Welsh Cultural Recovery Fund opens to new entrants

The third round of the Welsh Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund opened for applications on Monday, 31 January, and this time businesses and organizations that have not previously received support from under the fund are eligible to apply.

Earlier this month, the Deputy Minister announced that a further £ 15.4 million would be available to those cultural organizations in Wales that are still severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Affected sectors were contacted, including music venues, heritage sites, event venues, suppliers and organizers, independent local museums, independent and community libraries, galleries and independent cinemas previously supported by the Fund by letter during the week starting on January 17th.

The Welsh Government has already made payments of £ 2.2 million to more than 88 applicants. It is expected that most payments to those who have applied through this process will be made next week.

Today, new entrants can apply on the Business Wales website, where further details and application forms are available. Applications must be returned by Friday 11 February.

To be eligible, businesses from the events, creative and heritage sectors must provide evidence that their turnover is at least 50% less between December 2021 and February 2022 compared to the same period in 2019/20.

Dawn Bowden, Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, said:

“We are well aware that these affected sectors continue to face new pressures.

“The innovation and resilience shown by the people and organizations that make these sectors so vibrant has been amazing.

“We want to ensure that the sector continues to play a role in our recovery from the pandemic and in bringing people back together.”

The Welsh Government is also aware of the impact the pandemic is having on our creative freelance community and we have doubled (to £ 1,000) the Business Crisis Fund grant award available to non-qualified sole traders and freelancers they don’t pay rates.

This third round builds on the previous two phases of the Cultural Recovery Fund which has provided £ 93 million and supported businesses, organizations and individuals in the key cultural sectors.