Creative Scotland Funding during Covid-19 Pandemic

Given the unprecedented nature of the situation that we are now facing, we have made some changes to our funding routes.

If you have any queries, please email: enquiries@creativescotland.com

Creative Scotland distributes funding from two primary sources, the Scottish Government and the UK National Lottery. This funding is the means by which we support a portfolio of organisations across Scotland, as well as how we help with the development of individuals, funding ideas and projects, and how we deliver specific activity with partners.

A snapshot of all of ours and our partners funding programme deadlines can be found on the Funding Deadlines page.

Our Funding Routes

Creative Scotland's funding is split into three main types of support, consisting of:

• Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development for individuals and organisations
• Regular Funding for organisations for at least three years
• A small number of targeted funds which have specific priorities or shared goals with other agencies. Within this will be a number of funds – sometimes called ‘devolved funds’ - which are delivered by partner organisations on behalf of Creative Scotland.

Details of previous funding programmes can be found in the Funding Archive.

Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development

The Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development was launched in March 2020 in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic to focus support on helping individuals and organisations to sustain themselves.

• Funding available for between £1k and £50k
• The fund aims to enable individuals and organisations to explore ways of working that will help them to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances
• The overall budget for the Open Fund for Individuals and the Open Fund for Organisations totals £7.5m of National Lottery money
• The Open Fund for Organisations will not be in competition for funding applications for individuals
• The fund is Open all year round, with no deadlines and can support activity for up to 12 months.

Regular Funding

Regular Funding provides stable support for a range of organisations and consortia across Scotland who make an important contribution to the development of the arts, screen and creative industries, enabling them to plan and deliver activities over a 3-year period.

The Regular Funding Network 2018-21 consists of 121 organisations, of which 19 are new and 102 continue with three-year funding, supported by £101.6m Grant in Aid funding through a three-year commitment from the Scottish Government.

Targeted Funds

Targeted Funds are a series of funds which support specific activities and development needs in an art form, specialism, or place. Examples include funds allocated by the Scottish Government for specific purposes (such as the Youth Music Initiative) and UK National Lottery funds such as support for screen. A small number of funding programmes, sometimes called ‘devolved funds’, are delivered by partner organisations

A full list of our targeted funds can be found in our Annual Plan.

More Information

To be kept up-to-date with Creative Scotland funding, sign up for our email updates.

If you need more information please contact our Enquiries Service using one of the methods outlined on our Contact Us page.