ONWARD
Belfast City Council Arts Funding Transition Programme (2020)
ONWARD
Onward is Belfast City Council Arts Funding Transition Programme, led by McGarry Consulting in partnership with Arts & Business NI. The programme is designed to help 11 organisations who narrowly missed out on the new cultural strategy funding. As 2020 developed, the programme was also evolved to include a ‘post-Covid’ review of the organisation and build relationships with other funders.
PROGRAMME DETAILS
Onward runs between August and November 2020; and includes four key elements:
Review of Public Information
Review of Organisation (across eight themed areas)
Mapping out Innovation Project (within next 18 months)
Introduction to Funders & New Funding Scoring (including preparation workshop)
Each organisation received individual consultancy support with a final visual and user-friendly report sent to be sent to the Council. Setting out findings, recommendations and spectrum of innovation projects
Midsummer Nights Dream - David & Rose - by Terra Nova Productions (photo: Neil Harrison)
PARTICIPANTS
The 11 participants cover a wide spectrum of arts organisations within Belfast and are a matter of public record:
Andersonstown Traditional & Contemporary Music School
Arts for All
Cahoots NI
Cathedral Quarter Trust
Flax Arts
Grand Opera House
Lagan Legacy
Northern Visions
Spectrum Centre
Terra Nova
University of Atypical
Note, many of these arts organisations will also cut across several themes, for example: community, creative, cultural, digital, entertainment, heritage, regeneration, training and development; and tourism.
FUNDING & SUPPORT
A short guide to some, only some, of the support and development opportunities for arts organisations (as at early October 2020):
ARTS & BUSINESS NI
Provide support, advocacy, programmes and more to the Arts Sector in NI. Upcoming workshops include:
Fundraising Webinar by Derek Humphries (2-3pm Thurs 15-Oct, FREE to members, £17.50 to Non-Members)
Check the website for other support (e.g. funding, governance, board members etc)
ARTS COUNCIL NI
Primary arts funding body in NI, has funding programmes for individuals and organisations with some open (as at 05-Oct-2020) opportunities below:
Young Musicians Platform Scheme (closes 29-Oct-2020, up to £5,000)
Small Capital Programme (closes 15-Oct-2020, aimed at equipment purchase and minor works)
Small Grants Programme (ongoing, up to £10,000)
BANK OF IRELAND - Together Arts Fund
Will run 2020-2022, with first application deadline 04-Nov-2020 and an information webinar on Wed 07-Oct-2020. Fund in partnership with Arts & Business NI. Grants offered £2,500 to £8,400 (average £5,000).
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NI
A grant making and advisory body, with a list of open grants here along with useful background information
FESTIVAL UK*2022
Midsummer Nights Dream by Terra Nova Productions (photo: Neil Harrison)
BELFAST CITY COUNCIL SUPPORT
BCC provides a variety of support beyond the traditional ‘tourism, culture and arts’ sector. In addition to grants there are support for businesses, social enterprises, events, organisations responding to Covid-19 etc. It is worth investigating to understand what you may qualify for and at the very least be informed of what is going on in the city. Also, it is useful to appreciate the various sections of the Council and their strategies; to better understand how they can help you. A good starting point are the economic development and cultural sections:
Tourism, Culture & Arts
Email: Culture@belfastcity.gov.uk
Phone: 028 9027 0426
Web: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/culturestrategy
You have to email them directly to be included in the Culture mailing list
Economic Development (CITY FOR BUSINESS)
Email: economicdevelopment@belfastcity.gov.uk
Phone: 028 9027 0482
Web: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business-and-investment/city-for-business
Have a regular emails providing information on support available, worth emailing to be included on their list. BCC has a new business & investment section divided into sub-sections (e.g. growth, start-up, social enterprise etc) and it is worth exploring.
SERVICES FOR BUSINESS
BCC gathers a variety of business support under the following themes with further useful links below
Assistance with starting a social enterprise in NI
Free business support, mentoring and workshops to Belfast businesses trading for more than one year
Dedicated support and advice for businesses re-opening post-covid 19 (Tel: 028 9027 0565 Email covid19businessadvice@belfastcity.gov.uk)
Free specialist advice on digital/social media strategies, payments, e-commerce etc for businesses with less than 50 employees and started up for only 6 months
GRANTS
A list of current and closed grant programmes - the majority are closed for 2019/20
Other Guides
There are a variety of NI and non-NI support. Within NI, NI Business Info provides an in-depth source of advice - and templates - that can be used by businesses (profit & non-profit) of all backgrounds
List of Covid Supports for NI Businesses. This is a detailed list via NI Business Info that is divided into sections and worth scanning
Invest NI has support and advice regarding Brexit and Covid, among other topics that are worth scanning; including details of a Brexit Preparation Grant (£50k max, up to 50%)
New £2m Covid Business & Financial Planning Grant aimed at SMEs (£2m, launched 06-Oct)
New £2m Covid Business Planning Support Grant aimed at tourism business (£2m, launched 06-Oct)
InterTradeIreland can help those looking to export. We welcome suggestions for other interesting sources of information