Published: 16 Apr 2020
West Dunbartonshire’s social enterprise Lodestone Creative has received new funding to support resilience and growth within the local creative community.
With backing from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland’s Create:Networks fund, Lodestone Creative will expand their Made in West Dunbartonshire network to include a wide range of creative practitioners and enterprises working across the creative industries in the area.
Plans to establish and develop connections across the local sector will be accompanied by specialist mentoring and training programmes aiding financial resilience for businesses, particularly at this time of economic uncertainty.
Jain McIntyre at Lodestone Creative said: “Our programme will help new and established makers and artists in West Dunbartonshire adapt to restrictions put in place by Covid-19. We are a resilient bunch and we are looking forward to supporting the creative community by getting Made in West Dunbartonshire makers better recognised, and our artists collective up and running, over the coming 12 months.”
This initiative is one of several creative business support networks being developed across the country as a result of the Create:Networks initiative. Further details will be announced in due course.
Jessica Bonehill, Creative Industries Officer at Creative Scotland, said: “In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever that support for creative businesses is tailored according to the needs of local sectors. These newly strengthened local networks will allow creative enterprises and practitioners to access specialist advice and support, and we hope this will prove valuable for creative businesses through the difficult months to come.”
Today’s announcement follows the launch of three Creative Scotland funding programmes designed to provide dedicated support to help sustain Scotland’s creative community during the COVID-19 outbreak.
One-off bursaries are available to freelance creative professionals and film and tv sector workers who have lost earnings due to the cancelation of work as a result of Covid-19; and Open Funding: Sustaining Creative Development is providing support for individuals and organisations to develop and create work in the coming months.
A list of other helpful resources and sector specific support groups and organisations is also available in our Covid-19 Resources Directory
