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28th March 2009

JUSTICE SECRETARY CELEBRATES ARTS AND BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS SUPPORTED BY SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT GRANT SCHEMES

On Thursday, 26 March, the Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, celebrated successful arts and business partnerships at a reception at Edinburgh Castle, hosted by Arts & Business Scotland.

The partnerships were supported by two Scottish Government match funding streams. New Arts Sponsorship Grants encourage new or returning business sponsors and the Cashback for Communities scheme which supports projects that tackle social exclusion and anti-social behaviour among young people.

Among the new business sponsors attracted to the arts sector in Scotland were Crichton Development Company, Bibliographic Data Services Limited, House of Hearing and Agusta Westland. The resulting projects show that a relatively small investment in arts partnerships can have a substantial positive impact on the reputation of a company, internally and externally.

This year has seen arts organisations benefitting from the grant schemes across a broad geographic spread, with more up-take from areas outwith the central belt - most notable Stirlingshire and Dumfries & Galloway. Over the last three years, the match funding schemes have seen a total of new funds invested in the arts exceed £1.8m

Kenny MacAskill, Justice Secretary said: "The Scottish Government is working with Arts and Business Scotland to encourage more businesses to support the arts. By investing in cultural activities we are investing in our people's quality of life and empowering our communities and our economy.

"As Justice Secretary, I am encouraged that one of the many strands of our CashBack for Communities scheme is using cash from the proceeds of crime to match business sponsorship, which is contributing to expand the horizons of our youngsters and help them to be all they can be. Access to arts and leisure should not be a luxury, but should be available to all."

Barclay Price, Director, Arts & Business Scotland said: "The grant scheme this year scheme has brought forty four new business sponsors to the cultural sector. These organisations recognise that working with the arts can help deliver across a range of business benefits and that arts sponsorship can be a cost-effective and innovative way to achieve marketing objectives."

ABOUT THE GRANT SCHEMES

Scottish Government New Art Sponsorship Grants

To continue the success of the Scottish Executive New Arts Sponsorship Awards 2006/08, the Scottish Government made further funding available to Arts & Business Scotland to encourage new business sponsorship of the arts within Scotland with £300,000 available in both 2008/9 and 2009/10. These New Arts Sponsorship Grants were launched by Arts & Business Scotland in April 2008. An arts organisation receiving an eligible business sponsorship receives £1 of funding for every £1 of sponsorship obtained.

CashBack for Communities Grants

£143,000 was made available for 2008/09 from the Scottish Government's reinvestment of the proceeds of crime. The fund is to match sponsorship for arts activities for 10 to19 year olds that promote inclusion, and help divert young people from becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.

New Arts Sponsorship & CashBack for Communities Grants
Summary of activity 2008/09

Arts & Business
Arts & Business is a world-leading creative network and consultancy. We advocate and facilitate creative partnerships between the private sector and the arts through research, training and the promotion of culture. We are a UK-wide independent body with expertise to match our international reach and one of HRH, The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay's charities in Scotland.

For over 30 years the heart of our work has been the belief that the arts have the power to transform and change lives on both an individual and corporate level. To make this happen we provide the UK's most extensive network connecting the arts and business communities. Our advocacy and consultancy drives best practice and learning for both sectors. All of our work celebrates the courage of business and individuals in supporting the arts and culture of the UK.

Scottish Government New Art Sponsorship Grants
The objectives for the New Arts Sponsorship Grants are to:
§ increase the number of businesses sponsoring the arts in Scotland.
§ encourage cultural organisations to approach businesses that have not sponsored the arts before, or have not sponsored for at least 3 years.
§ encourage non-Scottish based companies to sponsor arts activities in Scotland.

Success factors for New Art Sponsorship Grants (2008/09):
§ 44 Grants made totalling £273,452 against business sponsorship of £304,149. This is a total investment into the cultural sector of £577,601 during 2008/09 through the New Arts Sponsorship Grants.
§ 44 new business sponsors have been attracted to the cultural sector under this scheme. In the current economic climate this is a positive outcome and provides evidence of the resilience of the cultural sector in Scotland to weather the current economic climate.
§ A broad range of arts organisations have benefitted from Grants including festivals, theatre, opera, museums, music, literature and dance.

§ A broad geographic spread of the Grant fund with more up-take from areas outwith the central belt - most notable Stirlingshire (£36,000) and Dumfries & Galloway (£22,000).

CashBack for Communities Grants
CashBack for Communities Grants through Arts & Business aim to:
§ Increase the number of businesses sponsoring arts activities that promote inclusion through the arts for young people between the ages of 10 and 19.
§ Promote the 'inspirational' power of the arts to expand the horizons of young people and help divert them from becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.
§ Involve those who may not otherwise have arts opportunities, especially Looked After Children and the Young Carers community.

CashBack for Communities Grant recipients (2008/09):
§ Borderline Theatre Co for "Stop Right There - Gang Warfare in Ayrshire". Project engaged 3,880 young people in workshops dealing with territorialism and gang issues in Ayrshire.
§ Moray Art Centre for "Growing Teachers". Ongoing year-long project working with 2,800 young people in Moray through a range of arts activities. Sponsored by LifeScan Scotland Ltd.
§ National Theatre of Scotland for "First Nights". This project due to begin May 2009 and will take around 500 children (100 each in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness) who are currently in the care of Barnardo's, Children First or Action for Children to the theatre to see productions and take part in workshops. Sponsored by EssentiaGroup.
§ Art of the Pitch
An Arts & Business "Art of the Pitch" promotional and competitive event at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in December 2008 drew 42 applications from organisations across Scotland. 3 projects from a shortlist of 6 were provided with £15,000 funding (50% from CashBack for Communities and 50% from a business sponsor). These projects are:
o Clydebank Housing Association for a 6 month street art programme working with around 90 young people from the Whitecrook estate in Clydebank. This received sponsorship from Elphinstone Group.
o Tramway in Glasgow for a year-long urban arts project focusing on music, dance and parkour (or free-running) engaging around 40 kids a week. This received sponsorship from ScottishPower.
o The Village Storytelling Centre in Glasgow working with to deliver a year-long storytelling project with 90 young carers from the Princess Royal Trust Carers' Centre in Pollock. This received sponsorship from Standard Life.

To see a list of grant recipients go to
www.caithness.org/posterads2009/OverviewBriefProjectDescriptions.doc