Emergency Grassroots Music Venues

Fund

Guidance for applicants

July 2020

Administered, awarded and monitored by

Arts Council England

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The below is an outline summary of key information. Please see

Section three for full eligibility criteria.

Summary of key

information

What is the focus

of the fund?

The purpose of the fund is to provide

grassroots live music venues that were

financially sustainable before Covid-19

but are now at imminent risk of

insolvency, with the funds to remain

solvent until 30 September 2020.

Who can apply?

This funding is available to venues whose

main function is to present live music

events for a public audience in the

grassroots part of this sector (i.e. those

working with new, developing talent in

grassroots venues). The venue must have

delivered at least one year’s worth of

activity to be eligible.

Examples of the kind of venues we could

support through this fund are

• Venues recognised as grassroots live

music venues (See the Music Venue

Trust’s guide to Defining GMVs for

3

more information on what we mean

by a grassroots live music venue.)

• Pubs, clubs, cafes or bars with a

significant live grassroots music

programme (the live music

programme must be mainly original

material and fundamental to the

venue’s business model). For

example, other services such as

alcohol, food, merchandise are

subsidiary or dependent upon music

activity.

• Nightclubs that regularly host DJ and

MC based events but also have a

significant live music programme

focusing on grassroots talent and

original material.

• Combined arts venues with a

significant live grassroots music

programme (at least 70% of overall

programming focuses on grassroots

live music).

• Community venues or village halls

with a significant live grassroots

music programme (at least 70% of

overall programming focuses on

grassroots live music).

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We welcome applications from venues

who work with all musical types and

genres.

We are keen to support venues that bring

the full spectrum of contemporary popular

and other music genres to live audiences.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• classical

• electronic, including house, electronica,

drum & bass, dubstep, experimental etc.

• folk

• hip-hop, grime, rap, R&B etc.

• jazz

• indie and alternative

• metal and punk

• pop

• rock, including blues, modern, post-rock

etc.

• world/diasporic music

How much can be

applied for per

application?

Between £1,000 – £80,000

What is the period

that the funding

will cover?

The funding period relates to operational

costs incurred between 10 August and 30

September 2020

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Minimum match

funding from other

sources

There is no minimum match funding

requirement for this programme

When does the

fund open for

applications?

12pm (midday), Monday 26 July 2020

What is the

deadline for

registering for an

account on

Grantium (our

grant management

system)?

12pm (midday), Friday 30 July 2020

When is the

deadline for

applications?

12pm (midday), Tuesday 3 August 2020

When will we make

our decision?

We will aim to notify applicants of our

decision no later than 6pm, Monday 10

August 2020

Assistance with your application

We are committed to being open and accessible and want to

make the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund application

process accessible to everyone.

We realise some people may find that there are barriers to

applying to this fund, and we want to help people with access

requirements to apply. If you do have an access support

requirement, we may be able to offer you some additional

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support. Please contact our Customer Services team on

enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk or visit

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/contact-us

We are currently producing this guidance in a range of alternative

formats including Easyread and Large Print. We will publish these

as soon as possible. If you have any access requirements please

contact our Customer Services team

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Section one – introduction

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in the Emergency Grassroots Music

Venues Fund.

On 5 July 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and

Sport announced a £1.57 billion package to protect the UK’s

culture and heritage sectors from the economic impacts of Covid-

19.

The Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund is to support

grassroots music venues at imminent risk of insolvency before

further government funding can be distributed.

The criteria for this fund have been set by the Department of

Digital. Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the grants are

administered, awarded and monitored by Arts Council England

on behalf of DCMS. This guidance gives you information on

how to apply for funding to the Emergency Grassroots Music

Venues Fund.

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About Arts Council England

Arts Council England is the national development agency for

creativity and culture. By 2030 we want England to be a country

in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the

chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a

remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. Between

2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from

Government and an estimated £860 million from the National

Lottery to help deliver this vision.

www.artscouncil.org.uk

The Arts Council believes that the ambitions of this programme

align with our strategic vision, as set out in Let’s Create, of a

country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given

the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a

remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences.

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Advice giving

Relationship Managers, our Customer Services team and other

Arts Council staff will not be able to offer specific, one-to-one

advice about how to write your application or to read draft

applications for this programme. We have designed this

application process to be as straightforward as possible,

requesting only the information we need.

Our Customer Services team can help you with how to use

Grantium. On our website you can find more information to help

you make your application, including frequently asked questions

for this fund.

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Section two – purpose of the Emergency Grassroots Music

Venues Fund

Grassroots live music venues are vital to England’s music

ecology, developing music and audiences as well as supporting

talent development. Grassroots music venues are where many

musicians and music professionals develop their skills and their

craft, testing out new approaches and developing audiences, as

well as gaining vital experience of live performance. Grassroots

live music venues are important, and in some cases the only,

cultural spaces within their communities, providing opportunities

for people from all backgrounds to experience live music, both as

audience members and as participants or performers.

The purpose of the fund is to provide grassroots live music

venues that were financially sustainable before Covid-19 but are

now at imminent risk of insolvency, with the funds to remain

solvent until 30 September 2020.

What we can fund

Ongoing costs involved in keeping the venue solvent until 30

September 2020 that cannot otherwise be covered though grants,

loans, &/or other UK Government initiatives due to reduced

income levels.

For example,

• overheads such as rates and utilities

• personnel and staffing costs

• mitigating losses

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What we cannot fund

Any costs that are not solely required in order to keep the venue

solvent until 30 September 2020.

For example

• Costs towards programming or other creative or educational

activities

• Improvements to buildings or infrastructure such as asset

purchase or building / capital costs

• Contributions to redundancy processes

• Significant historic debt (i.e. debt accrued prior to 1 March

2020)

• Reflating reserves

• Covering costs/losses already supported through other

sources, including Arts Council England’s Emergency

Response Fund and government schemes

How much funding is available?

The total budget available for this fund is £2.25million from UK

Government Grant-in-Aid resources.

Rounds

There is one round of the Emergency Grassroots Music Venue

Fund.

What is the difference between this fund and other funding

offered by Arts Council England?

The following table will tell you which funding programme,

administered or run by Arts Council England you could apply for.

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Situation Programme

Are you a grassroots

venue whose primary

purpose is presenting live

music and you require

emergency funding to

remain solvent until 30

September 2020?

Consider applying for Emergency

Grassroots Music Venues Fund

(this fund is open to venues only)

Are you a grassroots

venue or promoter whose

primary purpose is

presenting live music and

you require funding (up to

£40,000) towards things

like programming, capital

development or asset

purchase?

Consider applying for Arts Council

National Lottery Project Grants:

Supporting Grassroots Live Music

(link to website)

Are you a grassroots

venue or promoter whose

primary purpose is

presenting live music and

you require funding (over

£40,001) towards things

like programming, capital

development or asset

purchase?

Consider applying for Arts Council

National Lottery Project Grants

(link to website)

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Are you an artist, band,

manager or booking

agent seeking funding to

support a tour or other

live performances?

Consider applying for Arts Council

National Lottery Project Grants

(link to website)

Section three – eligibility

Please read the eligibility requirements for the fund carefully. If

you do not meet any of these requirements, we will be unable to

consider your application for funding.

Who can apply?

This funding is available to venues (including

those run / managed by sole traders) whose

main function is to present live music events

for a public audience in the grassroots part of

this sector (i.e. those working with new,

developing talent in grassroots venues). The

venue must have delivered at least one

year’s worth of activity to be eligible.

Examples of the kind of venues we could

support through this fund are:

• Venues recognised as grassroots live

music venues (See the Music Venue

Trust’s guide to Defining GMVs for more

14

information on what we mean by a

grassroots live music venue.)

• Pubs, clubs, cafes or bars with a

significant live grassroots music

programme (the live music programme

must be mainly original material and

fundamental to the venues business

model). For example, other services

such as alcohol, food, merchandise are

subsidiary or dependent upon music

activity.

• Nightclubs that regularly host DJ and

MC based events but also have a

significant live music programme

focusing on grassroots talent and

original material.

• Combined arts venues with significant

live grassroots music programmes (at

least 70% of overall programming

focuses on grassroots live music)

• Community venues or village halls with

significant live grassroots music

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programmes (at least 70% of overall

programming focuses on grassroots live

music)

We welcome applications from venues who

work with all musical types and genres.

We are keen to support venues that bring the

full spectrum of contemporary popular and

other music genres to live audiences. This

includes, but is not limited to:

• classical

• electronic, including house, electronica,

drum & bass, dubstep, experimental etc.

• folk

• hip-hop, grime, rap, R&B etc.

• jazz

• indie and alternative

• metal and punk

• pop

• rock, including blues, modern, post-rock

etc.

• world/diasporic music

What activity

can be

supported?

Ongoing costs involved in keeping the venue

solvent until 30 September 2020 that cannot

otherwise be covered though grants, loans,

&/or other UK Government initiatives due to

reduced income levels.

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For example,

• Overheads such as rates and utilities

• personnel and staffing costs

• mitigating losses

Who cannot

apply?

Individuals (excluding sole traders)

Venues who have delivered less than one

year of work and/or whose primary purpose

is anything other than presenting live

grassroots music for a public audience.

For example

• Karaoke Bars

• Venues such as pubs, clubs, bars and

cafes for whom live music is not

fundamental to their business model

• Venues such as pubs, clubs, bars and

cafes primarily hosting cover bands

and/or tribute acts

• Arenas, stadiums, concert halls or large

music venues that do not fall within the

classification of a grassroots music

venue (See the Music Venue Trust’s

guide to Defining GMVs for more

information on what we mean by a

grassroots live music venue.)

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• Individual promoters, producers, bands,

artists, agents &/or managers

• Recording studios or rehearsal rooms

• Venues with limited live grassroots

music programmes (30% or less of

overall programming focuses on

grassroots live music)

What activity

cannot be

funded?

Any costs that are not solely required in order

to keep the venue solvent until 30 September

2020

For example

• Costs towards programming or other

creative activities

• Improvements to buildings or

infrastructure such as asset purchase or

building / capital costs

• Contributions to redundancy processes

• Significant historic debt (i.e. debt

accrued prior to 1 March 2020)

• Reflating reserves

• Covering costs/losses already supported

through other sources, including Arts

Council England’s Emergency Response

Funds and government schemes

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How much can

be applied for

per application?

Between £1,000 and £80,000

How much

match funding

from sources

other than ACE

is required?

There is no minimum match funding

requirement for this fund.

What is the

period that the

funding will

cover?

The funding period relates to operational

costs incurred between 10 August and 30

September 2020

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Section four – programme aims and priorities

The purpose of the fund is to provide grassroots live music

venues that were financially sustainable before Covid-19 but are

now at imminent risk of insolvency, with the funds to remain

solvent until 30 September 2020.

We want to ensure our funding supports organisations that are

providing relevant cultural opportunities to the widest range of

people. You should consider the information below when telling

us about your work as these factors will be taken into

consideration in our decision making.

• That you are located in a place where there is a relatively low

number of cultural organisations, and where the loss of your

venue would reduce cultural engagement opportunities for

audiences, particularly for people from underserved groups

in society (e.g. D/deaf and Disabled people, Black, Asian or

other minority ethnic backgrounds or those from lower socio-

economic backgrounds), and for young people. Please tell us

if you operate in an area where there is limited cultural

infrastructure, or you are the only music venue within your

area.

• That you are a vital cultural organisation in a place, well used

and valued by your community because of your role in

supporting creative and cultural opportunities for all

(including with people from groups who do not tend to benefit

from such opportunities such as D/deaf and Disabled people,

Black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds or those

from lower socio-economic backgrounds), the employment

20

opportunities you provide, the contribution you make to

economic agendas such as tourism, your role in supporting

health and wellbeing and other social outcomes for local

communities, the important role you play in delivering local

education programmes, and/or your role in providing

services important to the wider cultural sector supply chain in

the region.

• That you provide opportunity to, and support, a diverse range

of local and/or national grassroots talent to develop

creatively and professionally, providing opportunities for

emerging artists, promoters and/or technicians to hone their

craft and develop a fanbase/their skills by providing them

with opportunities to perform/present original work.

• That you provide local or national training opportunities for

creatives and/or other roles involved in the presentation of

grassroots live music. For example, training programmes for

sound and lighting engineers, promotors, marketeers,

creators and/or talent development.

• That your venue is fully accessible to both audiences and

artists evidenced, for example, by being a signatory to

Attitude is Everything’s Charter of Best Practice for

grassroots music venues.1

1 http://www.attitudeiseverything.org.uk/the-charter-of-best-practice/grassroots-venue-charter

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Section five – how to apply

When to apply

The online application form on Grantium will open at 12pm

(midday) on Saturday 26 July 2020. Applications must be

submitted by 12pm (midday) on Monday 3 August 2020.

Application process

If you do not have a profile in our online application system

(Grantium), you will need to set one up. It can take up to one

working day to validate profiles, so please do this

immediately.

If you have not submitted your applicant profile for

validation before 12 noon on Thursday 30 July 2020, we will

not be able to guarantee its validation in time for you to

apply to this fund.

You can find guidance on our website and if you need further

support you can contact our Customer Services team at

enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk

1. Read this guidance carefully

This guidance gives you information on how to apply.

2. Check the information in your applicant profile on

Grantium is accurate and up to date

See the guidance on our website.

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3. Prepare and submit your application

You must apply through our online application portal. You

can only submit one application to this fund.

How to apply

The application form will ask you four questions and ask for a set

of mandatory attachments.

We have kept the questions as straightforward as possible so

that you can provide us with the information we need to make a

decision. Some questions have prompts we’d like you to consider

when providing your answer.

The application will firstly ask for some Basic details including:

the amount you are requesting from us.

We will then ask applicants to provide answers to the following

questions:

1) Tell us about your organisation’s work and how it is

considered to be significant in the grassroots live music

ecology across England. You should respond to the

prompts below that are relevant to you.

(up to 4,000 characters including spaces, approximately 700

words)

• Tell us how long you have existed as a Grassroots

Music Venue

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• Tell us about your venue’s location in a place where

there is a relatively low number of cultural organisations,

and where the loss of your venue would reduce cultural

engagement opportunities for audiences, particularly for

people from underserved groups in society (e.g. D/deaf

and Disabled people, Black, Asian or other minority

ethnic backgrounds or those from lower socio-economic

backgrounds), and for young people. Please tell us if

you operate in an area where there is limited cultural

infrastructure, or you are the only music venue within

your area.

• Tell us about how you are a vital cultural organisation in

a place, well used and valued by your community

because of your role in supporting creative and cultural

opportunities for all (including with people from groups

who do not tend to benefit from such opportunities such

as D/deaf and Disabled people, Black, Asian or other

minority ethnic backgrounds or those from lower socio-

economic backgrounds), the employment opportunities

you provide, the contribution you make to economic

agendas such as tourism, your role in supporting health

and wellbeing and other social outcomes for local

communities, the important role you play in delivering

local education programmes, and/or your role in

providing services important to the wider cultural sector

supply chain in the region.

• Tell us how you provide opportunity to, and support, a

diverse range of local and/or national grassroots talent

to develop creatively and professionally, providing

24

opportunities for emerging artists, promoters and/or

technicians to hone their craft and develop a

fanbase/their skills by providing them with opportunities

to perform/present original work.

• Tell us how you provide local or national training

opportunities for creatives and/or other roles involved in

the presentation of grassroots live music. For example,

training programmes for sound and lighting engineers,

promotors, marketeers, creators and/or talent

development.

2) Tell us how a grant from this fund will enable your

organisation to trade through to 30 September 2020,

taking into account all relevant Government guidance in

place as of 20 July 2020. Please also detail the measures

you have already put in place or would like to explore to

ensure the viability and resilience of your organisation.

(up to 4,000 characters including spaces, approximately 700

words)

You will need to demonstrate to us:

• That your organisation was financially viable before the

Covid-19 pandemic took hold

• That your organisation is at clear risk of insolvency

before 30 September 2020

• That you have taken full advantage of other Government

schemes and measures which have been introduced

since the pandemic began

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• That you have reduced your organisation’s core costs in

order to ensure your organisation is more financially

resilient

3) Have you discussed with landlords/other creditors

whether a reduced payment might be allowable to

support you to remain viable to 30 September? If yes,

what level of payment would meet your immediate

needs?

(up to 2,000 characters including spaces, approximately 350

words)

• Please detail the discussions you have had with

landlords and other creditors about payments and

payment terms – please break down by each supplier.

4) Is your venue fully accessible to both artists and

audiences?

(up to 2,000 characters including spaces, approximately 350

words)

• Please detail your disability access provision (e.g. list

relevant facilities or provide evidence such as being a signatory to Attitude is Everything's Best Practice Charter for grassroots music venues).

Attachments

Please go to our website to download and complete the two

mandatory attachment templates:

26

• A completed cashflow template covering 1 March 2020 – 30

September 2020.

• A completed budget template covering 1 March 2020 – 30

September 2020.

o The income section of the budget needs to detail any

other emergency funding or income that they

are reasonably expecting to receive from other sources

up until 30 September 2020. The types of income we

expect to see are: Earned Income; Other public funding

and/or donations.

o The expenditure section of the budget needs to detail

how the amount requested will be used. The type of

expenditure we expect to see are: Staffing costs;

overheads; Covid-19 debt payments.

We will use the information you give us in your application form

and in any attachments to decide whether we will offer you a

grant. If your application does not contain the information we

need in the format we ask for it to be in, we may not be able to

consider your application.

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Section five – how we will make our decision

We will aim to notify applicants of our decision no later than 6pm,

Monday 10 August 2020.

We will conduct an eligibility check within two working days of the

deadline for applications.

If your application is not eligible, this means that we cannot

process it any further and it will not be considered for funding. If

your application is not eligible, we will write to you to let you

know, and will explain our decision.

If eligible, the application will then be considered at a decision

meeting.

Decision Meeting

We will make decisions based on the information you provide in

the application form, the information held in the applicant profile

on Grantium, and our knowledge and expertise as the

development agency for creativity and culture.

We anticipate a high level of demand for this fund and,

unfortunately, we are unlikely to be able to award funding to all

organisations that apply or make awards at the full level

requested. This is likely to mean that we will offer some

organisations funding below the requested level. In deciding the

level of funding to be offered we would use our judgement (based

on the information provided) to determine the minimum

requirement to assist the organisation to survive to 30 September

2020.

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We will consider the level and evidence of need across the

applications we receive, and we expect to prioritise our funding

for those organisations that are most reliant on earned and

contributed income, as these are the organisations that are likely

to evidence greatest need.

We are expecting more demand for this programme than we

have resources available. Following this assessment of all the

applications we receive, we will then look at a range of ‘balancing

criteria’ to consider if we are achieving the right spread of

investment. The balancing criteria we will consider are as follows:

• Diversity: we want to make sure that, as far as possible, our

funding supports cultural organisations that reflect the

diversity of contemporary England. We will use information

taken from your organisation’s Grantium applicant profile

about the diversity of your organisation’s leadership to help

us in this process.

• Geographic spread: we will take into account the need to

support cultural organisations across England. We will also

consider whether your organisation is based in an area of

low cultural engagement, as per the Active Lives Survey.

• Size and type: we want to support a mix of venues across a

range of sizes and scales.

These balancing criteria will be used to ensure a good spread of

funded projects according to each balancing criterion, and to

29

differentiate between a number of proposals that are considered

fundable.

In considering your application, we will make a judgement on

whether sufficient evidence is provided in support of the level of

funding requested and may offer funding below the level

requested.

Section six – If we decide to fund your application

Should your application for a grant be successful, we will ask you

to provide a statement by your board (or equivalent) confirming

the acceptance of the following conditions:

1. The organisation will exercise pay restraint for at least 18

months from the date of the funding agreement, including

imposing a pay freeze for all senior staff and 10% pay

reductions to pre-Covid-19 pay for those contracted to

receive above £150k per year

2. The organisation will demonstrate a commitment to increase

its organisational diversity and the diversity of its audiences,

visitors and/or participants

3. The organisation will demonstrate a commitment to progress

towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

4. The organisation will demonstrate a commitment to increase

educational/outreach work.

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Making a complaint

As an organisation, we will always listen to and respond to any

concerns that you may have. If you would like to make a

complaint about either the service you have received from Arts

Council England or the way we have handled your application,

we have a process that you can use.

Please note that Arts Council England does not have an appeals

process and for this reason, we are unable to accept complaints

that relate solely to the decision we have made rather than how

we have made it.

For more information, please visit the ‘Complaints’ section of our

website, under ‘Contact us’ (www.artscouncil.org.uk/contact).

Additionally, you can email complaints@artscouncil.org.uk .

Public sector equalities duty

Your application form gives us information we may use to report

to the Government or to monitor the different backgrounds of

people who receive grants.

Under the Public Sector Equalities Duty we must research and

monitor the different backgrounds of people who receive our

grants.

Counter fraud measures

Arts Council England has a Counter Fraud Strategy and Policy

and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that grant

holders given funding through this programme use the funding

31

appropriately. This will include random sampling checks on a

proportion of grants made. All grant holders must retain their

financial and other documentation relating to the grant, and Arts

Council England reserves the right to request this at any time.

32

Section seven – Freedom of Information Act

The Arts Council is committed to being as open as possible. We

believe that the public has a right to know how we spend public

funds and how we make our funding decisions.

We are also listed as a public authority under the Freedom of

Information Act 2000. By law, we may have to provide your

application documents and information about our assessment to

any member of the public who asks for them under the Freedom

of Information Act 2000.

We may not release those parts of the documents which are

covered by one or more of the exemptions under the Act. Please

see the Freedom of Information website at www.ico.gov.uk for

information about freedom of information generally and the

exemptions.

We will not release any information about applications during the

assessment period, as this may interfere with the decision-

making process.

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Section eight – Data Protection

The Arts Council is committed to using any personal information

(or personal data) we collect on a lawful, fair and transparent

basis, respecting your legal rights as an individual in accordance

with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), the

UK Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable laws that

regulate the use and privacy of personal data (Data Protection

Law).

As part of us meeting this requirement, we have published our

General Privacy Notice for you to refer to here. This tells you

more about the personal data the Arts Council collects; the

different purposes that we use it for and on what legal basis; who

we may share that personal data with; how long we keep it; and

your legal rights, including your right to contact us and receive

information regarding the personal data about you that we may

hold from time to time.

For further information about our obligations and your rights

under Data Protection Law, as well as how to report a concern if

you believe that your personal data is being collected or used

illegally, please also see the Information Commissioner’s Office

website at www.ico.org.uk

Contact us

34

Website: www.artscouncil.org.uk

Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk

July 2020