Arts Council England (ACE) has made £160m of emergency funding available to organisations and individuals who will need it during the Covid-19 crisis.
It has also changed the funding requirements for individuals and organisations currently in receipt of funding.
Its statement reads: “We will offer individuals and organisations working in the cultural sector new financial support during this crisis, totalling £160m. We have re-purposed all our investment strands to be able to offer this support. These emergency funding streams will be open to applications very soon.”
It will make £90m available to its National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs). “We hope organisations will use this funding to reboot their creative work, but we also understand it may be required to alleviate financial pressures on NPOs,” the funder said.
It is making £50m available to organisations that are not in receipt of regular funding from the Arts Council. Organisations who have applied to National Lottery Project Grants are still able to apply for this support.
ACE will be making £20m available to individuals.
London Community Response Fund reached 3.2m
Funding for London’s civil society groups affected by Covid-19 has risen to £3.2m.
Three charitable foundations have pledged support for the Fund, building on the £1m contributed by the Mayor of London and £1m from City of London Corporation’s Charitable Funder, the City Bridge Trust.
John Lyon’s Charity has ring-fenced £500,000 towards the effort, £500,000 of funding has been announced by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and a further £200,000 has been contributed by the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust.
The fund now stands at £3.2m, with further funders expected to announce their contributions in the coming days, ahead of applications opening for civil society groups affected by the crisis to apply later in the week.
The fund, which will be coordinated by London Funders, will be available to organisations facing immediate financial pressures and uncertainty because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The new funding comes after more than 200 funders signed a statement showing their support to the sector at this time. The statement, coordinated by London Funders, has signatories from across the UK who can all be seen on its website.
Moira Sinclair, chief executive at Paul Hamlyn Foundation, said: “The voluntary sector is needed today more than ever before – to provide care and help manage isolation, to run food banks and offer shelter, to provide distraction for our children at home and advice for those most affected. London will simply not cope without these organisations, and funders and government need to come together to support their extraordinary effort. Paul Hamlyn Foundation is pleased to be joining our peers to do just that.”
Civil Society News has created a round-up of funding available to the charity sector during the Covid-19 crisis. This includes money pledged from individuals and groups.
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