Grants of up to £15,000 are now available to support the development or growth of festivals and events via UK Shared Prosperity Funding.
Herefordshire Council have been allocated £7.3m to help improve pride in place and increase life chances, investing in communities and place, supporting local business, people and skills over the next three years.
One of the first grant schemes to become available is support festival and events, building on the county’s fantastic tourism and cultural offer as a fantastic place to visit, live or work.
Roger Allonby, Service Director for Economy, said: “We have engaged with a number of key stakeholders in developing our plans, ensuring our selected focus for investment is evidence based and demonstrates local needs, challenges and opportunities.
“One of the key elements of the UKSPF is providing grants to festivals and events to support performing arts, the live event sector, local food and drink businesses, creative industries and the leisure and cultural sector.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to access valuable funding, but applications are only accepted for a very limited time, so I would urge anybody interested to take action today. A range of further support will be launched in the coming weeks, including grant support for creative businesses, capacity building support for voluntary ad community organisations, and business support services, and research and development grants.”
Applications for the festival and event grand first round must be submitted by midday on 15 June 2023.
The Herefordshire Sustainable Growth Strategy Board (HSGSB) will be the partnership/advisory board for the UKSPF within Herefordshire. The board has overseen the development of the investment plan, and will monitor and evaluate the delivery of the programme
The Board includes representatives from the county’s business sectors, public sector organisations, geographies, the voluntary sector, communities, and the chairs of other local stakeholder groups such as the Herefordshire Business Board, Skills Board and Climate and Nature Partnership.
More information, including how to apply, can be found on our website.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus