We’re over the moon to announce that we have been awarded multi-year funding from @creativescots !!!
This will help us to plan for the future in ways we have never managed to before, to build on recent successes like our Adopt a Piano scheme and to help us one day find a permanent home for the Pianodrome Amphitheatre in Edinburgh.
Huge credit must go to Creative Scotland for recognising the potential of small cultural organisations to make huge positive impacts.
Creative Scotland have done great work advocating on behalf of artists and culture and we’re chuffed to bits to have this core funding secured for the next three years.
Over the last 7 years we have developed from project to project; articulating new ideas, saving over 600 pianos from landfill, working with hundreds of artists and welcoming tens of thousands of participants into to our community-focused interactive spaces.
Thank you to the local and international communities who have supported and believed in the Pianodrome thus far.
We’ll continue to strive towards our conviction that no piano is junk, and no person is unmusical!
More than £60 million for pilot projects focusing on essential services and eradicating child poverty
A new Fairer Funding pilot to deliver on the Scottish Government’s top priority of eradicating child poverty will provide additional multi-year funding in the form of 45 grants to organisations across Scotland.
The funding, subject to budget approval, will support projects in areas including health, education, poverty and culture and have a total value of £61.7 million in 2025-26 and £63.2 million in 2026- 27.
Speaking on her visit today to the Gathering, the largest third sector event in the UK, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “I know many charities, faced with rising costs and falling donations, need more security and stability to enable them to plan and develop.
“Child poverty, in particular, requires longer-term interventions to help achieve the solutions we want to see. For that, the third sector needs financial stability and certainty. That’s why I have prioritised delivering on our commitment to provide more multi-year funding where we can to support the vital work of the third sector in Scotland, as part of our fairer funding approach.
“The pilot is the first step in mainstreaming multi-year funding agreements more widely across the third sector. It will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of their resources.
“The pilot’s focus on grants connected to tackling child poverty and the delivery of frontline services to our communities will maximise the impact of longer term funding and support the delivery of our number one priority, eradicating child poverty.”
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said: “The voluntary sector has a crucial role to play in delivering essential services across Scotland that people and communities rely on.
Multi-year funding models are vital, providing security to voluntary organisations and, crucially, allowing them to get on and deliver for people and communities.
“We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to piloting multi-year funding for a range of voluntary organisations across Scotland – a first step, we hope, towards rolling out Fair Funding principles to voluntary sector funding.”
Organisations to receive multi-year funding for 2025/26 and 2026/27
Social Justice
Scottish Refugee Council
Scottish Empty Homes Partnership
Homeless Network Scotland
Housing Options Scotland
Poverty Alliance
CentreStage – Social Innovation Partnership
COVEY – Social Innovation Partnership
Flexibility Works – Social Innovation Partnership
Heavy Sound – Social Innovation Partnership
MsMissMrs – Social Innovation Partnership
Street Soccer – Social Innovation Partnership
WorkingRite – Social Innovation Partnership
MCR Pathways
Economy and Gaelic
Scottish Mountain Rescue
Constitution, External Affairs and Culture
Youth Music Initiative
Sistema Scotland
Health and Social Care
Cruse Scotland Bereavement Helpline
Penumbra Self-harm support pilots
BASICS Funding PHEC BASICS Scotland
The Listening Service Samaritans
Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults
Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Management
Autism Advice Line Scottish Autism
Young Scot Carer support funding
Active Play Development Programme Inspiring Scotland
Active Play Development Programme Actify
Community Food Networks Edinburgh Community Food
Community Food Networks Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership
Community Food Networks Community Food Initiative North East
Community Food Networks Glasgow Community Food Network
Drugs Policy: Core Funding Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs
Drugs Policy: Family Recovery Initiative Fund Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder FASD Hub Scotland Service
Finance and Local Government
Planning Aid Scotland
Education and Skills
Dyslexia Scotland
Children’s Advocacy for Children’s Hearings
Who Cares Scotland
Inspiring Scotland
Children in Scotland Enquire National Advice and Information Service on Additional Support for Learning
Scottish Book Trust Bookbug
Access to Childcare Fund
Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators
Justice and Home Affairs
Victim Centred Approach Fund
Apex Scotland
Medics Against Violence
These pilots are in addition to the multi-year funding announced last week by Creative Scotland, which has been funded as part of a record £34 million uplift for culture in the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget.
A record number of cultural organisations to receive stable, year-on-year funding to deliver culture and creativity for Scotland’s people
All organisations currently funded by Creative Scotland to receive a significant uplift after years of standstill funding
An additional 141 organisations will receive a multi-year funding commitment for the first time
Significant increase in community-focused organisations being supported, alongside established cultural organisations, better representing Scotland’s geography and diversity
Overall funding to the portfolio will increase further in 2026/27
This cultural shift has been made possible thanks to a significant budget commitment from the Scottish Government
Today, Thursday 30 January 2025, in a significant moment for culture in Scotland, Creative Scotland has announced the largest portfolio of cultural organisations ever to be supported on a multi-year basis.
The recent uplift in Grant-in-Aid funding from the Scottish Government, releasing the largest budget ever available to Creative Scotland, enables more than £200m in support to be provided to 251 organisations over the next three years.
Further to this, 13 other organisations, will be supported by a £3.2m Development Fund, with a view to them joining the Multi-Year Funding portfolio in 2026/27.
Over half of the organisations in the portfolio are being offered a multi-year funding commitment for the first time, reaching more parts of Scotland, and more parts of our society, than ever before.
Those organisations which have an existing regular funding relationship with Creative Scotland will receive an average uplift of 34% in their funding in 2025/26, increasing to an average of 54% from 2026/27, bringing certainty and stability.
North Edinburgh Arts is one of the organisations to receive three year funding. They said: ‘We are delighted to share that North Edinburgh Arts has been awarded Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland! We are looking forward to re-opening our venue in the coming weeks, so the confirmation of Multi-Year Funding has come at the ideal time.
“NEA’s venue is owned, used, and loved by our community. The stability of long-term funding will allow us to plan with confidence and make a real difference for the hundreds of artists, participants, volunteers, and visitors coming through our door.”
Hidden Door also received good news. They announced: “We’re proud to be one of 13 organisations to receive Creative Scotland development funding with a view to joining their Multi-Year Funding portfolio in 2026
This is a huge vote of confidence in our support for emerging artists, connecting audiences with inspirational cultural experiences.
‘We’re acutely aware of the challenges facing the creative sector, and we know that not everyone will have received good news today. But we warmly congratulate all those who secured funding, and we look forward to collaborating with many more wonderful projects in the years to come.’
Together, the organisations in this portfolio deliver cultural and creative work of quality, breadth and depth to audiences across Scotland and internationally and the portfolio is more representative of Scotland’s geography, diversity, people and communities than ever before. All this underlines Scotland’s reputation as a thriving creative nation where culture is valued and developed for all.
Importantly, the portfolio also provides significant support to Scotland’s local and national economy, through direct employment, by creating opportunities for freelancers, and by supporting individual artists and creative practitioners of all types.
Robert Wilson, Chair of Creative Scotlandsaid: “This is an extremely positive moment for culture in Scotland, bringing with it a renewed sense of stability and certainty to Scotland’s culture sector.
“Thanks to the vote of confidence in the culture sector, demonstrated by the recently announced budget from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland can offer stable, year-on-year funding to more organisations than ever before.
“I’m particularly pleased that this funding will increase further from next year, enabling even more fantastic artistic and creative work to be developed here in Scotland.
“Stable, long-term funding for as many organisations as possible is the underlying principle of the Multi-Year Funding programme, and we are delighted to be able to bring it to fruition.
“This funding means that we are able to bring so many new, community focused organisations into the portfolio, while also providing significant increases to those more established organisations which have been on standstill, regular funding for so many years.
“I’m also very pleased to be able to offer 13 further organisations significant amounts of development funding, to enable them to come into the portfolio in its second year.
“This signals a significant moment of positive change for Scotland’s cultural community, and I hope that, after the deeply challenging time of the pandemic, and the difficulties that have faced the sector in the subsequent years, that now is the time that we can look forward with confidence and the Scottish culture sector can get on with what it does best, producing outstanding art and creativity for everyone to enjoy.”
Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for Culturesaid: “This is a foundational moment for culture and the arts in Scotland. More organisations than ever, in more parts of the country will benefit from the stability of Multi-Year Funding with the number of funded organisations more than doubling, from 119 to 251.
“Funded as part of a record £34 million increase for culture in the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget, this significant increase in both the number of funded organisations, and the level of grant funding they will receive, has the potential to be truly transformational. It secures the future of key cultural organisations of all sizes across Scotland, which are major assets to our communities and our economy, supporting thousands of jobs and creating new opportunities for freelancers, artists and other creative practitioners.
“It means 251 culture organisations across Scotland, from Argyll and Bute to Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar, and the Borders, will receive Multi-Year Funding from April this year and a further 13 have the possibility of doing so from 2026-27.
“I am also reassured that the remaining unsuccessful applicants will all be offered bespoke support from Creative Scotland to adapt their business models.”
Following the ministerial statement in the Scottish Parliament, Labour Lothians MSP Foysol Choudhury welcomed the funding: “This funding decision is a step forward for Scotland’s cultural community. It reflects the collective determination of local groups, artists, and advocates who have worked tirelessly to highlight the importance of the arts in our society.
“I am proud to have played a role in advocating for multi-year funding, and I hope this provides some temporary relief to the culture sector. Festivals have struggled with standstill government funding for years, stunting their growth. The culture sector should not just be fighting for its survival.”
The list of organisations being awarded Multi-Year Funding, and their award for the next three years, is available on our website.
The list of organisations being offered development funding, and their conditional award for the next three years, is also available on our website.
Following discussions with the Scottish Government throughout the Multi-Year process, we have now received confirmation that Creative Scotland’s budget to enable Multi-Year decisions will not be clarified until the overall Scottish Government draft budget announcement, scheduled for 04 December 2024.
As a result, the outcome from the Multi-Year Funding programme is being postponed until the end of January 2025. This is a revision to the published guidance.
281 applications to the programme, with an annual ask of £87.5m, are currently being assessed as part of Stage 2 of the published process. Final decisions on the level of support we will be able to provide to successful organisations will be made once we have budget clarity.
The National Lottery reserves that we hold, currently £11m, remain allocated to support Transition Funding from April 2025 for organisations currently in receipt of ongoing funding from Creative Scotland but are unsuccessful in their application for Multi-Year Funding.
Robert Wilson, Chair of Creative Scotland, said: “While we would have preferred to announce the outcome from this application process in October as planned and have been working collaboratively with Scottish Government to endeavour to do so, we also understand the extreme budget pressures that exist.
“These pressures mean we are required to postpone the outcome until such time as we have budget clarity. This will enable us to make final decisions in a context of budget confidence and to support as many organisations on a multi-year basis as we possibly can.”
Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, said: “The cultural sector is an integral part of our identity as a country. This is why we’re working hard to help the sector to fulfil its potential in Scotland by assuring at least £100 million more annually in funding by 2028-29.
“We await the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget announcement on 30 October which has a hugely significant bearing on the Scottish budget. Following that we will be able to set detailed budgets for the coming financial year including for the culture sector.
“I will continue to work in collaboration with Creative Scotland and the sector over the coming months to ensure stability until Creative Scotland have sufficient clarity to be able to announce the recipients of their multi-year funding awards.”
