Small Grants for CommunityMusic Groups to hold

To Absent Friends Concerts

Guidance notes for applicants

BackgroundA small grants fund has been established to enable community music groups to perform in the To Absent Friends festival (1-7 November 2017).

About the To Absent Friends festival

To Absent Friends is an annual festival of storytelling and remembrance that takes place across Scotland each November. A chance to celebrate and remember people who have died, the festival encompasses a range of public and community events, including concerts, music nights, exhibitions and spoken word performances.To Absent Friends is an initiative of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) and part of its Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief work to encourage more open and supportive attitudes and behaviours relating to death and bereavement in Scotland.

The festival exists to encourage participation, and is non-prescriptive – groups and individuals are encouraged to take part in whatever manner they feel appropriate. In founding To Absent Friends, SPPC's role is to be an enabler rather than a deliverer of festival activities.

What is a To Absent Friends concert?

To Absent Friends concerts celebrate and commemorate people who have died. Musically, this is a theme that is hugely open to interpretation, but might include... music of mourning such as a requiem or a lament... music written by an artist who has died... music that brings back memories of someone who has died... music that evokes strong emotions or inspires reflection... music from films with themes of loss... and so much more.

An example: Edinburgh Brass Band

Edinburgh Brass Band   is a community brass band based in the centre of Edinburgh, with players ranging from student to retirement age. For the last

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three years, the band has held a To Absent Friends concert each November, working in partnership with local church St John's who provide a beautiful venue for the concerts.Programmes have included a terrific variety of music, from Danny Boy to Schindler's List, and from Bowie's Life on Mars to Elgar's Nimrod. The band has involved a local choir, and provided free tickets to enable the attendance of some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable citizens. The concert is promoted to the local community, and has attracted more people each year. Band members are involved in the choice of music, and within the programme dedicate pieces of music to friends and family who have died.

Small Grants for Community GroupsTo enable To Absent Friends concerts to take place in towns and cities across Scotland this November, small grants of up to £350 are now available for bands, choirs and orchestras who wish to hold a remembrance concert for their local community.

What will the small grants programme fund?This small grants fund has been set up to support community groups to hold concerts or music nights as part of To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance, running 1-7 November 2017. We can only fund events and activities taking place within Scotland.

We have a limited amount of money available. Some aspects we’re likely to consider when allocating funds are:

- The number of people who’ll be involved in the concert – as audience and/or as musicians.

- The potential for the concert to bring people together- for example people of different ages, backgrounds, cultures and income groups.

- The location of the event (since we’d like to see concerts happening across Scotland, we’re unlikely to fund two events in close proximity... if you know of another local group that is applying, perhaps think about getting together and doing a joint concert?)

However, we recognise that approaches to this are likely to be varied, and encourage creative and innovative ideas that are appropriate to local groups and communities – if you are interested, please do apply, whatever the size or idea behind your event.

Who is eligible to apply?

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All kinds of community music groups are welcome to apply for a small grant and be part of the festival, including choirs, orchestras, school groups, jazz bands, brass bands, wind bands, samba bands, folk groups... everyone. We also welcome joint applications if several groups who would like to work together to put on a concert. If you wish to combine other elements into your concert, for example dance, poetry or film, that is fine.The small grants programme can only provide funding for organisations. We are unable to provide funding direct to individuals. If you are an individual, please either link up with an organisation in your local area who you think may be keen to be involved or get in touch with us by email at info@goodlifedeathgrief.org.uk to see if we can help.

Organisations can only apply for funding once within this funding programme. If you are a small branch of a larger organisation please contact your head office to check that they are happy for your branch to apply.

How much can be applied for?The maximum sum available through the small grants programme is £350. We have a limited amount of funding available so please think carefully about your project or event and obtain indicative costings to submit with your proposal. We are more likely to fund your proposal if we can see that it has been well thought out and properly costed. There is no minimum level of grant.

Q4. What can a grant pay for?A grant can be applied for to allow an organisation to undertake, within Scotland, a concert or music night that engages with their local community, as part of To Absent Friends during 1-7 November 2017. Examples of the types of things that can be included in an application are:

Costs of new sheet music for the concert. Conductor fees. Costs for booking a venue to host a concert. Food and refreshments people attending and participating (the

purchase of alcohol with the grant funding is not permitted). Printing costs for materials (leaflets, posters etc). Training costs or volunteer expenses. Publicity costs involved in promoting your event. Travel expenses for musicians or audience members.

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Here are some examples of things that can’t be funded:

Activities that have happened before your grant is received. Costs associated with making an application for funding. Day to day running costs for the organisation or activity that the

organisation would normally be expected to carry out. Any fundraising activity for the organisation. Projects that take place outside Scotland. Projects or events aiming to promote a particular religious, moral,

ethical or political stance at the exclusion of others.

Can we use our concert as a fundraiser for our organisation or a favourite charity?Our hope is that providing these small grants will help to bring down ticket prices, making concerts accessible to more people. However, we understand that different organisations are working within different financial constraints, and that some organisations may need to charge an entry fee to cover costs. A condition of funding is that organisations:

- Call the concert a ‘To Absent Friends’ concert, and primarily focus on the theme of celebrating and remembrance of people who have died.

- Donate 50% of profits to the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, to be used to run similar small grants schemes in future.

What will it mean to be part of the To Absent Friends Festival?If your funding application is successful you will become part of the To Absent Friends Festival 2017. We will list your event on our website and promote it through our social media channels. Where possible, we will undertake additional publicity and press releases to draw attention to the concerts taking place across Scotland, and we might contact you if opportunities for publicity arise that we think might be of interest to you.

By applying for funding you are also agreeing to: provide 300 words about the event and a photo, to share on the To

Absent Friends website by 1 October 2017: www.toabsentfriends.org.uk

Providing a short report, (template will be provided) photos and receipts for expenditure after the activity or event has taken place.

How can you apply?

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To apply for a grant, you will need to complete our short application form which can be downloaded from our website:https://www.toabsentfriends.org.uk/content/community-music-grants/

Once you have completed the form please email a copy to: robert@palliativecarescotland.org.uk

The deadline for receipt of completed applications is Wednesday 23 August 2017. However, in order to facilitate events which require advance planning, we will assess each application as soon as possible after it has been submitted. Where an application is successful we aim to provide funding as quickly as possible. Therefore there may be an advantage to getting your application in early.

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What happens next?Once we have received your application, we will give it consideration and let you know if we are able to provide funding. As part of the process of considering your application we may get in touch with you directly or may contact your head office if you are a branch applying on behalf of a larger organisation. If we are unable to provide funding for all or part of your application we will let you know the reason(s) why.

If your bid is successful, you should expect to receive the monies (by BACS) to fund your project, event or activity within a further week.

Why do I need to report back after the event?Receiving an activity report provides assurances that SPPC monies are being spent in an appropriate manner, and helps us to learn from, share and develop our awareness of local activity.

We may also use reports as part of our publicity work. If you are able to provide photographs or obtain media coverage, please let us know as we may be able to further showcase your activity through our website, newsletter, social media or other networks.

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Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief is an initiative of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in Scotland No: 133003. Registered Charity SC017979

CBC House, 24 Canning Street,Edinburgh, EH3 8EG

Tel: 0131 272 2735Fax: 0131 272 2800

 info@goodlifedeathgrief.org.ukwww.goodlifedeathgrief.org.uk