Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund
Funding capital expenditure for existing Arts Council capital grant holders who can demonstrate a capital funding shortfall due to Covid-19.
Capital Kickstart
Key Information
Funding activity: Capital expenditure for existing Arts Council capital grant holders who can demonstrate that a capital funding shortfall – due to Covid-19 related increased costs, fundraising underperformance and/or an extended completion date – will have a detrimental impact on:
the delivery of the intended benefits outlined in their original application
financial resilience post-opening
Total fund: £55 million
Grant range: There is no upper limit for applications, but we expect the amount requested to be proportionate to – and not in excess of – the capital grant previously offered.
Applicant guidance
In the guidance you can find all of the information you need including the eligibility criteria, the application process and the questions and character counts in the application form.
About the programme
What is this funding for?
The Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund is part of the Government’s £1.57 billion package to protect the UK’s culture and heritage sectors from the economic impacts of Covid-19. £120 million of this funding has been allocated specifically for cultural capital investment via the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Kickstart will help existing capital grant holders who can demonstrate that a capital funding shortfall - due to Covid-19-related increased costs, fundraising underperformance and/or an extended completion date - will have a detrimental impact on delivering the intended project benefits outlined in their original application.
What is the budget for this fund?
Of the £120 million set aside for capital investment, we will be distributing £55 million via one application round of the Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund.
A further £65 million emergency capital investment is being distributed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Historic England. Please visit their websites for details of these funding programmes, including eligibility criteria.
Who is eligible for the Capital Kickstart fund?
We can only accept applications from existing capital grant holders that have received a capital grant from one of the stated strands (Small Capital Grants (£100,000 to £499,999); Stage Two award from Large Capital (£500,000 or over); Cultural Development Fund (Round One); Capital Grant in Aid).
Applicants will also have to demonstrate that:
- Their existing capital project had started by 1 April 2020
- They had not fully drawn down their existing capital grant on or before 10 September 2020
- They can make a valid first payment request no later than 30 April 2021
- They can make a valid last payment request no later than 30 April 2022