Lottery Funding For Bands The Arts Council has resumed accepting applications from right across the communities in Northern Ireland to enhance the quality and number of instruments available to bands and band musicians A named programme, worth £500,000 a year until March 2006, has been established within the funding on offer from the Council’s National Lottery allocation. Musical Instruments for Bands is dedicated to the needs of communities in areas of social and economic deprivation, which demonstrate a commitment to youth and access and which are aimed at developing both repertoire and technique. In addition to its overall review of the needs of the sector, the Arts Council held a short consultation exercise during the month of October on its draft guidelines for resuming funding for the purchase of band instruments. Representatives of the relevant umbrella organisations gave their views on the draft guidelines. A total of £1 million is available in this scheme from now until April 2003. The new programme is designed to increase the quality of music-making in the community by helping bands replace worn-out and purchase new instruments. It is open to formally-constituted bands based in Northern Ireland. For the purposes of the scheme, a ‘band’ is defined as accordion orchestra (part, melody or marching); brass; concert; flute (part, melody or marching); pipe and wind. Grants on offer range from £500 to sums in excess of £50,000. The Council is asking applicants to make their calculations against the current cost of the instruments they wish to purchase by seeking a quotation from a recognised musical instrument supplier or manufacturers price list. Funding for musical instruments was suspended by the Arts Council in November 1996. At that stage, almost £11 million in total had been allocated by the Arts Council National Lottery Fund of which more than £1.5 million had gone to bands, in almost all cases towards the purchase of musical instruments. Priority will be given to projects which address the needs of communities in areas of social and economic deprivation; support the involvement of children and young people through a youth or access programme; involve geographic areas which have not substantially benefited from Lottery funding; are located in rural communities; demonstrate a commitment to repertoire and technique development in relation to the band’s existing repertoire and technical standards; demonstrate need. In 2002/03: £500,000 was available for the round which has just closed £250,000 is available in the round which runs from 1 June to 31 July 2002 Decisions in October 2002
£250,000 is available in the round which runs from 1 December to 31 January 2003 Decisions in April 2003 Application Forms for the next round will be available on May 1st 2003 |
