LONDON.- The Metroland Cultures Fund – a brand new £25,000 fund to provide financial support to Brent artists and creatives during lockdown – is being launched to support and encourage the vibrant creative life of the borough during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Metroland Cultures Fund will be the first initiative by Metroland Cultures - the charity set up by Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture to help deliver its cultural programme for the year and ensure its legacy for local people beyond 2020.

Metroland Cultures is offering grants of up to £1,000 to artists and creatives living in Brent who have been impacted by loss of work and income to enable them to use this time to develop and sustain their practice.

Lois Stonock, Artistic Director of Brent 2020, said: “Brent 2020 is more than just a programme of events. It is an investment in the creative life of the borough, now and in the future. Culture has always been an important part of Brent, in good times and bad. The Metroland Cultures Fund will be essential to supporting Brent’s creative community during this challenging time.”

Grants are available for any creatives living in Brent, including visual artists, writers, musicians, performers, choreographers, curators, filmmakers and designers. Funding can be used to support a range of activities, from buying arts-related equipment and enrolling in online training courses, to supporting business development and delivering digital projects for people to enjoy from home.

Applications to the Metroland Cultures Fund can be made via the Brent 2020 website. The deadline for applications is Monday 11 May, with grants to be announced the week of 25 May.

John Newbigin, Chair of Metroland Cultures, said: “The Metroland Cultures Fund will be a huge boost for Brent’s many artists and help them keep the borough full of energy and life during the COVID-19 lockdown. Taking the imaginative step of launching Metroland Cultures today as an independent charity helps ensure that the Brent 2020 programme, and its legacy for 2021 and beyond, can respond to the uncertainties of the months ahead and reflect what the people of the borough want.”

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said: “This is an amazing opportunity to ensure that our wonderful pool of talented artists and creatives across Brent continues to deliver art for everybody and that this vital outlet of positive passion for Brent 2020 is not forgotten in these times when we are so consumed with so much worry and sadness. We need creativity in our lives to feel good and so I’m really proud to be supporting this initiative.”

Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries said: “The Metroland Cultures Fund is a great way to support Brent’s creative community during these most difficult and challenging times. Our London Borough of Culture programme is designed to bring communities together through the arts, and this fund will help creative Londoners continue to do what they do best – inspire, entertain and bring London together.”