Partnership Investment – Regional and National Impact Funds Between 2019 and 2022 Festival Bridge will invest £500,000 towards the Cultural Education Challenge in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Peterborough. Partnership Investment is designed to attract and secure new sources of money not traditionally spent on arts and culture for children and young people. Partnership Investment can only be released by securing at least 100% match investment. We want to ensure that this investment opportunity brings about lasting improvements in cultural education opportunities available to children and young people across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Peterborough. To achieve this we have devised two open funds:
Creating Regional Impact - £200,000 Creating National Impact - £75,000
A further Partnership Investment fund of £225,000 will support the capacity growth of existing Local Cultural Education Partnerships. Creating Regional Impact: Festival Bridge will work with key stakeholders to develop and realise exceptional investment opportunities which support the Cultural Education Challenge. Through this £200,000 fund we intend to deliver strategic impact for Local Cultural Education Partnerships by facilitating new investment relationships, new ways of working and new financial models. Creating National Impact: Working with the Bridge England network we will devise and facilitate partnerships of national value that deliver significant impact locally. This document outlines how interested parties can put forward proposals for Partnership Investment.
What is Partnership Investment? As a part of their funding agreement with Arts Council England, Festival Bridge allocates 25% of the Arts Council England funding to Partnership Investment. Partnership Investment aims to attract and secure new sources of money not traditionally spent on arts and culture for children and young people in the LCEP areas. Arts Council England has produced the following statement to detail the scope of Partnership Investment: The Arts Council expects that Partnership Investment will support the strategic development of Local Education Partnerships as a priority focus wherever possible. This may include resource to support capacity, planning or evaluation of LCEP progress. Investment outside of this scope will only be agreed in exceptional circumstances. Our ambition is that LCEP areas will continue to grow and thrive over the next four years and we consider Partnership Investment to be central to this success. Partnership Investment must not be used to facilitate programme delivery, it is not an alternative to project grants and the Arts Council will not support the approval of applications where this is the case. Our ambition is that Partnership Investment will support local areas to create new financial sustainability for cultural education. Therefore at least 100% match funding must be sourced from alternative non-arts income. This cannot include Lottery funding or support in kind. Bridge Organisations will support LCEP partners to develop their cultural education offer locally and will be able to advise on how Partnership Investment can support their strategic development and future sustainability. Key Criteria
Investment can only be released at a minimum of £1 for each £1 invested. Our ambition is that applicants achieve match at a higher ratio. The minimum amount that can be invested is £25,000. Investments must support the strategic development of a Local Cultural Education Partnership Co-investors must be strategic not delivery partners Match cannot be from Arts Council, Lottery or be support in-kind
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Priorities for Partnership Investment Festival Bridge prioritises Partnership Investment that:
Demonstrates co-creation between sectors and/or young people and cultural education providers. If not in the development of the proposal, co-creation must be realised through the outcomes of the proposed investment Provides quality assurance for outputs, particularly through the use of Artsmark, Arts Award and the Quality Principles for work with Children & Young People Contributes to the Festival Bridge R&D priorities: a. Early Years Cultural Education b. Skills Development c. Wellbeing d. Digital e. Proving impact of cultural education f. Children and young people’s voice Enables new partnerships and / or new ways of working Supports sustainable and resilient organisations creating a return or longer term gain for children and young people
There is a strong interest in using Partnership Investment alongside different models of finance such as enterprise investment or social investment activity, which might increase the sustained impact of the investment.
Area Priorities and Decision Making To ensure the greatest impact for Partnership Investment we have aligned to three sub-regional stakeholder groups. We intend for Partnership Investment to align to the aims of the relevant stakeholder groups ambitions. As part of the decision making process for these funds we will seek the views of stakeholders responsible for these strategies, we call these as Local Stakeholder Reference Groups. Across this Bridge area these are:
Cambridgeshire: Cambridgeshire Culture Norfolk & Suffolk: the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Culture Board Working Group for Cultural Education Peterborough: Peterborough City Council’s Cultural Strategy
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How to invest with us We have designed a process that is light touch for those looking to invest, whilst open to scrutiny from the sector partners to ensure we realise the best opportunities for impact. The two stage process for requesting investment is described below. The process is as follows: Stage 1: Expression of Interest 1. Expression of Interest submitted to Festival Bridge 2. Festival Bridge reviews Expression of Interest and creates recommendation 3. Recommendation discussed with Festival Bridge Committee & Arts Council England Relationship Manager and if appropriate Local Stakeholder Reference Group to confirm decision. 4. Lead partner informed of decision. If invited to develop a full proposal the process is as follows: Stage 2: Full Proposal 1. Proposal submitted to Festival Bridge 2. Festival Bridge assess proposal 3. Assessments reviewed by Festival Bridge Committee & Arts Council England Relationship Manager 4. Assessment reviewed by ‘Local Stakeholder Reference Group’ 5. Recommendation reviewed / approved by Arts Council England Area Management Team 6. Lead partner informed of decision Decisions will be made against the following criteria: Source of Partnership Investment How well investment meets the aims of LCEP(s) involved How well investment builds capacity of the LCEP How well the proposal meets wider aims of Festival Bridge How well the proposal meets the aims of the Local Stakeholder Reference Group Who can submit a proposal? Any constituted organisation. Commercial companies will need to demonstrate how funds will be restricted for the purposes described in the proposal A single Local Cultural Education Partnership (as listed above) represented by a lead applicant from a constituted organisation A collaboration of the Local Cultural Education Partnerships listed above represented by a lead applicant from a constituted organisation When to submit a proposal? Proposals are welcome at any time before the final closing date of 30th July 2021. Activity proposals, including reporting, must be complete by 31st March 2022. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The fund will close as soon as funds have been allocated which is likely to be before the final closing date.
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The intention is to respond to proposals quickly but due to the scrutiny required this may take some time. Proposers should expect a reply within 12 weeks from the date of their proposal being received by Festival Bridge. We recognise that having confirmed investment may enable the LCEP to negotiate with third parties about investment opportunities. As such, it is possible to submit a proposal before Partnership Investment is secured but it is expected that the proposal will contain, at the very least, a clear intention as to where investment will be secured from. Investment will not be released by Festival Bridge until the minimum ÂŁ1 for each ÂŁ1 match is secured. Evaluation and monitoring will be agreed with each investment based on the proposal, however as a minimum partners will be expected to provide an end of project report detailing the finances and how agreed objectives have been achieved, including the impact of the investment on improving outcomes for children & young people. Before making a proposal we encourage you to contact Festival Bridge.
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