An invitation…
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At the Arts Council, we’re proud to champion and invest in creativity and culture across the country. My job allows me the privilege to see first-hand what a difference the brilliant work of the cultural sector makes on people’s lives. In villages, towns, and cities everywhere, amazing things happen every single day, thanks to the talented people that represent our cultural workforce – from individual creatives, to large-scale theatres, and everything in between.
The vision in our strategy, Let’s Create, of providing access to high-quality cultural experiences for everyone, is central to how we work. We also believe that whoever you are, wherever you’re from, you should have the opportunity to be creative. But we need to work with, and invest in, people and organisations that feel the same way we do. That want to make a difference in every community, like we do.
Does that sound like your organisation? Then I have an invitation for you…
The National Portfolio for 2023 onwards
We work at a local and national level to make sure the investment we make is put to the best use. One of the major ways we do this is through our National Portfolio Organisations. We’ve just published information about the application process for our next National Portfolio, which will come into effect in April 2023. We are looking for organisations across the country to make up this portfolio, receiving multi-year investment to provide a backbone to England’s creative and cultural provision.
The information we’ve released today gives more detail around the timeline, who can apply, and how this new portfolio will help us deliver our strategy, Let’s Create.
An opportunity for your community
Our new National Portfolio is a huge opportunity: for us, and for the organisations that will join it. But mostly, for the communities we serve, by bringing creative and cultural access to as many people as we can. With this portfolio we’ll continue to move the dial on progress we’ve made so far: on balancing our investment across the country; on making sure the cultural sector we invest in is more representative of our nation; and on working with and investing in our talented freelance creative community.
If your organisation could help us do this, then you’re invited to take part. We want to hear from you.
I know that some people reading this post might have some doubts about what I’m saying: I’m not in the National Portfolio at the moment…. I’ve never heard of Arts Council before…. I applied for funding a while ago, but I don’t think it’s for me… Whatever your relationship with us, if your organisation makes a difference to lives through creativity and culture, then this could be an opportunity for you, so read on and visit the link below.
This is a new portfolio, driven by a new strategy, and we genuinely hope a much wider group of organisations will consider applying. However, we know that this won’t be the right investment for every organisation, and certainly not every organisation that applies will be successful – but we are encouraging you today to consider doing so. A good first port of call would be speaking to your Board and colleagues about this and considering the information we’ve published today.
Getting started and supporting you
Along with providing more detail on our new National Portfolio, the information we’ve published on our website today also highlights other funding opportunities that you might also be interested in. For example, National Lottery Project Grants, our rolling programme for specific project funding. This programme might be of interest to organisations who are more focused on working project to project. And it will be here for anyone that may not be successful in their application to the National Portfolio, too.
We don’t want there to be a single barrier for any organisation thinking about making an application. We have a full access support offer that people working in organisations with access needs might find helpful. We’re holding digital briefing sessions in November where anyone is welcome to come and find out more, along with further sessions in the new year once the full Guidance for Applicants is published. And our Customer Services team are here to answer your questions online, by phone or via email.
Everything you need is on the link below.
