Creative Communities Scheme

The Creative Communities Scheme (CCS) is a national funding program administered locally by Creative Bay of Plenty for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council. Creative New Zealand spends over $3.2 million annually supporting around 1,800 projects nationally through this scheme. The Western Bay allocation distributes approximately $24,000 per funding round across two rounds each year. The scheme aims to increase participation from local communities in the arts sector, support the diversity of local cultural traditions, and encourage young people to participate in local arts. 'Arts' is broadly defined to mean all forms of creative and interpretative expression. The average grant size is around $2,000 per project. Projects must have both creative components and community engagement components, focusing on at least one of three key areas: access and participation, diversity of cultural traditions, or youth engagement in the arts.