Creative Lives is managing a major new grants scheme for voluntary creative groups in England, as part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) fund. The fund works in a number of targeted high deprivation local authority areas in England.

They have completed the pilot round of funding, awarding 10 grants across five priority areas. The fund was heavily oversubscribed, with only 20% of applications receiving funding. Following this pilot round, forms and guidance have been updated for Round 2, and an Expression of Interest phase for partnership grants has been introduced, with the aim of minimising time spent working on applications which may have only a small chance of success.

In Round 2 applications will be accepted from all 27 Know Your Neighbourhood eligible areas, which are: Barnsley, Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Bolsover, Burnley, Cannock Chase, County Durham, Doncaster, Fenland, Great Yarmouth, Halton, Hartlepool, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Kingston upon Hull, Knowsley, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Sandwell, South Tyneside, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Tameside, Tendring, Thanet, Torridge, Wakefield, and Wolverhampton.

Approximately 35 project grants will be awarded (up to £10,000) as well as 15 partnership grants (up to £20,000). Creative Lives will be distributing funds alongside Libraries Connected and the Association of Independent Museums.