- The total SEF Fund for financial year 2024/2025 amounts to £115,064. There is no guarantee that all funding sought will be allocated or that the full amount will be committed, as this is wholly dependent on the level and quality of submissions received. Making an application to the fund is a competitive process, and it is anticipated that Round 6 may be oversubscribed.
- Grant requests should be kept to a minimum value and no grant request should be greater than 20% of the total cost of the event.
- Grant available: In order to maximise the limited budget and to demonstrate best value, it is anticipated that most applicants will seek between £2,500 and £5,000 to support the cost of their event.
- In exceptional cases, consideration will be given to applications for larger requests. Any application over £5,000 will require a substantial justification and evidence to demonstrate the need for the funding:
- Consideration will be given to funding requests of between £5,001 and £15,000 where applicants are able to show that their event (using pre-COVID-19 figures) is worth between £150,000 and £1million to the local economy, or are able to demonstrate that they would be able to increase the capacity of the event with funds to support a specific item of additional activity/infrastructure, such as a new tent, or generator etc. In this case, the applicant will need to show how they expect this extra activity/item will help to sustain the event for the long-term.
- Support above the expected upper limit (£15,000) may also be considered where the event is able to demonstrate a unique offer that is not replicated elsewhere in Argyll and Bute and be of significant scale. Consideration will be given to providing funding of between £15,001 and £30,000 to events for which it can be demonstrated that the event or festival will usually have attracted 10,000+ people in previous years (i.e. using pre-COVID-19 figures) and is worth over £1million to the local economy (based on figures from previous years). It is expected that funding requests for such large-scale events will be accompanied by substantial evidence to show precisely why such levels of funding are required. Grant is capped at £30,000.
- Discretionary fund: This is a discretionary fund, for which there is no appeals process.
- Applicants must demonstrate evidence that steps are being taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the event/festival and specifically in regard to encouraging the use of local produce, reducing food mileage, using recycled or circular products and reducing waste and emissions.
- Please note this grant application does not supersede the requirement to separately apply for licenses or permissions needed for your event. Please also note that, as an Event or Festival organiser you must complete an Events Pack ahead of any Argyll and Bute Event or Festival taking place. This pack covers all of your responsibilities including: Covid 19 Risk Assessment, Event Risk Assessment, Environmental Health, Licensing, Special Permissions, as well as Contingency Planning and Site Clean-up. You can access everything you need here.
- There will only be one call for applications within this period and all applications must be completed in full and on time (including supporting documentation) by midday Monday 20th November 2023, otherwise the application cannot be considered for funding.
