Applications are now open for creative businesses focusing on digital content to apply for funding from ACNI. The Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) have announced £4m, to be administered over four years, to encourage growth, creativity and innovation.

On Tuesday, we also saw the release of the Hidden Wealth report, from Arts Quarter. In response to the wider philanthropy and giving agenda, championed by DCMS Minister Jeremy Hunt, Arts Quarter has updated its research report on hidden wealth and the capacity of arts organisations to respond to the philanthropy agenda.

Following on from last week’s unveiling of the £40m Catalyst Arts fund, the Culture Secretary outlined details of a further £55m that will be used to set up an endowment fund for cultural organisations.

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, this week announced further details of Catalyst Arts - a lottery fund of £40m made available to arts organisations in need of private funding. The money will be split between three initiatives: £30m will be distributed to those organisations that have fundraising experience but do not have the resources to fully explore innovative ways of sourcing private funding streams. Those organisations included in the scheme will be given three years to first research and then explore means of obtaining funding and it is hoped there will be a £25m return on the £30m investment by 2015.

The Philanthropy Review has published the findings of its six month review.

The Art Fund has launched RENEW, which makes available £600,000 to help museums build bold new collections.

Wednesday saw the launch of the Lost Arts campaign, supported by eight unions, including Equity, BECTU and the Musician’s Union.

Tuesday saw the official launch of the Digital R & D fund, supported by ACE, NESTA and AHRC.

Arts Development UK have published findings from their annual survey on local authority spending cuts for the arts. As expected, the survey suggests significant changes to local spending for the arts across England and Wales

On Tuesday, the Museums Association board of trustees called for the creation of a sector led framework, to assist ACE when deciding to fund regional museums.

A new study conducted on behalf of a-n The Artist’s Information Company has discovered that more artist membership and development agencies lost core funding in the recent ACE review than other types of cultural organisation.

On Monday, the Government released the much anticipated Giving White Paper, which aims to increase philanthropy and giving in the UK. The proposals form part of the wider Big Society agenda and hope to make charitable giving as easy as possible. Following on from the Giving Green Paper consultation in March, the paper outlines a number of changes including:

On Thursday the jointly commissioned report from BIS and DCMS, which explores the financing of the Creative Industry, was released. The report provides a thorough analysis of the financial variations within the sub sectors of the Creative Industry, the research draws on statistical, as well as, survey evidence from business and financial providers. The Government hopes to use the findings as part of the ongoing, wider development of a Creative Industries Funding Guide.

To read more about the report click here

To read the full report click here

On Tuesday, Creative Scotland launched a £1 million investment package into four pilot initiatives to support the Scottish film industry.

ACE and NESTA have teamed up to offer a share of £500,000 to arts and culture organisations to help them use digital resources to improve business.

 The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) recently published a report into the proposed role for the Big Society Bank.

Arts Council Wales today announced a £500,000 investment via the Arts Lottery for a number of festivals across Wales including Hay and the Vale of Glamorgan festival.

The Old Town Hall in Merthyr Tydfil will be transformed into an arts centre after the Welsh Assembly agreed to grant £4 million towards the project.

Last Friday brought the announcement of the new recipients of the Beyond Borders scheme. Beyond Borders is a specific funding programme which encourages music organisations to share resources and work together on the commissioning of new work.

On Wednesday the Art Fund announced an increase of its funding, for museums and galleries to buy and show art, by over 50% by 2014.