Eligibility
Community Events Funding is available primarily to support:
- Large scale public space celebratory cultural events involving 5,000 or more participants/audience
- Events which can demonstrate a citywide reach and impact
- Groups who can demonstrate a track record in event delivery and community engagement
As a general rule, Community Events Funding will not be provided to support:
- Religious or single faith-based content
- Political or single issue based content
- Conferences, conventions, exhibitions or seminar programmes
- Commercial or for-profit events
- Private events
- Neighbourhood events specific to a single geographic location or council ward.
- Organisations in receipt of a Manchester City Council Cultural Partnership Agreement Grant
Community Events Funding is subject to an assessment by application against the Outcomes Criteria that demonstrates how the event supports the objectives of Community Leadership, Community Celebration and Community Led Regeneration. You must also satisfy all of the general conditions.
Outcomes criteria
- Criteria 1 Community Leadership – helping community cohesion, civic pride and empowerment by bringing people together from across the city to share common interests.
- Demonstrating relevance to the target community, and a citywide level of community participation, volunteering and involvement in development and delivery.
- Attracting an audience from more than one community, from different backgrounds and age groups.
- Implementing a development strategy that initiates partnerships, capacity builds (through volunteering, skills training etc) and diversifies activity.
- Promoting social inclusion – identifying barriers to access, developing events that are relevant to the community and its interests and ensuring that the event will be neither threatening nor offensive.
- For smaller scale events predominantly targeted at one geographical community or neighbourhood the Neighbourhood Investment Fund (NIF) may be a more appropriate funding source.
- Criteria 2 – Community Celebration – celebrating a community’s distinctive cultural identity or engaging with what others see as their ‘identity’ and utilising innovation, quality and creativity to raise the profile of the city and improve satisfaction and pride among residents.
- Ensuring artistic, creative and innovative elements are included in the development of a quality event programme.
- Demonstrating strength and depth in community engagement and participation.
- Promoting a positive profile in the media and amongst local and regional residents.
- Enhancing the cultural experience of people who live, work or visit Manchester.
- Criteria 3 – Community Led Regeneration – providing the opportunity for community participation and commitment on a citywide basis, developing the use of public spaces and delivering economic benefits to the city through supporting skills, jobs and generating new visitor spend.
- Attracting visitors to Manchester, developing new audiences, generating economic benefit for the city and enhancing the city’s profile nationally and in the region.
- Animating and interpreting the physical environment.
- Engagement and support from the city’s business community and key stakeholders and development of strategic partnerships and collaborations.
- Securing funding from other public sector bodies, commercial sponsorship, maximisation of earned income, donations, advertising revenue and in-kind support.
- Criteria 4 - Environmental Impact – supporting Manchester City Council committed to our city’s shared plan to tackle climate change in making Manchester a Zero Carbon city by 2038.
- Demonstrate a commitment to implementing a range of sustainable event practices as part of the management of your event in order to support MCC's Carbon reduction target.
- Work with MCC and partners to support Manchester in accelerating its efforts to encourage all residents, businesses and other stakeholders to take action on climate change.
- It is required that 'MCC's Sustainable Event Guide for Community Events (as relevant to your event) OR 'MCC's Sustainable Event Guide for Major Outdoor Events' is used as part of the planning, management and monitoring of sustainable practice. The document has been produced to support event organisers in identifying areas of good practice and change, plus implementing that change whilst helping you and us monitor carbon reduction.
- It is required that 'MCC's Sustainable Event Guide for Community Events' is used as part of the planning, management and monitoring of sustainable practice. The document has been produced to support event organisers in identifying areas of good practice and change, plus implementing that change whilst helping you and us monitor carbon reduction.