SPARK PROJECT FUND
July 2024 |
MYRIAD: Spark Project Fund
Are you a Greater Manchester organisation passionate about mental health and global majority* communities?
Would you like to explore how creative practice can support your work become more inclusive and culturally competent
The MYRIAD: Spark Project Fund offers funding for test and learn projects exploring how culture and creativity can reduce mental health inequalities in global majority communities. Through these projects we aim to create opportunities to explore new practice, new approaches and new partnerships and we are inviting expressions of interest from statutory, VCFSE and cultural sector organisations.
We will fund delivery of up to six small projects (approximate value £15K). We welcome approaches from organisations that are able to contribute match funding although this is not essential.
Timeframes are flexible although all activity must be completed by July 2025.
MYRIAD is a two-year creative health initiative, which aims to increase the range of creative, mental health support available to global majority communities in Greater Manchester. Find out more about the full project here
*Global majority refers to people who do not consider themselves or are not considered to be white.
Criteria
To be eligible to apply you should already be providing mental health and/or wellbeing support to communities in Greater Manchester and be keen to explore how creative practice (also called creative health practice) can be incorporated into your delivery model, particularly in relation to how you support global majority communities.
We are looking for partner organisations who are questioning, keen to expand their practice and are open to new ways of working. You do not need to have all the answers – we will work with you to co-design the approach and to identify the right creative practitioner/s.
What sort of projects are we looking to support
Think about the approach you would like to try or question you would like to answer through a test and learn project. Here are some examples of exploration points:
- By offering dance sessions, can we encourage more young women to engage with our mental health offer?
- Can a visual artist and MH practitioner work together to provide effective metal health support to older SE Asian women?
- If we refer young people from global majority communities to groupwork sessions led by a spoken word artist, does this provide enough support to maintain their engagement whilst they wait for one-to-one support?
You may be thinking of a new piece of work or an extension to an existing project or programme. You may already have an idea of the creative practitioner/ organisation you would like to work with, or perhaps this is a new area of work for you. We facilitate a network of organisations and creative practitioners from across relevant sectors, and we will match you with the right ones once you have been selected to take part.
Apply now
Complete the expression of interest form here and we will contact you to discuss your idea.
Deadline: Monday 16th September, Midday
Successful applications will demonstrate:
- Willingness to work in partnership and collaboration
- An identified need
- Commitment to the project with staff time and/or match funding
We will work with successful applicants from this stage to finalise your project proposal and match you with the most appropriate partner. We will also identify an assistant practitioner to work on the project. This will be someone who has successfully completed our artist training programme and who will be supervised by the lead practitioner. Their placement fee will be covered from a separate budget.
To discuss this opportunity further, contact Julie.McCarthy@Greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk