Arts Council announces new three-year £1.5m funding programme promoting arts projects in rural areas

The Rural Engagement Arts Programme aims to provide an integrated, cohesive approach to the needs of local rural communities as they emerge from the global Covid-19 pandemic. The overarching theme of the programme is to tackle isolation and loneliness, and promote social inclusion and wellbeing.

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, commented,

“We know that taking part in arts activities can raise self-esteem, boost confidence and motivation, as well as alleviate isolation and loneliness. The pandemic and the resulting lockdowns across the UK have taken a toll on individual lives, with mental health and well-being adversely effected as families and friends were separated for sustained periods of time, especially intergenerational. This has been particularly compounded in rural communities which are characterised by smaller and more dispersed populations.”

The Chief Executive continued,

“Thanks to The National Lottery players, this new Rural Engagement Arts Programme will increase opportunities for people living in rural communities to engage and participate in meaningful arts activities, enriching their lives for the better. The Arts Council believes that arts, and coming together as communities, can all make a vital contribution to building health, confidence and healthy integrated communities and I would encourage organisations in rural areas to apply to this vital new funding programme.”

The Rural Engagement Arts Programme (REAP) is one of the Arts Council’s core National Lottery programme areas. To develop and design the Rural Engagement Arts Programme, the Arts Council liaised with local authority officers to ensure that funding information will be widely disseminated. Some examples of previous rurally-based Arts Council supported projects are below.

A recent project, Heart of The Sperrins, was developed by Derry City and Strabane District Council and was funded through the Arts Council’s National Lottery supported Arts and Older People Programme. The project brought together a number of isolated, older residents living near the rural village of Lettershandoney in Derry-Londonderry to work with a professional artist, Leona Devine, for a six-week arts programme focusing on ceramics and making clay cottages for the participants’ homes and gardens.

Watch this video which features the group of older people from the rural village of Lettershandoney enjoying the project - https://youtu.be/O-dOn172ms0

Glasgowbury based in rural Draperstown, Magherafelt, is an arts organisation, supported by the Arts Council, which aims to support and enhance the profile of new and emerging artists from Northern Ireland while making arts accessible and available to all at a local level through the delivery of a series of creative programmes to people of all ages. The organisation developed a thriving Creative Hub delivering services tailored to meet the needs of children and their carers, young people, adults and older people and facilitate their participation in the arts, the creative industries and the digital community. One of their recent programmes ‘Heart of the Community’, offered free workshops to young people in their local community in DJing, electronic music production, samba drumming, photography, podcasting, pottery, sewing and more. Workshops were delivered to groups and aimed to reduce social isolation through participation in arts and creativity.

In 2021 Armstrong Storytelling Trust carried out a project to bring the traditional art of storytelling, music and reminiscence sessions to older people, aged 70+ who were experiencing dementia and isolation. Armstrong Storytelling delivered 40 sessions to individuals across the region in their own homes digitally through Zoom, between January and May 2021. Armstrong Storytelling partnered with Dementia NI, DEED (Dementia, Engaged and Empowered Derry) and Alzheimer’s Society to identify suitable participants.

The Rural Engagement Arts Programme is open to rural groups across the region and to people of all ages. The Arts Council will develop a series of case studies to support applicants who may be wishing to engage in the arts for the first time. Please note that applications must be submitted online and are open from Wednesday 8 June 2022 and will close on Thursday 28 July 2022. To view the Guidance Notes and make an application visit http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/funding/scheme/rural-engagement-arts-programme