Arts Council England Creative Local Growth Fund

Arts Council England has launched a new Creative Local Growth Fund. The aim of the fund is to support arts and cultural projects that contribute to local economic growth. In order to maximise the local economic impact of the fund and to draw in European funding such as:

• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Arts Council will work in partnership with Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs)
• Outside of London.

Each application must be collaborative, for example, with one or more arts and/or cultural organisation working with LEPs and, potentially, other public sector bodies such as local authorities, further education colleges or universities. A total of £3,000,000 is available for the Creative local growth fund, with indicative budgets of £1,500,000 being available in 2015/16 and £1,500,000 in 2016/17. Applicants can apply for between £150,000 (minimum) and £500,000 (maximum). The kinds of activity funded could include:

• Skills development, apprenticeships and paid internship
• Innovation, research and development
• Partnerships with other sectors (private sector, higher and/or further education, other public agencies)
• Commercialisation of cultural products
• Building digital capacity
• SME and start-up business support
• Development of specific creative industry clusters and the role of the arts sector within them; etc.

For more information visit http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/apply-funding/apply-for-funding/creative-local-growth-fund/