Festive Fund launch

Published

6th June 2022

A £50,000 Fund to support activities over the Christmas and New Year period has been launched by Dundee City Council.

Now in its third successive year applications for grants for festive events across the city are being invited from community groups and cultural organisations seeking financial backing for Christmas trees, festive lighting and/or creative and community festive activities.

Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s development committee said:“With the success and increasing popularity of the fund over the past couple of years it has become clear that providing direct funding to communities to help them stage Christmas events is something that people welcome.

“Providing support to people in our communities with some of the resources they need to deliver a hyper-local Christmas programme, while at the same time balancing it with an evolving city centre offering that supports the retail and hospitality sectors delivers the best of both worlds.”

Grants of between £500 and £8000 are on offer with applicants required to meet at least one third of the cost of the event in cash through other grants, donations, and/or entry fees. Activities should take place sometime between Friday 11 November 2022 and Friday 6 January 2023.

An application form can be found at https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/dundee-partnership/dundee-partnership-funding

To allow groups more time to plan their activities, the deadlines for applications have been brought forward. A first round of applications will be assessed after an initial deadline of June 13. Any funds remaining after the first round will be allocated after a second deadline of August 8.

Lord Provost Bill Campbell said:“Christmas is always a time of year when people come together at home and in public spaces to celebrate, so it is a matter of civic pride that we are able to offer our communities the funding to be able to mark it in their own way.

“With our evolving programme of activities in the city centre, I’m sure that locals and visitors will find lots to enjoy in a Dundee Christmas.”

Assessments will be carried out by a panel of Dundee City Council officers and a community representative with the aim of getting decisions out to applicants as soon as possible after the deadlines. The panel will aim to support a spread of applications across the entire city.

Anyone who needs support making the applications should contact paul.davies@dundeecity.gov.uk in the first instance.

Dundee City Council

Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.

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