Tag: heritage

Emergency funding for culture

Small movie theater

Creative Scotland has published details of the Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund, the first of five emergency funds to be delivered over the coming weeks. 

The Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund is a £3.5million fund from the Scottish Government. The aim of the Fund is to help secure the survival of Scotland’s independent cinemas, enabling them to re-establish and adjust their business models in response to Covid-19.

The fund addresses the critical financial need faced by Scotland’s independent cinemas to enable them to return to full-time operation, significantly reducing the risk of wide-spread redundancies and closure of vital community assets.  

Guidelines for applying to the Fund have now been published ahead opening for applications on Monday 14 September.  

Sambrooke Scott, Head of Audience Development at Screen Scotland said: “We very much welcome the First Minister’s recent announcement of £31.5m in emergency funding for culture in Scotland and are pleased, as part of that, to be able to quickly offer £3.5m of that funding to support Scotland’s independent cinemas.  

“These cinemas not only present a broad range of high-quality creative programming to a varied audience, but they also serve as community hubs in geographically diverse parts of Scotland, including some of our more remote places.  

“This fund will offer a vital lifeline to those independent cinemas which have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, helping them to return to full-time operation and protect jobs.” 

The Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund is the first of five new emergency funds to be delivered by Creative Scotland over the coming weeks as follows: 

  • The £15m Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund will support organisations that provide opportunities for cultural engagement and who have been unable to trade due to the impact of Covid-19. It includes both organisations who provide opportunities for audience engagement (such as galleries, performing arts spaces, commercial theatres, comedy clubs and nightclubs) as well as those that enable and deliver cultural activity (such as production facilities, music and dance companies). Eligibility criteria and guidelines for applying are currently in development and will be published on Thursday 10 September. The fund will open for applications on Thursday 17 September and awards will be made by the first week in November.  
  • The £5m Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund will address the current financial hardship being felt by creative freelancers who normally work in the culture sector, but whose work has been impacted by Covid-19. We are currently working to appoint partners to ensure a wide spread of coverage of this fund and we anticipate opening for applications from early October. 
  • The £5m Sustaining Creative Practice Fund will support artists to continue developing new creative work that will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19. This includes £1.5 million for the Culture Collective programme, mentioned in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, supporting organisations employing freelance artists to work in and with communities across Scotland. The remaining £3.5m will be added to Creative Scotland’s existing open fund which is open for applications from individuals now.  
  • The £3m Youth Arts Fund will ensure creative opportunities for children and young people continue to exist across Scotland despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund will include targeted and open funding to youth music and wider youth arts organisations, a scheme to devolve grants locally to artists who work with young people and small grants delivered directly to young people to support them fulfil their creative ambitions. 

Details of all funds will be published on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications. 

Emergency funding for culture and heritage organisations

Culture and heritage sectors are to benefit from a £59 million funding package to protect jobs and help the industry weather the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

A new £15 million Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund will provide critical support to a range of businesses such as art galleries, studio facilities, comedy venues, large music venues, commercial theatres, orchestras, dance companies and nightclubs.

It will help to reduce the threat of insolvency, protect jobs and create conditions for a more viable and sustainable future for the sector.

The funding also includes £21.3 million for Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to protect jobs and support the reopening of properties in their care.

An additional £5.9 million will be made available to support heritage organisations through committed grants, and £270,000 for the New Lanark Trust (above) will help secure the future of one of Scotland’s six World Heritage Sites.

The package also includes:

  • £5 million to address the immediate financial hardship faced by creative freelancers
  • £5 million to support artists to continue developing new creative work that will make a significant contribution to Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19, including £1.5 million for the Culture Collective programme to support organisations employing freelance artists to work in communities across Scotland
  • £3.5 million for independent cinemas
  • £3 million for youth arts including a funding boost for the Youth Music Initiative which will provide work for musicians

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “It’s been an extremely trying time for everyone in the culture and heritage sectors over the last few months. The major issues presented by the pandemic are not going away but as we slowly start to reopen, this funding will provide much needed emergency support and aid the recovery.

“We have taken time to work closely with and listen carefully to the sectors, to understand exactly what they need. We want to reach as many people as possible and I do believe these funds will make a marked difference in ensuring our culture and heritage sectors not only survive the pandemic but thrive in future.

“As extensive as this package of support is, we know there will still be more needed. Culture and heritage are vitally important to all of our lives in Scotland, at this time more than ever. Without significant borrowing powers, there is only so much the Scottish Government can do.  I urge the UK Government to consider extending the furlough scheme, to ensure longer term support as we continue to navigate this crisis.”

Iain Munro, Creative Scotland Chief Executive, said: “We very much welcome this significant announcement of much needed emergency support. This follows a great deal of work involving Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government, but also many people and organisations from across Scotland’s cultural community.

“We appreciate the challenges that everyone working in culture is facing and are pleased to now be able to offer some clarity. Creative Scotland will continue to work at pace to deliver this emergency funding to where it’s needed as quickly as possible.”

The culture funds will be delivered through Creative Scotland and follows on from the previously announced £12.5 million Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund and £2.2 million support for Grassroots Music Venues. It comes as part of the £97 million in UK Government consequentials for the culture and heritage sectors.

Creative Scotland are establishing the details of the funds and how they can be accessed. More information will be made available next week.

Funding that has been announced so far to support the culture and heritage sectors includes:

  • £10 million funding package for events
  • £4 million Museums Recovery and Resilience Fund
  • £3.8 million to protect jobs at the National Trust for Scotland
  • £12.5 million Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund
  • £2.2 million for Grassroots Music Venues

Edinburgh Printmakers wins RICS Project of the Year

RICS (Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors) has announced the winners of the inaugural RICS Social Impact Awards for Scotland – and Edinburgh Printmakers has won the esteemed title of Project of the Year.

35 construction projects, who’s entries celebrate the role of property professionals in transforming Scottish communities and the everyday lives of people, were shortlisted back in February.

Eight projects have now been successful as category winners, with Edinburgh Printmakers selected by judges as Project of the Year.

The awards – which are supporting The Prince’s Trust campaign to get more young people into construction – were launched earlier this year to find the best examples of developments delivering economic, social or environmental improvements for their communities; therefore, recognising the real estate industry’s vital role in society.

All of the Scottish winners were announced in a digital awards ceremony revealed by RICS this afternoon. They are:

  • PROJECT OF THE YEAR: EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS
  • Commercial: TECA – creating a world-class events and leisure complex
  • Education: University of Glasgow Campus Development
  • Healthcare: Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice
  • Heritage: Edinburgh Printmakers
  • Infrastructure: Glenrothes Energy Network
  • Leisure: The Fraser Centre
  • Residential: North Sighthill Regeneration
  • Student Accommodation: Baird’s Close Two

The new home of Edinburgh Printmakers is located within what was once the HQ of the North British Rubber Company (NBRC) in Fountainbridge. The NBRC building is the only surviving structure from the once large and important nineteenth century Castle Mills industrial complex.

The project involved the redevelopment of this derelict building into a multi-use arts complex centred around printmaking production. The approach of the project team involved “making precise contemporary interventions to facilitate the new use while respecting the character and story of the existing building”.

RICS Social Impact Awards Head Judge for Scotland, Colin Smith (Turley Head of Planning, Scotland), commented: “The Edinburgh Printmakers project has saved and creatively adapted one of the last vestiges of the industrial and social history of Fountainbridge, the former headquarters of the North British Rubber Factory.

“The project has ingeniously inserted a range of public facing new uses into the building, respecting its fabric, character and heritage, and done so in a way that provides access for all throughout and which opens the building out to engage with its emerging surroundings. It is a multi-faceted gem.”

He continued: “The built environment is an integral part of the Scottish economy but also makes a positive impact on our everyday lives. In these challenging times, it is warming to reflect on these winning projects, and how they are not only a demonstration of the breadth of talent within the profession, but showcase how buildings can make towns and cities across the country more inclusive and deliver communities which people can be proud of.”

The Great Tapestry of Scotland: Welcome Panel Tour

Visitors and residents across Scotland are being given a unique opportunity to become part of Scotland’s history, heritage and culture for generations to come through The Great Tapestry of Scotland: Welcome Panel Tour.

The programme of events will give people the chance to work with some of the country’s leading textile artists and add a stitch or two to the new welcome panels for the major new national visitor attraction housing the Great Tapestry of Scotland (one of the world’s most significant pieces of modern textile artistry).

The tour will take place across Scotland throughout 2020 at a variety of iconic historic properties, leading cultural venues, care homes and other venues that promote social inclusion in Scotland.

A range of venues for the tour have already been revealed in Aberdeen, Glasgow and the Scottish Borders and more will be confirmed later in the year.

When complete, the new Welcome to Scotland’s Story panels will be permanently displayed at the entrance to the Great Tapestry of Scotland’s £6.7 million purpose built interactive visitor centre, which opens in 2021 in the historic town of Galashiels (in the heart of Scotland’s premier textile region, the Scottish Borders).

Those who contribute a stitch will also be given the chance to have their names recorded in history as a contributor to the Tapestry’s visitor centre.

Recently appointed Great Tapestry of Scotland Centre Director Sandy Maxwell-Forbes said: “Telling the people’s story of Scotland and making this story accessible to everyone has always been at the heart of the Great Tapestry of Scotland, so we’re incredibly excited to be giving those who live in Scotland, and those visitors who love our country so much, an opportunity to stitch their name in Scotland’s history through our new Welcome Panel Tour.

We would like to thank all the venues and event organisers throughout Scotland who are making this this possible.

“In keeping with the Great Tapestry of Scotland’s ethos, it is vital that as many people as possible have an opportunity to contribute to the panels. As part of the tour, we’re taking the Welcome Panels directly to venues, such care homes, to remove some of the barriers that some individuals face to accessing such significant cultural projects. We will add more venues throughout the year.”

Many of the stories told through the Great Tapestry of Scotland, which was completed in 2013, have strong ties to the history, heritage and culture that can be experienced first hand on a visit to Scotland.

Building on this and, continuing the Tapestry’s ethos to tell the people’s story of Scotland, the new Welcome to Scotland’s Story panels will tell some of the true stories linked to the visitor centre’s new home in Scotland’s premier textile region, The Scottish Borders.

The panels will feature a reiver, a shepherd, a monk, a mill worker and a fisher lass. By the time they are complete, it is hoped that over 1,000 different people from across Scotland and beyond will have contributed to them.

The 21st Lady of Traquair, Catherine Maxwell Stuart, who is hosting the Welcome Panel Tour on 9 and 10 May said: “We are looking forward to the Great Tapestry of Scotland having a permanent home in the Scottish Borders where we hope it will draw visitors from far and wide to appreciate this outstanding cultural achievement.

“Over 900 years Traquair has witnessed extraordinary events in Scotland’s history, so we know only too well how important it is to hear Scotland’s stories as told by Scotland’s people. With our own strong heritage of textile and embroideries it is wonderful to see these unique traditions being carried on to the 21st century.

“We are delighted to be part of the Welcome Panel tour with this wonderful team of textile artists giving residents and visitors to Scotland in 2020 an opportunity to part of this story.”

Linda Wigley, Operations Director at Floors Castle, which is hosting the tour on 2 and 3 May 2020, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting the Great Tapestry of Scotland’s Welcome Panel tour.

“It is an incredible opportunity for people visiting Scotland to learn first hand from some of Scotland’s greatest textile artists and to firmly root themselves in Scotland’s history, heritage and culture for generations to come.”

Giles Ingram, Chief Executive of Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott, which will host the panels on Saturday 30 May 2020, said: “We are really looking forward to the opening of the Great Tapestry of Scotland.  

“It’s a wonderful new attraction for the Borders that will engage visitors with its depiction of Scottish people, places and events, many of which were very important to Sir Walter Scott and his stories.

“Abbotsford is delighted to be a part of the tapestry’s story today and to give our visitors an opportunity to make their mark on an important piece of Scottish cultural history.”

Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Member for Business and Economic Development, Councillor Mark Rowley, added: “I’m delighted the Welcome Panel Tour will take in some of the exceptional venues we have in the Scottish Borders, highlighting both the region’s significant textile heritage and the vibrancy of today’s artists, makers and manufacturers.

“Its tour of Scotland is an opportunity to remind people of this great artwork and alert people across the country to the fantastic new home for the Tapestry currently being created in Galashiels.”

For more information or to book tickets for the Great Tapestry of Scotland Welcome Panel Tour visit scottishtapestry.com or follow @GreatTapestrySc on Facebook or Twitter, and @GreatTapestryScotland on Instagram.

Pictures: Phil Wilkinson

Digital fundraising toolkit launched

A new interactive digital toolkit has been unveiled to help people working in Scotland’s heritage sector to develop their fundraising skills. The launch follows the conclusion earlier this year of a four-year training programme, “Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage” (RSH), specifically designed to build up knowledge and skills in fundraising within the heritage sector.

Led by independent charity Arts & Business Scotland in partnership with Archaeology Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland, greenspace scotland and Museums Galleries Scotland, the RSH programme was funded by The National Lottery and successfully delivered fundraising training and advice to 804 individuals from more than 519 heritage organisations throughout Scotland between its launch in 2014 and its conclusion in March 2018.

A key legacy from the RSH programme, the new “Inspiring Fundraising” digital toolkit is an online resource that encapsulates many key elements of the training delivered through the RSH programme, using a combination of films, animations and case studies in a range of accessible formats, including British Sign Language and audio-description. It offers users a step-by-step guide to effective fundraising, from understanding the principles of fundraising to developing and implementing a successful fundraising strategy.

Covering everything from crowdfunding to legacies, writing a case for support to creating a charitable trust, the toolkit also provides access to a variety of sources of further information, training and advice. It has been made possible through expert input from a wide variety of organisations from across Scotland’s heritage sector, including Abbotsford Trust, Glasgow Women’s Library, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Dundee Heritage Trust.

Coinciding with the launch, hosted at historic Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, the partners behind the RSH programme have also released the findings of a major new report into the current funding landscape for Scotland’s heritage sector.

Entitled “The State of Heritage Funding Now”, the specially commissioned report highlights the ‘double whammy’ effect of decreasing lottery funding as a result of declining National Lottery ticket sales and a fall in local government budgets for cultural and related services, which is compelling heritage organisations to look elsewhere for alternative sources of funding.

Despite this trend, the new research shows a continued strong reliance by the heritage sector on grant and lottery funding with only a third of heritage organisations surveyed currently sourcing any funding from corporate support and levels of corporate support remaining broadly static within the sector over the past four years.

The report suggests that the RSH programme has played an important role in improving fundraising skills within Scotland’s heritage sector over this period but that many organisations still struggle to find the time and capacity to 1implement effective fundraising strategies.

The report has been drawn up following extensive desk research, face-to-face consultation with more than 40 heritage sector stakeholder organisations and a detailed survey completed by more than 160 organisations from across Scotland’s heritage sector.

It concludes with a series of 20 individual recommendations aimed at developing a more comprehensive picture of funding in the Scottish heritage sector and placing future funding of the sector on a more sustainable long-term footing.

Commenting on the launch of the “Inspiring Fundraising” digital toolkit, Head of Programmes at Arts & Business Scotland Carl Watt said: “Running over the past four years, Resourcing Scotland’s Heritage was a hugely successful training programme for the Scottish heritage sector.

“Following its conclusion, the partners wanted to create a long-term legacy in the form of an online resource that heritage organisations can continue to access in the future as a means of further building up organisational knowledge and skills around fundraising.

“It’s great to be hosting the launch of the new toolkit here at Rosslyn Chapel, representing as it does so many different aspects of Scotland’s hugely varied heritage sector, from archaeology and the historic built environment to green space, museum curation and arts heritage. With diminishing funds coming from traditional grant and lottery sources, this is a critical time for the heritage sector to explore ways of tapping into alternative sources of funding. I’m sure this digital toolkit will be a really valuable resource to help Scottish heritage organisations to achieve that.”

Ian Gardner, Director of the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, commented: “The funding landscape for heritage organisations such as Rosslyn Chapel is changing quickly as traditional sources of funding diminish and we look for ways to access alternatives such as corporate support, partnerships with business and legacy giving.

“This new digital toolkit will be invaluable in giving our team a wealth of practical advice on all aspects of fundraising in a format that is accessible and easy to digest.”

Lucy Casot, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: “Thanks to players of the National Lottery, hundreds of heritage organisations across Scotland have learned skills which are vital to secure and grow their business.

“This new digital toolkit will allow many hundreds more to benefit from that learning, strengthening the sustainability and longevity of the heritage sector.”

£650,000 invested in Scottish culture in business partnership programme’s first year

A Scottish Government-funded programme designed to encourage closer collaboration between the arts and heritage sectors and Scotland’s business community has generated almost £650,000 of investment in cultural projects during its first year.  Continue reading £650,000 invested in Scottish culture in business partnership programme’s first year

Launching Edinburgh’s Shoreline regeneration, naturally

 

Schools, community groups and individuals who care about the local environment and heritage are being invited to join together and regenerate natural habitats along Edinburgh’s 27km coastline from Port Edgar to Joppa. By connecting with scientists and conservationists in the new Shoreline project everyone who lives, works or plays in the area will have the chance to celebrate the area’s relationship with the sea and the plants and animals to be found along the coast. Continue reading Launching Edinburgh’s Shoreline regeneration, naturally

Scottish arts and heritage “missing out on £millions in untapped legacy funding”

With sources of public funding under ongoing pressure, Scotland’s arts and heritage sectors could be missing out on millions of pounds of fundraising potential in the form of individual legacy giving, legacy fundraising expert Richard Radcliffe (above) has warned. Continue reading Scottish arts and heritage “missing out on £millions in untapped legacy funding”

Time running out to find Edinburgh’s ‘Heritage Angels’

Nominations will soon close for the Scottish Heritage Angels Awards 2017, and groups and individuals – or ‘Angels’ – from Edinburgh who have played a special part in caring for, recording and celebrating  the nation’s historic environment are being urged to enter before the deadline of Friday 11th August. Continue reading Time running out to find Edinburgh’s ‘Heritage Angels’