News / Major creative funding boost for three isles organisations
SHETLAND Arts is to receive more than £350,000 for the financial year ahead from Creative Scotland – a rise of more than £100,000 from 2023/24.
The arts development agency will be given £1.14 million across the next three years, after a funding application to Creative Scotland.
It will receive £358,905 for the financial year from April onwards, and then £391,966 in both 2026/27 and 2027/28.
Bigton Collective, which operates from Hymhus at the former Bigton kirk, will also receive over £200,000 across the next three years.
The money will go towards running live music events in Bigton.
And artist-led social enterprise Gaada, in Burra, will be given nearly £500,000 over the next three years.
Shetland Arts cheif executive Graeme Howell said they were “delighted and extremely grateful” for the funding.
“We are particularly pleased to see two other Shetland arts organisations also receiving funding, marking a significant investment from Creative Scotland to the arts in Shetland,” he said.
“We will be working internally and with partners across Scotland to explore the impact of this funding and we can’t wait to share our plans soon.”
Howell said last year they would “need to review the structure of the organisation” after funding decisions were made by both Creative Scotland and Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT).
A potential funding boost from Creative Scotland would “greatly enhance” the scale of what the organisation is able to do in the future, he said at the time.
The funding uplift from Creative Scotland comes after Shetland Arts received a significant hike in its funding from SCT too, with the arts agency to receive £1.05 million for the 2025/26 financial year.
Creative Scotland said that more than £200 million in support would be provided to 251 organisations across the next three years.
Organisations were receiving an average uplift of 34 per cent for the next year, it said, and an average increase of 54 per cent for the year after.
That would deliver them “certainty and stability,” it said.
“Together, the organisations in this portfolio deliver cultural and creative work of quality, breadth and depth to audiences across Scotland and internationally and the portfolio is more representative of Scotland’s geography, diversity, people and communities than ever before,” the agency added.
“All this underlines Scotland’s reputation as a thriving creative nation where culture is valued and developed for all.”
Creative Scotland chairman Robert Wilson called it an “extremely positive moment for culture in Scotland”.
“Thanks to the vote of confidence in the culture sector, demonstrated by the recently announced budget from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland can offer stable, year-on-year funding to more organisations than ever before,” he said.
“I’m particularly pleased that this funding will increase further from next year, enabling even more fantastic artistic and creative work to be developed here in Scotland.
“This signals a significant moment of positive change for Scotland’s cultural community, and I hope that, after the deeply challenging time of the pandemic, and the difficulties that have faced the sector in the subsequent years, that now is the time that we can look forward with confidence and the Scottish culture sector can get on with what it does best, producing outstanding art and creativity for everyone to enjoy.”
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