Groups in Renfrewshire to benefit from latest round of cultural grants

The Culture, Heritage and Events Fund (CHEF) was created to support Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 and has continued as part of a wider plan to use culture and heritage to transform the area’s future.

The fund aims to create more chances for people to get involved in cultural activity, help young people develop, boost the local economy, raise Renfrewshire’s profile and show how creativity can boost education, social inclusion and quality of life.

Fourteen projects have been recommended for either a full or partial award to Renfrewshire Council’s Leadership Board with a suggested spend of £94,732, from a total ask of £197,694.

Highlights in this round include:

• £8,855 to pioneering Glasgow Women’s Library to work with local vulnerable women in partnership with RAMH and Kairos to improve their skills, confidence, local knowledge and connections to services and resources in Renfrewshire
• £5,219 to artist Steven Anderson to provide a pilot series of participatory dance workshops for older people and their carers attending the Royal Alexandra Hospital
• £10,995 to Soundsystems Project to deliver a youth-led project where participants design and build their own 12-volt, bike-transported sound system
• £18,800 to Paisley Opera for four performances of a Paisley translation of the much loved ‘Cavelleria Rusticana’ in 2020

Other groups successful in gaining funding were; Paisley Sinfonia, Lisa Kowalski and Right2Dance.

Seven projects are recommended for a partial award. These include projects from Thomas Coats Memorial Society, Media Monty, Fèis Phàislig, The Vegan Leather, UWS for Paisley School of Arts, DRIFT and Pachedu.

There have been eleven rounds of CHEF since 2016, with 135 projects supported out of 359 applications.

Successful completed projects to date include a 40-week digital music making and film project engaging 89 young people, most of whom had never previously created music or produced a film using digital technology, and a Renfrewshire strand of the national Voluntary Arts Festival where 16 community groups were able to participate in the festival for the first time.

Renfrewshire Council Leader Iain Nicolson said: “Over the past three years we have seen a huge increase in the number of people getting involved in creative activity thanks to the Culture, Heritage and Events Fund and I am pleased that there has been a continued interest in the fund over this time.

“We know involvement in culture has a positive impact on health and wellbeing and many of the projects supported in this round will contribute to this, as well as giving people the chance to take part in new experiences all across Renfrewshire.”

A new cultural fund, designed to strengthen and build capacity of local cultural and creative organisations, was launched last year with the first round of awards announced in May. The second round of the Cultural Organisations Development Fund is underway with applications being accepted until Tuesday 1 October.

For more information on cultural grant opportunities in Renfrewshire, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/culturalgrants