Arts Council England (ACE) has announced a £43.5 million shift in funding as part of the Government’s ‘Levelling up’ project. ACE is the main organisation giving out grants to support art, culture, and creativity across England. ACE has said that it will now commit to more funding for projects and institutions, spreading funds throughout the country and allowing more organisations to receive help.
In 2022, ACE awarded grants to 32 disabled-led organisations, with the total funding just two per cent of the 2023-26 investment programme. The overall funding to disabled-led organisations across the UK is £7.25 million a year: it may sound like big money, but London alone receives £153 million per year from ACE.
But funding for disabled-led groups is desperately needed. David Ward, the fundraising manager of Magpie Dance, a charity supported by ACE alongside other charities says: “There are lots of barriers preventing people with learning disabilities from taking part in mainstream activities and our work is geared to remove some of those barriers and making sure they can take part in as many activities as the range of activities that people without a learning disability can do.”
Fundraising has been a big part of Magpie Dance, ensuring they can provide their services at a low cost. “It goes into the question of why fundraising is so important,” says David. “It’s about recognising that there are things as a society we think are really worthwhile, and really worthy, and if that's something that we think society needs then the fundraising needs to be behind it so that anyone can take part with those opportunities.
“I feel the issue is that the Arts Council only has a certain amount of money that they can spend. They have difficult decisions about where that money goes and how to fund everything from the Royal Opera House to companies like Magpie Dance, working in village halls and community centres and it's difficult to get that balance because the Arts Council's job is to support everyone they can.”
Overall, though, David thinks that ACE does a good job: “Certainly the latest national portfolio round has done an even better job of helping to balance [the difference between large and small charities].”
A company that isn't supported by Arts Council is Indepen-dance, an arts company that offers dance classes for both disabled and non-disabled people. “Our organisation exists because there was little or no access to a dance activity for disabled people, either because the venue wasn't accessible or because the teacher didn't have the skills to make the dance session accessible to people who move differently and have different bodies,” says Karen Anderson, artistic director of Indepen-dance.
Karen says that funding makes a significant difference to Indepen-dance: “We fund our activity in four main ways, we are an RFO organisation (regularly funded organisation), we get core funding from our City Council, money from Trust Funds, and support from Foundations. We also apply for funding from BBC Children in Need, and the National Lottery. We also generate our own income by selling our services to other third sector organisations and mainstream schools and nurseries by providing bespoke outreach dance packages.”
“There is a lack of funding, period,” Karen says, “not just for the disability arts sector but for all charities. Funding from trust funds and foundations is very competitive and unfortunately it can be the luck of the draw: you win some and you lose some.”
Another independent dance company, Tailfeather Dance gives young adult dancers with additional learning needs a creative platform to explore and develop dance, movement and performance skills in different genres.
Imogen Butler, a member of the Tailfeather company, says: “By promoting inclusivity, celebrating diversity and widening participation within the performing arts, the dancers enjoy being in an environment where they can fully express themselves within creative tasks and performance work.”
Every independent company needs to think about funding and figuring out ways to make their organisation sustainable, something that Tailfeather hopes to continue.
But Imogen is unsure about the future of Tailfeather Dance if it does not receive funding in 2023-24: “This is very worrying as the aspirations of the dancers is to train and work within the performing arts. I want to showcase their incredible work in order to break down barriers and challenge perceptions within dance.”
There are more ways that funding can be used fairly throughout the performing arts sector and the more it is talked about, the more likely something will be done. For all the positive changes in the industry, there are still gaps that need to be filled, particularly funding companies around the UK equally, particularly in the north. As Magpie, Tailfeather and Indepen-dance all say, fighting to exist prevents them from being able to offer as many classes and workshops for those with different needs as they would like to. The shift in ACE funding could change that.