatre and visual art.
The Regular Funding network consists of organisations that produce, present and distribute work; as well as development organisations which support the arts and creative sectors in Scotland to strengthen their future health and resilience.
Today, in response to recent strategic reviews of both Theatre and Touring; Creative Scotland also announce plans to create a new £2m Touring Fund in 2019/20, with support from the National Lottery, to support performing arts organisations in reaching more audiences in more parts of Scotland.
Organisations in the 2018-21 network, in turn, also support artists and creative practitioners across the country, in terms of employment and generating opportunities for public participation.
Support for creative learning and young people; Gaelic and Scots language; and traditional arts are also embedded into the network of 2018-21 Regularly Funded organisations, with a spread of activity across Scotland’s places and communities.
Janet Archer, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland said: “I am pleased to announce the network of Regularly Funded organisations for 2018-21. This follows a welcome settlement from the Scottish Government in the recent draft budget enabling us to maintain the existing budget for Regular Funding.
“Regular funding provides three-year funding to a wide range of organisations which create, present and support excellence across craft, dance, literature, music, screen, theatre and visual arts, reaching out to all parts of Scotland and internationally.
“The network has been arrived at through a careful and thorough decision-making process involving staff across Creative Scotland and our Board. Regular Funding is a highly competitive application process where demand has once again, far outstripped available funding. While we can’t support everyone, we seek to provide a range of different opportunities to access support across all of our funding routes, including Open Project and Targeted Funding.
“With this in mind, we are developing a new £2m Touring Fund for 2019/20, with support from the National Lottery, as part of our Targeted Funds. This will support touring companies to work with venues to grow audiences, offering a further alternative route to funding for performing arts organisations not included in the Regular Funding network.”
Some key facts about the network include:
Regular Funding is one of three routes to funding through Creative Scotland, alongside Open Project Funding for individuals and organisations, and Targeted Funding.
All organisations who have previously benefitted from Regular Funding, but who are not part of the 2018-21 network, will be offered transition funding for 6 months to the end of September 2018. Five touring Theatre companies who are not recommended for the Network 2018-21, will receive 12 months’ transition funding to take current funding levels to the end of March 2019. These organisations are Mischief La Bas, Catherine Wheels, Fire Exit, Rapture Theatre and Visible Fictions.
See more details of the network of Regularly Funded Organisations and other routes to funding.
Following the Creative Scotland Board decisions on 18 January and 2 February 2018.
* = new to Regular Funding for 2018-21
The Regular Funding programme opened on 16 January 2017, with a deadline for applications of 3 April 2017. The Network of Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) is announced on 25 January 2018. The timings allowed for both application and assessment were in response to feedback from both the sector and our Staff after the previous application round in 2014.
Find out more about the process.
Alongside the announcement of the Regular Funding Network, 2018-21, Creative Scotland has also announced the creation of a strategic Touring Fund, supported by the National Lottery, which will be one of our Targeted Funds for 2019/20, to support touring companies to work with venues to grow audiences.
This fund will support projects from April 2019 with a provisional budget of £2m, will be open to performing arts organisations and will provide those performing arts organisations not included in the Regular Funding Network with a further potential source of funding support, alongside Open Project funding and other Targeted funds.
This approach reflects the recommendations made in 2016’s review of the challenges facing touring of theatre and dance in Scotland and subsequent work led by the Federation of Scottish Theatre and other performing arts organisations.
Wendy Grannon, Media Relations Manager
Wendy.grannon@creativescotland.com
07916 137 632
Sophie Bambrough, Media Relations & PR Officer
sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
07747 606 146
