Our new Creative Communities Fund offers critical support for cultural sector organisations to readdress the needs of children and young people in the East Midlands.

In 2020, in response to Covid-19, The Mighty Creatives (TMC) launched the first round of our Sector Support Commissions, now known as the Creative Communities Fund.  

In the midst of the period of uncertainty of what Coronavirus would mean for the creative sector and our regions’ young people, TMC stepped up to the challenge by repurposing some of our planned investment through The Cultural Life Fund to support the arts, cultural and education sectors at the height of the pandemic.  

The first round saw eight commissions of grants ranging between £3,000 – £5,000 awarded to cultural organisations and individuals to produce projects that supported vulnerable children and young people by delivering creative responses to the challenge posed by Covid-19. 

What are we looking for?

In this second round, we are looking to continue to support projects that respond to the identified needs of children and young people that have arisen throughout the pandemic. We are also keen to see how the idea of creative communities is incorporated into project ideas and how this can benefit our region’s young people. 

We are looking for projects that can be flexibly delivered during this period of re-building, reintegration, and re-imagination. What does the ‘new normal’ look like for children and young people and our creative communities? 

What are we offering?

TMC are offering up to 7 commissions of up to £7,500 for creative and cultural business leaders aged 21+, or small to medium cultural sector organisations to undertake and deliver creative responses to the current needs of our region’s young people. These commissions will be used to explore creative and innovative responses to the Covid-19 challenge in the present and post-crisis; considering how your work will support the recovery and sustainability of the cultural education sector is of interest to us.  

This fund is available to individual creative and cultural business leaders aged 21-30, Individuals aged 30+, or Small and Medium sector organisations across the East Midlands. They are intended to support organisations working with disadvantaged children and young people across the East Midlands who may be at risk of being left behind and unsupported culturally, educationally and emotionally during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. 

It is anticipated that these commissions will take 11 months to be completed. Your project will need to be responsive to a changing climate and could be delivered in several different ways, taking a hybrid approach – with both physical and digital delivery. However, it is recognised that one sign of poverty and inequality is a lack of digital resource and therefore applications are also encouraged to consider how children and young people who do not have easy access to technology can engage.  

Applications are open until 12 noon on Tuesday 30th November 2021.

Please apply via our webform by clicking the ‘Apply Now’ button. For further information about the fund, please download the funding brief and FAQ document below.

For further information please, or to arrange a phone call about your application, please email hannaa@themightycreatives.com