UP TO £100,000 could be given away this year to deserving Islanders with a passion for culture, an assistant minister has announced.
Assistant Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel is rebranding a little-known fund that helps Islanders visit galleries and museums outside the Island to promote the ideals of its benefactor William Charles Richmond-Pickering.
Previously called the Rivington Travelling Scholarship – following a bequest almost 20 years ago – it will now be known as the Rivington Fund, and has been relaunched with a new website that Deputy Morel, who has political responsibility for culture, hopes will persuade larger numbers to make visits to cultural venues outside the Island.
Deputy Morel said that it was set up to support those who could not afford to travel abroad to further their interest.
Although it has appeared on the government’s list of grant-giving bodies, response to the fund recently has been limited, prompting a relaunch of what Deputy Morel called ‘a fantastic fund’.
‘The Rivington Fund has the potential to help benefit so many people in Jersey. Cultural experiences are not only valuable in their own right but have the potential to inspire and even change the course of lives. Mr Richmond-Pickering clearly believed in the value of access to art and history further afield, and that people’s financial circumstances should not be a barrier to that,’ Deputy Morel said.
He explained that the objectives of the fund were threefold: to broaden experiences of art, crafts and history by travelling outside the Island; to develop artistic skills through attending international events; and improve applicants’ quality of life through art experiences specific to individual needs.
‘The important thing is a genuine interest in the subject matter and we will try to go with the spirit of Rivington which is to enable people to see and experience culture in every form,’ he said. Although specific evidence of their financial circumstances is not required in the application process, Deputy Morel said that, while they would ‘work with the goodwill of Islanders’, the trustees could also ask for detailed information to help confirm entitlement.
The capital value of the fund is around £1 million and grants are paid from the interest derived from a proportion of the Treasury’s consolidated investments. The fund currently stands at around £100,000.
Applications will be reviewed on a quarterly basis with the first set of awards being made following the first deadline on 1 May. Subsequently reviews will take place on 1 August, 1 November and 1 February.
Those who think they may qualify for financial support must be Jersey residents and have an interest in the arts, crafts or history and must be able to provide details of their proposed trip, demonstrate their passion and justification for the trip, provide a budget and commit to sharing their journey afterwards so that their experiences can inspire others.
Previous recipients of support explored Finland’s modernist architecture, visited the Tokyo Folk Craft Museum and travelled to New Zealand to explore the works of Frances Hodgkins and Dame Eileen Mayo but the fund would also, for example, support a family unable to afford the costs of attending a West End show.
Guidance states: ‘All arts, culture and history-related trips will be carefully considered, whether for an individual or a group. We simply ask that applicants are honest about the support they need and provide as accurate a budget as possible for us to review.’
Deputy Morel said that it was important that Islanders were aware of the availability of the fund and those who were eligible. ‘I’d urge anyone to head to the website rivington.je which will tell you all you need to know,’ he said.
