CCS Funding Celebrates 30 Years
Someone has probably told you that change is all around us. The world is a changing place, we have to be adaptable and flexible.
Key skills that someone in the creative industry knows only too well. So how wonderful it is to have had 30 years of Creative Communities Scheme funding supporting our NZ creative communities, and still going strong.
The Creative New Zealand Creative Communities Scheme funding is celebrating 30 years of community impact in 2025. Thirty years of financial support to tens of thousands of community arts-based events in the country’s 67 local councils. Apart from a few tweaks (no more small monthly grants and no Guarantees against Loss), the Creative Communities Scheme (CCS) funding remains largely the same as its beginnings in 1995.
If you are a regular attendee of locally-based creative events: workshops, performances, exhibitions, gigs, cultural festivals, chances are high that somewhere along its journey a little bit of CCS funding has provided some financial support. And that has always been one of the winning outcomes of CCS funding – its accessibility to anyone in the community. No requirement to be a Charitable Trust or a registered body, CCS funding can be applied for by anyone with a creative project that allows local communities to get involved in the arts. This is the beauty of CCS funding, it is a springboard for first-time applicants, it is small-scale funding for emerging ideas.
CCS funding comes from our national arts organisation, Creative New Zealand. Although it is disbursed through local councils, the eligibility, funding criteria, and processes are all set by Creative New Zealand. Alongside this, an assessment committee is publicly nominated and selected every 3 years to represent a range of the arts activity in your local area. Local decisions made by local creative people.
Administering local CCS funding can be a real treat. Talking to people about their creative project – what do they want to do, how are they going to do it, who is going to be doing it, what impact will it have in the local community? These are the questions that help to form the project, bring it from an idea, to a possibility, to a reality. Finally, what do you need funding for in the form of a budget, and you are ready to fill in the application form.
Most commonly, CCS funding is distributed twice in the year. Every district council has its own dates, but generally the rounds fall around February to April, and July to October. Remember that finding out about these dates is all part of your project planning. Try starting with the website of the District Council where the project will take place.
If you are sharing a creative activity with your community but have never thought that funding is for you, then take a look at your local Creative Communities Scheme. Speak to your local administrator of the scheme and see how your project or idea might fit.
30 years of CCS funding provides many wonderful pictures and stories of creativity in our local communities. Do you have a story of CCS funding to share? Join in the social media celebration using #CCS30Years created by Creative New Zealand.
Creative Waikato administers the Hamilton City CCS funding on behalf of Hamilton City Council. The scheme is currently open for applications. Check your local District Council website for information on CCS funding, or find links from https://creativewaikato.co.nz/creative-resources/funding
Written by: Adrienne Clothier – Creative Waikato team member