Connect & Flourish Grant

Arts Council of Wales is looking for innovative new ideas that can connect to local people and make a real difference to the diverse communities of Wales.

From 01 September 2022, Arts Council of Wales will be opening the fourth round of the Connect and Flourish fund - a National Lottery funded programme designed to encourage collaborative projects between organisations, communities, individuals and creative professionals, that support projects to foster longer term change that can provide new and innovative ways of connecting with audiences and communities.

Connect and Flourish supports the delivery of projects between £10,001 and £150,000 over a period of up to 24 months

Expressions of Interest open on 01st September and will close at 5pm 20th October. 

Through the Connect & Flourish fund we want to support truly innovative and inspirational ideas that prioritise working with areas and people who often miss out on arts funding and creative opportunities.

Since its launch in Autumn 2020, 71 projects have been funded to a value of over £6.5 million. It’s a fund that encourages you and your partners to trial ideas and new ways of working that have the potential to develop longer term collaborative solutions and opportunities between artists, communities, non-creative organisations and arts organisations.

Across the first three rounds of Connect & Flourish we have funded projects as varied as:

·        projects looking at barriers and opportunities for diverse creatives 

·        supporting young people in care or with social services discover and own their creativity

·        supporting sectoral development projects establishing new networks for jazz musicians and storytellers

·        a consortium of presenters and producer established to develop and promote Welsh language Theatre production within the community

·        the development of greater engagement through sustainable development within locations across Swansea

·        and a project focusing on deaf theatre makers and another on access in venues

Partnerships so far have comprised of artists, housing associations, local authorities, performing companies, food banks, Welsh language groups, festivals and prisons.

Connect & Flourish exists to support projects that champion the diversity of voices, cultures and languages of Wales. In round four of Connect & Flourish, we are prioritising projects that meet one or more of the following priorities:

·        Involve and reflect the creativity of D/deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people

·        Involve ethnically and culturally diverse people and communities

·        Supports the arts sector to respond, adapt and diversify in the face of new and future challenges

·        Respond innovatively, imaginatively and meaningfully to the Climate Emergency

·        Involve and engage those individuals and communities experiencing and living in socio-economic inequality

·        Have a focus on establishing new opportunities within the Welsh Language

Applying for Connect & Flourish is a two-stage process.

On September 1st we will open the initial Expression of Interest stage, a simple, light-touch pitch of your idea submitted to us by the 20th of October.

Following the initial assessment of these Expressions of Interest, we will then be inviting the successful partnerships to apply to the full application stage in January 2023.

Guidance notes for the fund have now been published on the Arts Council of Wales website.

Leading up to the launch of the fourth round of Connect & Flourish we are hosting an online briefing event to help inform and guide potential Expression of Interest submissions in October 2022. In these sessions we will be providing an overview of the scheme, highlighting aspirations, developments and changes, hearing from existing projects and their experiences, as well as a question and answers session.

The online event will be on  6th September at 2pm. You can book on to this events here.

You can also speak to any one of our Grants and Information Officers for an initial discussion about the fund and your ideas by e-mailing Grants@arts.wales or phoning us. Full contact details are on our website here.