CREATIVE SCOTLAND UPDATE
Following Creative Scotland's emergency Board Meeting, we are very disappointed to learn Creative Scotland have failed to address the #RFOBlackHole in Ayrshire.
By excluding The Gaiety from their portfolio of Regularly Funded Organisations for 2018-2021 Creative Scotland have failed to address the need for national support for an Ayrshire population of over 400,000. This is despite an increase of £2.6 million taking the total allocated budget to over £100 million. The latest funding decisions have failed to meet Creative Scotland’s own strategic ambitions which aim to ensure "People of all ages from different types of communities from all parts of the country can have a deep and meaningful engagement with arts and creativity" [- Ambition 2, Creative Scotland 10 Year Strategy] Gaiety Chief Executive, Jeremy Wyatt commented: “Whilst we are genuinely pleased for our colleagues across Scotland- we are extremely dismayed with Creative Scotland’s decision making and lack of strategic dialogue.
Failing to reinstate our funding is a major strategic error that will have substantial negative impacts on Ayrshire in the years to come.
With only 1% of the total RFO Funds reaching South of the Glasgow and Edinburgh line we fail to see how this is ensures people across Scotland have access to artistic and creative experiences"