The funding has been a long time coming and will come as a relief for many individuals and organisations who have been facing hardship as a result of Covid. Photo credit: Shutterstock
The move, which was announced on Thursday 24 September, sees the majority of the funding announced aimed at helping our core arts and cultural organisations, as well as artists and creative practitioners, get through this crisis to year-end.
Vital funds must be distributed without delay
Our National Organiser for Northern Ireland, Caroline Sewell, welcomed the announcement whilst continuing to underline how urgent it is that these funds reach members on an individual level:
“We welcome this announcement from the NI Executive which sees £29m allocated to the arts sector. This is the majority of the £33m, originally allocated to the executive in July from Westminster which has been a long time coming and will come as a relief for many individuals and organisations who have been facing hardship as a result of Covid.
“These vital funds must now be distributed without delay and we look forward to further discussions with the Department for Communities on how the funding will be targeted. We will continue to press the importance of funds reaching individuals who work in the arts who have been unable to earn and in many cases, unable to access other forms of financial support”.
We are seeking clarification from the Northern Irish Executive and the Department of Culture on how the funding will be made available, and who will be eligible. We’ll keep members informed as we know more.
Take action now
Join our urgent call to the Government to do more, in order to safeguard the future of the UK’s music culture and industry – ask your MP to make your voice heard in Parliament.
You can use our template letter if you’re not sure what to say. Remember to include how you are affected too – personal stories make all the difference.
Write to your MP now.