Emergency Scottish Government relief funds reach grassroots music venues

Published: 22 Sep 2020

From Melrose to Kirkwall, Portree to Kirkcaldy, 68 venues across Scotland have received a total of £2.2million through the Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund through Creative Scotland.

Aimed at providing grassroots live music venues with the emergency funds to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent closure, the £2.2million fund which launched on Thursday 3 September, received 98 applications totalling £3.2million.

Alan Morrison, Head of Music at Creative Scotland said: “Live music has been hit particularly hard by Covid-19, and Creative Scotland is only too aware of the severity of that impact. These awards, to venues across Scotland, will help bring short-term stability to the grassroots music sector and alleviate some of the challenges that the ongoing pandemic has presented.

“Music is such a significant part of Scotland’s cultural life and it is here, at grassroots level, that talented musicians create new material connecting with audiences young and old. We look forward to the day when we’ll all be back together, cheering on artists face to face – but, until then, this fund will provide a lifeline to one of the most vibrant scenes that Scotland has to offer.”

Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director, Music Venue Trust said: “Music Venue Trust is grateful to Scottish Government for creating a ring fenced fund which recognises the vital role that Grassroots Music Venues play in Scottish culture.

“There is still a lot of work to do to support these venues through the crisis but to see so many venues awarded short-term financial support is an incredible step forward. We thank Creative Scotland for working so hard to make this possible and involving us in shaping the fund so it could be targeted effectively. We look forward to working further with them.”

Recipients of the £2.2m Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund are:

The Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund is one of a series of measures being put in place to help mitigate the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural sector, including five new emergency funds which were announced by the First Minister on Friday 28 August and are being delivered through Creative Scotland as follows:

• The £15million Culture Organisation and Venues Recovery Fund, which has opened for applications today, Thursday 17 September, with a deadline of Thursday 24 September.
• The £3.5million Independent Cinemas Recovery and Resilience Fund, which opened for applications on Monday 14 September with a deadline of Monday 5 October.
• The £5million Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund for which we issued an open call for partner organisations to help us distribute this fund on Friday 11 September with a deadline of Friday 25 September. We aim to be able to distribute funds from October. The Screen element of these Hardship Funds will open for applications on Tuesday 22 September.
• The £5million Sustaining Creative Practice Fund includes £1.5million for the Culture Collective programme, mentioned in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, supporting organisations employing freelance artists to work in and with communities across Scotland. The remaining £3.5million has been added to Creative Scotland’s existing open fund which is open for applications from individuals now.

The previously announced £5million open call element of the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund which closed for applications on Thursday 27 August has received 42 applications and awards will be announced by Thursday 24 September.

Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications.

Background

• Applications to the Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund were invited from Wednesday 26 August with a deadline of Thursday 3 September. Full information about the Fund, including eligibility and criteria, can be found here on the fund page. Please note that this page was updated in November 2020 to reflect the updated final awards made to the 68 venues after 4 of the original 72 recipients withdrew their applications.
• Today’s announcement represents part of part of the Scottish Government’s announcement of Friday 28 August of £59million emergency funding for culture and heritage. That funding comes from the £97million in UK Government consequentials for the culture and heritage sectors.
• This is in addition to the £23.5million previously awarded through the Creative, Tourism, Hospitality and Hardship Fund and £128million through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund.
• More information about Covid-19 funding and resources can be accessed via FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot, and through Creative Scotland’s Resource Directory for COVID-19.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.