Culture Service - Flexible Fund 2020/21 - Diversity & Inclusion Fund Application Form

Overview

City of Edinburgh Council Flexible Fund: Diversity and Inclusion - Deadline for applications: Friday 3 April 2020

We would like to assure all potential applicants that the timeline of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Flexible Fund (Diversity & Inclusion) has not been affected by the current COVID-19 public health situation.

The applications should be submitted, and will be assessed, as per the published schedule. This will ensure the Fund is allocated as planned, and will assist the successful applicants - artists and arts-based practitioners and partnering organisations – to resource the development of their proposals.

The City of Edinburgh Council officers overseeing the application process can be contacted via email or phone to assist with submissions. Further information about the fund, including officers’ contact details, can be found below.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION FUND (Promoting BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) representation in Edinburgh’s arts and culture sector)

The City of Edinburgh Council has allocated resources to establish two cultural project funding opportunities beginning in February 2020 for projects developed in financial year 2020/21 - Diversity & Inclusion Fund (February 2020) and Arts & Health Fund (May 2020).

This funding has been allocated as a result of the city’s Culture Plan to deliver wider access to Council cultural funding opportunities and continues the Council’s core role in ensuring Edinburgh is a city of creative opportunities. Our cultural activity and offer continues to be a crucial contribution to the city’s success as an exceptional place to live and work.

As stated in the Action Plan agreed at the Culture and Communities Committee Meeting on 18 June 2019, the City of Edinburgh Council committed to promoting stronger collaboration, developing new partnerships and creating new funding streams for the culture sector in Edinburgh.

Reflecting recommendations of the Desire Lines Report, the Flexible Fund aims to ‘invest in artists’ development, and support and sustain the local artistic community’ as well as ‘support greater partnership working across the arts and culture sector enabling it to flourish year-round.’

In the light of the Creative Scotland’s recognition of ‘a major gap in BAME-led arts in Scotland’, the City of Edinburgh Council identified ethnicity as one of protected characteristics that lead to disadvantage across all service areas, arts and culture being no exception.

In line with the findings and recommendations of the City of Edinburgh Council Equality, Diversity and Rights Framework 2017-21: Interim Progress Report, 2017- 2019’, the Diversity & Inclusion Fund has been developed to ‘advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic,’ (in that context ethnicity other than Scottish/British White).

Finally, in response to feedback from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic artists and creatives based in Edinburgh which has highlighted a lack of diversity and representation in mainstream programming and cultural offering, this fund seeks to make inroads into addressing underrepresentation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic artists and creatives in our city.

Who can apply?

• Projects involving Edinburgh-based artists and practitioners and taking place within the City of Edinburgh boundary, with Edinburgh-based partners. 

• Partnership working is a City and Culture Plan funding priority therefore applicants will be expected to place an emphasis on this in any submission. This can be both in cash and/or in kind.

• A charitable/not for profit status organisation must be the lead project partner to allow the release of any potential grant award.

• A CEC revenue funded Strategic Partner organisation or Grouping cannot lead on an application or directly receive project grant funding.  They can, however be involved as a partner in any application.  For example, a venue may act as host or a company provide in-kind support. A list of CEC Strategic Partner organisations and Groupings can be found in the Related Documents section. 

• Only one application per organisation can be considered. 

• Please note that the same project cannot be considered for both funds (ie Diversity & Inclusion Fund and the Arts & Health Fund).

The Culture Plan vision is that “city partners work together to keep culture and creativity at the heart of Edinburgh’s success”.  Further information on the vision can be accessed through the Council’s Business Plan.

Purpose

Grants will be awarded to projects that promote greater collaboration between minority ethnic artists/practitioners and Edinburgh-based cultural organisations. Projects should reach, involve, benefit and engage BAME artists/creative practitioners and cultural organisations based in Edinburgh.

The fund is intended to support projects and activities, including professional development, production development and cultural events, that utilise one or multiple art forms, such as visual and performing arts (music, dance, spoken word and theatre), film, digital arts, literature and poetry, to promote greater collaboration between BAME artists and creatives and cultural organisations in Edinburgh.

Funds Available

A total budget of £100,000 is available offering 6 grant awards of up to £5,000, 3 grant awards of up to £10,000 and 2 grant awards of up to £20,000 for projects developed in financial year 2020/21.

Applicants should apply for the exact amount needed for their project and will not automatically be awarded the maximum available and the awards panel reserves the right to offer an amount different to that requested. 

Please read the application guidelines before completing the form. 

Funding application submission deadline: Friday 3 April 2020 (23:59 GMT). Late applications will not be accepted.  

NB: Successful applicants receiving £10,000 and over will be subject to having their grant split into two payment - (70% on receipt of signed funding agreement paperwork and 30% following the submission and approval of an update report on completion of project).  You will be advised w/b 27 April if your application has been successful or not by email. Payments to successful applicants are envisaged to be made within 6-8 weeks from the date of notification of grant award.

Criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• an imaginative and/or experimental creative concept;
• confirmed partnerships and quality of project management;
• practical involvement of BAME artists and creative practitioners and/or genuine engagement of the city’s (BAME) communities.

Priorities

1. Demonstrable BAME artist/practitioner and/or community involvement;
2. Creative concept; and
3. Partnership working - a City and Culture Plan funding priority.

For more information regarding this fund and exclusions can be found in the Guidance Notes. 

Before starting this application, please download a blank PDF application form for your preview.  Please also download the Application Guidelines, the Council's Standard Conditions of Grant, Part B of the Application Form (Budget) spreadsheet and the Equal Oppoortunities Monitoring Form.  Links to the Council's Culture Plan, Business Plan and Privacy Notice are also available below in the Related section.

What happens next

Once you have completed this application form, budget template and Equal Opportunities Monitoring Forms, you are required to download and email these documents (signed and scanned).  In light of the current recommendation to socially distance, handwritten signatures on the printed copies of the application forms are no longer required. Typed in signatures are sufficient.  Please send all your paperwork to: culturaldevelopment@edinburgh.gov.uk by 3 April 2020 (GMT 23:59).  Part B of the Application Form (Budget) and the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form are available for downloading in the Related section below.

Privacy Notice

To deliver Council services we need to collect, store, use, share and dispose of personal information. This is known as data processing.

When we collect personal data, we must tell you why we need it, and what we will do with it. This information is called a privacy notice.

The Privacy Notice link (located in Related section below) takes you directly to the City of Edinburgh Council’s privacy notice.  Here we explain how we process your personal information as a Council.