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Northern Ireland Launches Support Fund for Arts Sector

Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey MLA has announced funding of £1.5 million to support individuals and organisations in the Arts Sector in response to Covid-19.

Published: 27 April 2020 | 12:00 AM Updated: 28 April 2021 | 4:30 PM
A musician on stage with a guitar
Providing individual artists, creative practitioners and performers with financial support to create work and make a vital contribution to the well-being of communities. Photo credit: Shutterstock

‘The Creative Support Fund’, has been created to provide financial support for a diverse range of performing artists and community art organisations.

Individual artists and creative practitioners, who have lost their work as a result of Covid-19, can apply for funding of up to £5,000 to take new and innovative approaches in continuing to provide their talents and services to audiences, particularly those facing barriers to the arts.

Small and medium sized organisations will be able to apply for maximum funding of £25,000 to help them develop new projects or programmes or re-arrange events which have had to be cancelled during the Covid-19 period.

There are two primary objectives behind this programme:

  • to support proposals for the research, design and future presentation of specific showcases, performance(s) and/or other forms of public presentation aimed at groups and communities otherwise facing barriers to the arts on a range of platforms
  • to engage the arts sector in employment by providing individual artists, creative practitioners and performers with financial support to create work and make a vital contribution to the well-being of communities.

The Creative Support Fund will be administered by Arts Council Northern Ireland, who will be contributing £500K of lottery funding to the initiative.

The fund opened for applications on Monday 27 April, and will remain open until further notice. Visit the fund page on Arts Council Northern Ireland’s website for further details, guidance notes and expression of interest forms

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