Supporting artists

Sunderland Music Arts and Culture Trust has received more than £300,000 for a music initiative designed to provide people from diverse backgrounds with full access to educational and cultural events.

A total of £300,000 has been provided for the Sunderland Music City project from a social investment fund for the North East of England established by Northstar Ventures and £37,500 from the County Durham Community Foundation.

MAC Trust currently organises several major events in Sunderland, including Summer Streets, in partnership with Sunderland Council and Arts Council England.

Through Music City, the trust hopes to establish and brand Sunderland as a 'music city', using music, audiences and venues to help change people's cultural experiences in the city and the region, make it a more vibrant place and somewhere musical talent want to study and live.

Paul Callaghan, Chair of MAC Trust, said: "By developing and supporting music we can help the city and the region in several important ways through job creation, economic and artistic growth, tourism development, reputation and brand building. 

"It will involve not just the music community but also the education and public sectors, voluntary bodies, and the community at large covering all musical genres, all ages and everyone who wants to play, sing, or listen."

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is partnering with Tileyard North, a Wakefield-based creative space, to support the North of England’s independent music sector.

The partnership will see AIM hold a permanent space at Tileyard North. The association is planning a series of activities in collaboration with the venue, while AIM members will have access to discounted rates at Tileyard’s creative spaces.

The initiative will begin with a roundtable event, strategically designed to anchor AIM in the North of England and bolster its efforts in talent development.

AIM’s Director of Business Development & Partnerships, Ben Wynter, said the collaboration is the first step to strengthen engagement with regions and nations outside London and the South East of England.

“Our collective aspiration is to eliminate the necessity for talented creatives and industry professionals to relocate to London in pursuit of success,” Wynter said.

“Instead, we want to support them to thrive locally, with AIM , contributing to the development of sustainable economies and ecosystems throughout the UK.”

Having opened in 2023, Tileyard has set ambitions of becoming the UK’s largest creative space outside of London.

“Wynter’s vision is completely aligned with ours and his pledge to build a home for AIM at our Tileyard North campus in Wakefield is testament to our shared aspiration to increase the opportunities for creative talent to incubate, develop and thrive in the North of England,” commented Nick Keynes, Co-Founder of Tileyard North.

Chiswick House & Gardens Trust (CHGT) has unveiled plans to create a new learning hub with facilities to support 200 volunteers and artists’ studios.

The project aims to address the charity’s long-term viability and will also work with local residents to turn an unused outdoor space into a fruit garden.

CHGT said creating its new "campus”, Cedar Yards, will support the growth and accessibility of its volunteering and community activity. The addition of affordable workspaces for up to 100 artists and makers will also offer a new source of income for the trust.

So far, a third of the project cost has been raised, underpinned by funding from London Borough of Hounslow through Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) grants and funds from the Thriving Communities and Creative Enterprise Zone Grants. The rest of the funds are being raised from charitable and private sources.

Xanthe Arvanitakis, Director of Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, said: “This ambitious project has been designed to directly impact the wellbeing of our local community as well as enhancing cultural and creative enterprise activity in London Borough of Hounslow.

"By creating more public green spaces for local people, we can expand our learning and community programme, which is currently running at capacity. With the introduction of affordable workspaces for artists and makers, we will foster a local creative economy and generate much-needed new income for the trust.”

The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced an agreement with RADAR Festival for a percentage of every ticket to go towards supporting grassroots music venues via the charity’s Pipeline Investment Fund. 

RADAR Festival, the contemporary indoor music festival in Manchester, is the first festival to agree to donate to the Pipeline Investment Fund which has awarded more than £260,000 to 61 UK Grassroots Music Venues since it was founded in 2022.

Co-organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith said: “If we don’t protect the smaller venues then there isn’t a pipeline for the next [festival] headliners, and this ticking time bomb is something that the music industry can, and must, take action on.” 

MVT CEO and founder Mark Davyd said: “We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to RADAR Festival, for taking this bold step as the first festival to champion the Pipeline Investment Fund. 

"Their support is a strong commitment to the heart and soul of the UK's music scene, nurturing its roots through the vital network of Grassroots Music Venues."