Thanks to the Government’s recently published Culture White Paper, the Great Place Scheme will pilot new ways of working between cultural, community and civic organisations.

This will ensure the considerable investment in culture made by organisations like HLF and ACE has the best possible impact on jobs, economic performance, educational attainment, community cohesion and health and wellbeing. It will also help persuade civic organisations and local businesses to invest in and make culture central to their thinking.

Working across England

Grants of £500,000 to £1.5m will support a range of activities in 12 pilot areas across England. Examples include:

• new ways to include arts, culture and heritage in the provision of local education or health services
• research into the contribution made by arts, culture and heritage to local economies
• development of local strategies that turn conversations and creation of networks into action to maximise the community benefit that local arts, culture and heritage can deliver

The Great Place Scheme is likely to include everything from a city-wide scheme to groups of rural or coastal local authority areas. HLF and ACE will contribute £7.5m each for projects lasting up to three years. There will also be additional support from other organisations such as Historic England through its Heritage Action Zone initiative.

Bringing partners together

Applications must come from partnerships, which are likely to include:

• arts and heritage organisations
• community/voluntary groups
• social enterprises
• businesses
• local authorities
• parish councils
• local economic partnerships
• other public sector organisations

Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said: “A strong heritage and cultural sector supports tourism, wellbeing and economic growth. By celebrating and preserving history, architecture and art, communities can transform their local area.”

[quote=HLF Chair Sir Peter Luff]“The Great Place Scheme is a challenge to communities to work together to put culture at the centre of their local plans.”[/quote]

HLF Chair Sir Peter Luff said: “The Great Place Scheme is a challenge to communities to work together to put culture at the centre of their local plans.  HLF invests a huge amount to make communities better places to live, so we want to be sure that National Lottery players’ money is being used in the most effective ways possible.”

ACE Chief Executive Darren Henley added: “The Arts Council’s investment has already been instrumental in transforming places up and down the country, and we look forward to working with the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic England on the Great Places scheme to continue this and work with new places.”

Next steps

Potential applicants should first discuss their proposals with ACE or HLF. The next stage is to submit an expression of interest by 6 October 2016.  Online applications will be open from 1 November 2016 to 2 January 2017.

More information

More information can be found on the Great Place Scheme website.