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Arts & Business NI Opens Applications for Next Round of the Pioneering Blueprint Programme.

Arts & Business NI (A&B NI) is thrilled to announce that applications are open for the next round of the Blueprint programme, with applications accepted until 12 noon, 29 Nov 2024. A&B NI invites applications from small to medium-sized* cultural organisations across all art forms who are based in Northern Ireland. For full entry criteria, please see the application form below. 

The Blueprint programme is the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland, specifically developed to help arts and cultural organisations become more financially resilient, less reliant on short-term public funding and commercially confident to diversify and grow. Already, 17 arts organisations from across NI, are completing the first round of Blueprint, and have seen the positive impacts the programme brings. 

In its second round, 10 cultural organisations will be selected to take part through the application process. This round of the programme will span three years and participants will receive comprehensive training and mentoring in areas including, finance, fundraising, business models, and governance. The programme also offers a range of investment grants, which are open for flexible use by the recipient organisation to invest in a way that best encourages growth and stability.   

Emma Drury, CEO of Seacourt Print Workshop and Blueprint participant strongly recommends that other organisations consider the opportunity; “Blueprint delivers way beyond funding. Participants get to know each other well and the support from mentors and trainers is unmatched. It gave us a chance to step back and think about how to best develop Seacourt and how we can keep doing what we love in the heart of Bangor for years to come. We are moving into a new phase for Seacourt in 2024, we own the building, and we are undergoing a huge renovation project set to be unveiled in early October. Blueprint has given us the tools we need to keep evolving and looking towards our future with optimism.”  

Arts & Business NI encourages all eligible arts organisations seeking a path to sustainable growth to apply and join a community dedicated to shaping and strengthening the future of the arts sector across Northern Ireland.  

Blueprint is supported by funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund NI delivered by National Lottery Community Fund NI, Department for Communities NI, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Belfast City Council and Arts Council Northern Ireland.

Download the application and eligibility criteria at the link below
Send your completed application to Amira McDonagh, a.mcdonagh@artsandbusinessni.org.uk by 12 noon 29.11.24