Call for new applications as Lothians benefit from over £2.8 million in business/arts partnership funding

Cultural organisations across Edinburgh and the Lothians are being urged to get their funding applications in now as a pioneering programme that promotes collaboration between Scottish business and culture celebrates a decade of success, investing more than £2.8 million across 175 individual arts and heritage projects in the Lothians.

Funded by the Scottish Government via Creative Scotland and run by Arts and Business Scotland, the New Arts Sponsorship Grants programme has been running since 2006. The programme is open to Scottish businesses interested in sponsoring an arts or heritage project for the first time as well as businesses that may have sponsored such projects in the past but not in the past three years. Cultural organisations having identified a business sponsor for their project can apply for funding from the programme, which provides pound for pound match funding of business sponsorship valued anywhere between £1,000 and £40,000.

By effectively doubling the financial impact of the business sponsorship, the New Arts Sponsorship Grants programme has helped a wide variety of arts and heritage projects across the Lothians get off the ground.

One such project was a partnership between IDEOMS Theatre Company and food company Macsween of Edinburgh which, in 2014, successfully brought the true story of haggis, its origins, its evolution and its relevance in 21^st Century Scotland to an Edinburgh Festival Fringe audience.

Thanks to sponsorship from Macsween, matched pound for pound by funding from the New Arts Sponsorship Grants Programme, “HAGGIS HAGGIS HAGGIS – The True Story” was able to push creative boundaries and bring the story behind Scotland’s national dish to a brand new audience, creating a lasting legacy for both partners.

Speaking about her experience, Administrator at IDEOMS Theatre Company, Viv Ross, said: “We loved the fact that some of the Macsween staff who came along had never experienced the Fringe before or had never even been to a theatre.  Overall, this was a very positive and beneficial experience for IDEOMS. We now have the experience of working with a business sponsor and I’d certainly hope other theatre companies like IDEOMS give it a go to help them develop their experience, to reach new audiences, make new press contacts and take some creative risks.”

Chief Executive of Arts and Business Scotland David Watt said: “Over the last decade since the programme started, we’re delighted to have generated more than £2.8 million of public and private investment to help make around 175 individual cultural and heritage projects happen across the Lothians.

“These projects span everything from theatre and art to comedy and dance. They have involved collaboration with businesses from construction to hospitality and from financial services to food and drink.

“Looking back over the past decade, this programme clearly demonstrates the mutual benefits of successful partnership between arts and business. For any cultural organisation in the Lothians looking to make their project happen during 2017, now is the time to be thinking about those local businesses that might benefit from getting involved in cultural sponsorship. Please get your funding applications in to the New Arts Sponsorship Grants programme now and I’m sure we will make 2017 another year to remember for arts and business collaboration in the Lothians.”

Applications for project funding must be made by the arts or heritage partner and submitted at least three months before the cultural activity begins. The project receiving funding must be completed no more than nine months after the date of submitting a funding application. Only businesses that have not sponsored an arts or heritage project in the last three financial years are eligible to take part – as well as those businesses that are completely new to cultural sponsorship.