Arts organisations to share £675,000 Shared Prosperity Fund grant

17 May 2024

Ten organisations are set to benefit from a £675,000 grant funding programme that was created to support arts and creative industries, the county council has said.

Earlier this year, Powys County Council's Arts Service was successful in securing £675,000 from the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) with the programme focused on supporting resilience, sustainability and transformation within the arts and creative industries in the county.

The funding will bring the organisations together in a collaborative peer learning network for the remainder of 2024 so that they can support each other in delivering their projects.

Cllr David Selby, Cabinet Member for a Prosperous Powys, said: "The cultural sector in Powys plays a vital role in delivering creativity, education, wellbeing and cultural tourism as well as strengthening the economic life of the county's communities.

"We recognise the difficulties that the reduction in public funds is having on the arts and we are actively seeking ways to continue to support the sector during these challenging times.  The Shared Prosperity Funding that we have successfully secured will enable us to support the arts sector in Powys.

"It was an extremely competitive process with huge demands for the funds. This means that difficult decisions had to be made about which organisations we support.

"I would congratulate those who were successful with their applications and look forward to working with them as we look to develop a resilient and sustainable cultural sector here in Powys."

The successful organisations were:

• Carad (£66,071): Carad provides a creative hub which nurtures and showcases the area's rich social and cultural heritage - promoting participation in arts activity. The grant will create capacity to implement a new business plan, provide training and support for volunteers, develop new partnerships and develop a refocussed arts programme.
• Gregynog (£52,153): Gregynog is an important landmark in the historical and artistic history of Powys, the funds will go towards developing a partnership events programme, and creating a more resilient commercial model for the organisation going forward.
• Impelo (£106,842): Impelo is a dance organisation based in Llandrindod Wells with the mission 'To connect and inspire individuals, communities and organisations through the joy of dance - empowering curiosity, ambition and lifelong learning'. The funding will be used to support redefining, remodelling and testing Impelo's business plan and operations, building and scaling new commercial, charitable and other income to ensure financial sustainability and retention of the essential dance workforce.
• The Lost Arc (£68,000): A community art and live music hub based in the Old Drill Hall, Rhayader. The grant will be used to reshape, refocus and reinvigorate through bringing in commercial catering expertise, developing communication and engagement, board governance and volunteer management.
• Mid Wales Arts Centre (£56,000): Mid Wales Arts is an organisation based in Caersws which empowers artists and organisations by providing support, training, exhibition and enterprise opportunities The arts centre will use the funds to deliver a new strategic vision and to provide the team with the resource to develop a more sustainable management model for the organisation going forward.
• Mid Wales Opera (£75,906): Founded in 1989, produces opera across mid Wales, and is well known for its staging of opera, particularly in collaboration with rural communities. The organisation supports young artists career development and this funding will enable MWO to redefine its mission, its business morel and its means of funding in the light of the recent withdrawal of public funding.
• Peak Cymru (£78,401): Peak, based in Abergavenny and Crickhowell, is an organisation which collaborates with young people, artists, and intergenerational communities.  The grant will fund a new alternative economies' role to explore diversifying income, and an emerging young person under 30.
• Presteigne Festival (£51,400): Presteigne Festival has been running for over 40 years delivering musical innovation, commissioning new work and supporting living composers and talented young artists. The grant will provide the festival with funds to commission research to understand and remove barriers to attendance, develop a fundraising strategy and refresh the festivals' website.
• The Welfare, Ystradgynlais (£75,129): The Welfare is a vibrant arts and community charity situated in the Upper Swansea valleys. Funding to create a succession management plan, appoint a new Community Arts Development Officer and pilot the Coalfields Community Festival.
• Wyeside Arts Centre (£45,098): Wyeside is a community centred arts centre in Builth Wells. The grant will be used to support transformation of the current business model to build organisational resilience through fundraising and development, additional marketing and audience development.

For further information about the project please contact the project manager, Alice Briggs at arts@powys.gov.uk