Coventry City of Culture Trust has been awarded £200,000 by a national foundation.
The funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation will support the Trust’s work in making Coventry 2021 even more inclusive as well as leaving a legacy of increased skills and cultural engagement in the city.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation was founded in 1961 and is one of the UK’s largest independent funders. Among its aims are supporting creative, confident communities and creating a fairer future, both aims which fit with Coventry City of Culture Trust’s ambitions to increase skills and cultural engagement as well as opening up opportunities for more people to create and curate in the city.
By becoming a Coventry 2021 City Champion, the foundation is supporting four key strands of the Trust’s delivery; disability inclusion, cultural education, leadership development and widening participation in volunteering.
The funding is supporting the creation of a Disability Inclusion Manager post and contributing towards making the programme fully accessible to D/deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent employees, artists, audience members, stakeholders, participants, and volunteers.
It is also supporting the role of the Trust’s Arts Education Manager and contributing to the delivery of the extensive programme of engagement work with schools and colleges which includes workshops, site visits, digital resources, in-school performances and continued professional development opportunities for teachers.
The grant will be used to support the ongoing development of the Trust’s two-year Leadership Programme for 15 of Coventry based cultural and social entrepreneurs, building on the support from Arts Council England’s Transforming Leadership programme.
Finally, the support from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation will help to extend the reach of the already successful £1m volunteering programme to ensure that the City Host programme is even more youthful, diverse and inclusive.
Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, said: “We are delighted to receive this level of support from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
“Not only will it enable us to ensure that we can make our year as UK City of Culture even more inclusive, it will help us to leave that all-important legacy for Coventry of increased skills and cultural engagement in the city.”
Alison Holdom, Arts Lead at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, said: “We think everyone should have access to culture and creativity where they live, and are delighted to be playing a part in Coventry’s UK City of Culture year.”