New fund for impactful arts collaborations for social change
Howard Lake | 21 September 2021 | News
The Partner-Up fund has opened for applications for funding from collaborative arts-for-social-change initiatives. It was inspired by the collective responses to COVID-19.
The fund has been created by Collaborative Change and Take Note, two social-change initiatives incubated by ftwork, a charity that galvanises new ways of working to bring people together and strengthen communities. They both aim “to provoke, promote and celebrate extraordinary cross-sector collaborations which have a transformative effect on their communities”.
Groups of organisations with a shared idea for an innovative arts-for-social-change project are invited to apply for funding of up to £30,000 per project.
Advertisement
Groups awarded funding will also benefit from Take Note’s programme of partnership support, with access to tools and resources which are designed to help to structure and strengthen the impact of a collaboration.
How to apply to Partner-Up
The Partner-Up fund has been inspired by, and has been created to help capitalise on, the momentum and necessity for change prompted by COVID-19. At its heart is a belief that organisations working together and co-creating within their communities “can amplify social impact, energise participants in new ways and enhance artistic ambition”.
Partner-Up welcomes applications from groups of arts and non-arts organisations working together.
Organisations can be local or international, the lead organisation must just be a registered UK charity. To be eligible to apply for this funding, partnership groups must already have secured at least 10% of the total cost of the project from other sources. This can include contributions from core organisational funding from any of the partners involved.
Applications for funding to Partner-Up will open on Tuesday 5th October.
Marianna Hay and Emily Webb, Co-Directors of Take Note, said:
“In the spirit of collaboration, we are excited to be working in partnership with Collaborative Change and ftwork to inspire collective action in the wake of COVID-19. Partner-Up is an opportunity for us to co-develop and magnify the Take Note approach to collaboration, delivering not only funding but also our Take Note programme of support to optimise the partners’ collective impact, now and for the future.”
Clare Richards, Founding Director of ftwork, added:
“Arts organisations often struggle for project funding and support, even competing with each other. But, as Take Note’s innovative approach has demonstrated, when groups join forces they can create considerable social impact within communities. This is why ftwork is funding Partner-Up. We also consider it essential to prompt and support collaborations as a means of building identity and solidarity, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.