Creative Scotland

A total of 262 cultural organisations currently benefit from the stability of multi-year funding, including many theatres and performing arts venues, thanks to Scottish Government investment in the culture and creative sector.

This is more than double those which received grants under Creative Scotland's previous core funding arrangements.

We will continue to fund the internationally acclaimed work of our national performing companies in 2026-27, with a view to providing additional funding in future financial years as part of the commitment towards an additional £100 million support for culture.

Last year, they shared an uplift of £1 million, following an increase of £700,000 the previous year.

So I hate to reduce art to commerce, but I am also interested about the whole matter of people getting paid for what they do and i've spoken to various different musicians about the cost that goes into making a record for example so i'm kind of wondering if you think and i know you've got different projects you've had different projects but if you think about let's just take monie jitchell if you sort of weigh up what you've had to put into it in terms of costs of equipment and recording etc etc versus money that you've made from the music in one way or another what is that balance like at the moment

So we've been lucky that we've been able to get funding from Creative Scotland, which is a very specific...

I say that as somebody who now lives in London, like you don't have the same accessibility of arts funding down here.

And so that has actually...

We're fairly in control of our like costs.

And on that balance sheet, We've probably lost money, but not a huge amount, certainly less than a band that's like a four-piece or a five-piece.

But the Creative Scotland stuff has actually allowed us to extend what we would be doing naturally into a bigger project.

So, like, we've been able to get more artwork and, like, music videos.

Right.

soul harp is hard unless you sing do you know what I mean so like I'm working with Ron I enjoyed it so um it's just taking me this long and I got it was a kind of joint kind of initiative between Creative Scotland which is the public arts funded board here in Scotland and Crowdfunder so this opportunity came up and I was like oh you know what I mean I'll be selfish I'll go for this and thanks to my Crowdfunders and Creative Scotland managed to get the funds together to to kind of go for it and so yeah it's a bit of a it's more of a passion project if you know what i mean and i've just recorded tunes i like i used to perfect i used to all like in the last out few no not last few albums but when you start off doing things a lot of the time you kind of play what you think you should be or what folk expect but i just yeah just did what i wanted to do so yeah it's not getting named well hopefully by the time this is out it will have a name hopefully that's monday and tuesday's job is like trying to decide that's yeah maybe it should be something

about that like reflecting that it's your yeah that it's for you maybe it should be called

me yeah rachel here me but yeah so i'm just i'm well i'm well pleased so yeah So hopefully it will be out by the time this goes out, I think.

You've led or co-led 30 research projects on diversity and inclusion in that space.

You've been working for this with the British Film Institute, ScreenSkills, Creative Scotland, among many others.

And you are a regular voice for industry and policy on these questions.

So this is great to have you with us today.

And I put in sessions to do that.

And I really applaud Creative Scotland for taking the research that we did to the next step and trying to find solutions.

But I still think there's a step missing.

And I think it's good that you're doing this, Tom, because I think this is the step that's necessary.

I think a really important thing, because you make a really good point, I think if...

I'm not saying this is the solution, but I'm asking the question, if...

it is like, because Scotland is a small country and there are a lot of jazz editions and it's like almost too small to, and this would be the same, it's not a problem with Scotland in a way, it's like in any country it would be the case it's almost a little bit too small to like make your full career jazz, so part of it is like trying to, like are we, by looking inwards, you know, is it a mistake to not try and think a bit more, but I know Creative Scotland are doing, they are doing stuff in this area, but thinking even more about how we can all like help musicians in Scotland like get out of Scotland and even like playing further afield in the UK or playing in Europe like that's where like that's where a lot of like the financial security and also the career satisfaction would start to come more I think for a lot of musicians you know if it was didn't feel so difficult i mean even like going down and like playing in london like more and more people doing it and that's great but still it's part of a problem with the uk in general that everything's so london-centric regardless but like finding ways to maybe just make it just a little bit easier to like put together something more than just playing in scotland i i don't know i'm not i'm not saying i have the solution i'm not saying um it's easy necessarily but i'm wondering if there's like a um I don't know if that's a worthwhile thing.

I think that's a

It aims to help local community groups and not-for-profit organisations access advice, potential funding and opportunities.

Representatives will include the National Lottery, Development Trusts Association Scotland, CORA, Creative Scotland, Co-op, Support Scotland and East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action.

Book your free place at www.eventbrite.co.uk forward slash e forward slash funder fair tickets.

There will also be information on the Council's new Local Community Grant Fund, which aims to empower the unsung heroes working in our towns and villages.

Organisers said the move would help radically reduce the cost of attending the festival.

The National previously revealed that almost £600,000 of Creative Scotland funding had been awarded to the Edinburgh TV Festival across 10 editions before the decision to relocate.

It received £197,752 from the Scottish Government Art Agency for its 2025 event and £32,673 for its final year in the capital.

After the move to Manchester was announced, Glasgow Telefest chief executive Claire Duffy told The National that the loss would present an opportunity to create a festival which better prioritise Scottish talent.