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Creative Communities

Culture is a part of every community

Creative Communities is a new programme that aims to support and empower communities to develop cultural activities.

The programme will distribute up to £600,000 to support communities to develop new initiatives involving culture and creative arts for the period October 2020-June 2021.

In addition to investing in projects, Inspiring Scotland will provide a number of community organisations with development support to progress ideas to the point where they can be more fully funded over the course of a second year.

Creative Communities is funded jointly by the Scottish Government’s Culture and Justice directorates, and aims to extend opportunities for people to take part in culture throughout their lives.

Applications are open from July 1 until August 12.

About the programme

Creative Communities forms a key part of the Culture Strategy for Scotland, and is based on the belief that cultural activity has broad, interlinked benefits for people and communities.

We are looking to support communities to develop and implement programmes of cultural activity. Support will be focused on communities where social or geographical circumstances make engaging with cultural activities more challenging.

We expect to fund 10-15 initiatives requiring between £10,000 and £40,000, to be delivered between October 2020 and June 2021. There may be the option for funding to be renewed thereafter. We are also looking to support early-stage ideas which are not yet ready for implementation with seed funding and development support.

Read the Information and Guidance Notes for the programme here.

How to apply

A simple application process involving a short series of questions can be completed in written form or submitted as a video.

You are welcome to attach supporting materials (photos, videos, links) to help us understand the creative element of the proposal, but please remember that only ideas for new initiatives will be eligible.

To help you prepare your answers for online submission, the application questions, required budget template and guidance are provided here.

To request an application, please submit your details via the Expression of Interest form.

Eligible applicants will then receive a link to the application.

Further information

To find out more about applying to Creative Communities:

One-to-one information surgery sessions are available between July 8-30(daily Mon-Thu, various times). Book an appointment here.