Arts Council England Publishes Guidelines to its New 2023-26 Investment Programme

Funding for cultural organisations to engage local communities and contribute to creative provision across England.

The 2023-26 Investment Programme consists of two separate funding programmes, both intended to support Arts Council England’s ten-year strategy (2020-2030), Let’s Create:

  • National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) 2023-26 Programme.
  • Investment Principles Support Organisations (IPSO) 2023-26 Programme.

Each programme will open to arts organisations, museums, local authorities and libraries, with successful applicants receiving a minimum of £50,000 a year for three years.

Applications are welcome from partnerships and consortiums.

NPO Activities must align with at least one of the outcomes associated with Let’s Create:

  • Creative People – encouraging widespread participation in creative activities.
  • Cultural Communities – promoting social cohesion and improved physical and mental wellbeing across local communities.
  • A Creative and Cultural Country – embracing innovation, collaboration and diversity to build a robust and resilient cultural sector.

IPSO Activities must embed at least one of the four Investment Principles and support other organisations to do the same:

  • Ambition and quality – linking creative work to wider aims and ambitions and working with creative partners to refine output.
  • Dynamism – developing a business model that is flexible and able to adapt to changing environments.
  • Environmental Responsibility – embedding environmental thinking into every aspect of work, from operations to creation and programming.
  • Inclusivity and Relevance – identifying who is under-represented and which communities are under-served and taking action to address this.

The programme of work supported by the investment must primarily benefit artists, creative practitioners, participants or audiences across England.

Funded activities should run from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2026.

Both programmes will open at 12 noon on 14 February 2022 and close at 12 noon on 26 April 2022.

(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)