Connect and Flourish is a £5m National Lottery supported fund, designed to encourage collaborative projects between organisations, individuals, and creative professionals. The outcome of the first round of the new fund was announced in December 2020, while the second round of the fund opened mid-February. The Arts Council approved the projects to be funded in Round 2 at its meeting on 14 May.
In Round 2 of Connect and Flourish, 23 projects were approved, totalling £2.619m. We received 149 applications - a third more than in Round 1 - with a total request of £10.86m. This unprecedented number of applications demonstrated the enthusiasm of artists and arts organisations to engage public. However, it meant some difficult choices about the best projects.
The Connect and Flourish fund offers grants of between £500 and £150,000 for projects with a strong emphasis on collaboration between arts organisations, and individual artists working with a range of partners including those outside the traditional arts sector. The aim is to encourage new ideas to support artists emerging from the challenges of the pandemic and to develop a strong and resilient arts sector that better reflects our country’s people and communities. The particular focus of Round 2 was to support organisations, creative professionals and communities to work together towards shared goals that create new opportunities for people to enjoy, take part and work in the arts.
A strong theme of the fund is to help give previously unheard voices an opportunity to create and take part in the arts, and the projects supported represent a step towards making the arts in Wales more representative and accessible.
Phil George, Chair of Arts Council of Wales said:
“Thanks to National Lottery players, and the sums raised each week for good causes, we’ve been able to continue to develop opportunities for a wide range of citizens to enjoy the arts. Connect and Flourish has already demonstrated a remarkable ability to change the way that people make and take part in the arts. It's an exciting and speedy change in beginning to correct under-representation and in promoting a new collaborative approach to artistic work.
“In Round 1 we supported projects that will improve access and representation for people from diverse ethnic backgrounds: black and Asian and minority ethnic artists, disabled artists, and artists who are developing work in the Welsh language. We have committed to increasing the amount of activity that we fund in these areas and Connect and Flourish represents, quite simply, an important moment of change. The outcome of Round 2, announced today, pushes this goal further forward including a focus on areas of economic disadvantage.
“Given the extraordinarily high number of applications, we’ve not been able to support everyone. There will be disappointment from those who we’ve not been able to support this time, however we’ll be looking to see how future rounds of Connect and Flourish can capitalise on the increased interest we’ve seen in these new ways of working.”
For a full list of the awards: CLICK HERE