CS pauses Bridging Bursary applications
Bridging Bursary (Arts and Creative) paused for applications
Creative Scotland will pause applications for emergency £2m Bridging Bursary from 6pm today, Wednesday 2 until Monday 20 April 2020, due to he “significant” number of requests made.
Just under £1.5m has been requested from the fund, which prioritises support to freelance practitioners whose primary source of income comes from creative work in the not-for-profit sector, and to those most in need.
Iain Munro, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland. Pic: Neil Hanna
CS says it will assess the over 800 current applications “within the promised four-week timeframe” and plans to re-open applications on Monday 20 April. It will stay open to Friday 25, if there are adequate funds available.
CS says the pause is to allow it to take stock of all of the requests to date and ensure that funds remain for those who require extra time to make their request or those have been unable to make a request this week due to having Covid-19.
The announcement was made in a message posted on Bridging Bursary page of the Creative Scotland website and through a series of tweets.
“Thank you to everyone who has submitted a request to the Bridging Bursary (Arts and Creative) funding programme to date. We will respond to all requests as soon as possible and within the four-week timeframe indicated.
“These are unprecedented circumstances and the response has been significant, with over 800 requests in three days requesting a total of just under £1.5m of the available £2m funds for the Bridging Bursary (Arts and Creative).
“The Bridging Bursary (Arts and Creative) fund is prioritising support to freelance practitioners whose primary source of income comes from their creative work in the not-for-profit sector and to those most in need.
as fair as possible
“We are committed to being as fair as possible, therefore, we will be pausing requests for our Bridging Bursary (Arts and Creative) fund today at 6pm.
This is to allow us to take stock of all of the requests to date and ensure that funds remain for those who require extra time to make their request or those have been unable to make a request this week due to having Covid-19.
“There will be a second round of requests for funding which will be open from Monday 20 April. Our intention is that this second round will close on Friday 25 April, however we may need to close submissions earlier if demand outstrips the funds we have available in that week.
“At the moment, requests for the Screen Scotland Bridging Bursary fund remain manageable but we will continue to monitor closely requests for this fund on a daily basis and communicate as soon as possible any changes to its availability, should the need arise.
“As a reminder, both the Bridging Bursary funds aim to support and prioritise those most in need at this time, particularly those who are least likely to benefit from the recently announced Job Retention Scheme and Self Employment Income Support scheme. Those not in immediate need can access information on our Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development, which opens on Friday 3rd April.”
Anyone who has questions or concerns about the fund should contact Creative Scotland on enquiries@creativescotland.com.
Links
Creative Scotland launched three funding programmes on Friday 27 March 2020, designed to provide further support to sustain Scotland’s creative community during the Covid-19 outbreak (click below for further details).
– Creative Scotland Bridging Bursary Fund
– Screen Scotland Bridging Bursary Fund
– Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development
ENDS
