On April3, the new Culture & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS) was launched by Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop. Evolving from the renowned NASG programme, the CBFS will continue to offer match funding for arts projects across Scotland, is bolstered with a new dedicated heritage strand and will allow projects to continue to receive funding during their second and third years.
As 2017 is the official year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, widening the scope of the new fund to include support for Scotland’s crucially important heritage sector seemed extremely timely. Ranging from archaeology to historic buildings and taking in intangible heritage, green spaces, libraries and museums, our hope is that the new heritage strand will attract lots of exciting new applications.
We are also particularly keen to highlight the opportunity the new fund offers for projects to apply for second and third year funding, a key facet that has been particularly welcomed by businesses and cultural organisations that have participated in the New Arts Sponsorship programme in previous years. This innovation should hopefully encourage applicants to be even more ambitious with their project proposals and will enable relationships between culture and business to strengthen and grow over a longer period of time.
Over the past decade, NASG helped a wide variety of arts and heritage projects of all sizes located across the length and breadth of Scotland get off the ground, ranging from the creation of a unique sculpture celebrating the role of herring gutters in the Shetland fishing industry to the marketing and promotion of a new local arts festival in Galashiels – and from a specially commissioned piece of event theatre telling the story of Aberdeen and engaging the local community across the city, to an interactive theatre production exploring issues around the impact of climate change, launched on the Hebridean island of Eigg before touring the Highlands and Islands and beyond. With a new wider scope, I am confident that the new fund will help to realise a similarly eclectic mix of arts and heritage projects in the years ahead.
Over the last few years I have spoken to many organisations that have enjoyed fruitful partnerships with the cultural sector as a result of our NASG programme. Common to all is their insistence of the huge benefits to their own business as a result of getting involved.
A public opinion poll commissioned by Arts & Business Scotland found that a majority of Scots agree they would be more likely to buy goods and services from businesses that support arts and heritage projects in their local area. Sixty-nine per cent agree it is important for businesses to support such projects in their local community, while more than three in four Scots agree that supporting local cultural and heritage projects reflects well on businesses.
Programmes such as the CBFS have the important benefit of encouraging private investors to give generously to the cultural sector with the reassurance that the value of their investment will be matched by government support. As well as doubling the financial stimulus to qualifying cultural projects, allowing larger and more complex projects to get off the ground, this approach also amplifies the positive impact on business from being associated with these projects.
As many participating businesses will testify, supporting cultural projects isn’t just an act of selfless philanthropy, there are lots of good, hard-headed business reasons for doing it. With its new wider scope and longer-term focus, I look forward to seeing the Culture & Business Fund Scotland deliver many more successful partnerships between business, heritage and the arts over the next year and beyond. So, as we enjoy the Easter weekend with our friends and families, take some time to discover your local arts and heritage offerings, and maybe you will be inspired to get involved in their next activity.
