Micro-commissions for creatives: Developing new practice with new groups of young people

We have launched a second round of micro-commissions, following the success of our first round in early 2021. This fund is focussed on diversity, inclusion and relevance.

Who is this for?

Our micro-commissions are open to creatives and cultural organisations who want to develop work with new groups of young people.

Micro-commissions offer a chance to expand your knowledge, skills, and to work with groups of young people you haven’t worked with before. We want our micro-commissions to reflect the diversity of our region and the young people we want to reach.

We encourage applications from creatives with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

We are interested in projects that create high-quality experiences for young people who face barriers to arts and culture.

Some examples of groups who may face barriers to creative opportunities can include:

• Refugees
• New arrivals
• Young offenders
• Children in care
• Early years
• Young people with special educational needs
• Young people with disabilities
• Young people with low socio-economic status
• Young people with mental health issues
• Young people living in isolation
• Young people from different backgrounds and cultures.

This is a great opportunity to make a difference to young peoples’ lives and to develop your own practice.

How much is the fund?

The fund is £800, which will be paid in two installments. You will receive your first installment when the project begins. You will receive your final installment after you’ve completed a short survey about your experiences and outcomes.

The fund can be used to:

• Support your own time
• Cover staff costs
• Pay for mentoring from experts in the field
• Pay for materials or resources.

We encourage you to test your new ideas and gather feedback. We’ll do our best to help you connect with new groups and areas of work you’ve specified.

What’s the criteria?

To apply, you must:

• Be a creative practitioner or arts and cultural organisation
• Live and work in Yorkshire and Humber
• Not be in receipt of Arts Council funding
• Not be in receipt of core funding (from any source)

We encourage applicants to work with groups of young people outside of formal education settings. Specialist schools or settings are allowed. We expect you to adhere to social distancing rules, government protection policy and Health and Safety policies of any groups you work with.

How to apply

To apply, please complete this online form: https://forms.office.com/r/c2qkTiZuTz

Applications are due by Friday, 26th November.

We want our application to be accessible to everyone. If you require a larger print version or require other support, please contact April at april@weareive.org.

Key dates

26th November 2021 – Application Deadline

6th December 2021 – Applicants will be notified if they are successful or not

23rd December 2021 – Applicants have liaised with us, planned and made connections for their projects

From 1st January 2022 – Applicants will launch their projects

31st March 2022 – Project reflections due