Sport and culture events: application guidance and funding criteria

This guidance note contains advice for event owners and organisers wishing to apply for Welsh Government Event Wales funding, for sport or culture events, and must  be read in full before making an application. There is a similar, but separate, application process for business events (MICE): Business events: applicant guidance and funding criteria

Before making an application, you must speak to a member of the Event Wales team to determine if your event and proposal aligns with our The National Events Strategy for Wales 2022 to 2030 (‘Strategy’) and budget availability for the year in which you wish to apply. Please contact us with a brief outline of your event/proposal at eventwales@gov.wales and a member of the team will aim to contact you within 10 working days to arrange a discussion. Lead in times for consideration of any award of funding are usually a minimum of 12 to 18 months so this will need to be factored into your planning. 

As part of that discussion we will also consider with you, and any other potential funders (such as Arts Council of Wales, sport governing body or your local authority), how your proposal aligns with their strategic priorities, the range of impacts and strategic outputs which we would expect to be delivered as a result of our investment in your event and to ensure there is no potential for duplication of funding awarded by other bodies.

Welsh Government has a duty to protect public funds, ensuring they are well-managed and used only for their intended purposes. Please ensure you familiarise yourself with what we expect of grant-funded bodies, and third parties who manage grant schemes on our behalf: Welsh Government expectations of grant recipients | GOV.WALES.

Event Wales is not a recurring grant giving body or sponsor.  We operate as a time-limited strategic investor to support the establishment of new events, development and growth of existing events, or to attract major international events to Wales which can deliver economic, social and other positive impacts to Wales. 

The purpose of Event Wales funding is not to relieve budget pressures and will therefore not be provided for existing core event delivery costs.  We are also unable to fund capital costs or performer fees.  Instead, we aim to bring added value to an event, through support for new or enhanced event related activities, which deliver positive economic and social impacts to Wales and/or raise Wales’ international profile (or to prevent the discontinuation of such activities which would have a detrimental effect on existing impacts), such as:

• marketing and promotion activity to attract additional or new audiences into Wales, or to profile the Cymru Wales brand in key international tourism and business markets
• additional production and staging costs which will support the growth and development of the event 
• rights fees
• event related training and development, or creation of new jobs e.g. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training for event staff, employment of a dedicated Marketing Manager to deliver enhanced marketing activity which results in additional economic or international profile impacts for Wales
• providing opportunities for Welsh or Wales based artists and athletes to perform to  international audiences or to provide opportunities for Welsh audiences to experience international events and performances that otherwise may not be possible.

Stage 1

Following the initial discussion with one of our team, if we determine your event and proposal potentially aligns with our Strategy, you will be asked to complete an application questionnaire to provide further, detailed, information about your event, organisation, purpose of funding request and what ‘added value’ this will deliver to enable us to fully assess whether your event meets the strategic priorities of Event Wales. 

Completion of the application questionnaire is not a guarantee of funding.  Only once an assessment of the information provided has been satisfactorily completed, and due diligence checks undertaken, will your application be put forward for consideration by Ministers.  You should therefore not commit yourself to any additional or avoidable expenditure related to your application until this process is completed and a funding award letter has been issued by us and accepted by you.

Your proposals will be assessed against the funding criteria, appropriate to the nature and scale of your event. When completing the questionnaire, it is important that you include firm evidence of how your event meets the criteria. For existing events, you must  provide data (visitor numbers etc) from the most recent event. For new events, please reference any research into events of a similar nature and scale. 

In addition, you will need to evidence and include information on Local Authority, or any other relevant body, support (financial or in-kind) confirmed or sought for your event.

When completing the economic impact section of the questionnaire, you should calculate the economic impact of your event using the free to access eventIMPACTS calculator  and provide a copy of this with your questionnaire.  The host economy should be defined as Wales, not the town or region where your event is held.  Further guidance on using the calculator is available on the Event Impacts website and the Event Wales team can provide support and advice also.

The assessment form should be returned by email to the appraisal officer who undertook the initial discussion.

Should your application be approved, the information provided will be used as the basis of targets for inclusion in your Award of Funding (e.g. economic impact).  Funding will be released, typically, in 4 instalments (2 pre and 2 post event).  The final instalment is conditional upon achievement of these targets so you must provide as accurate information as possible as failure to meet targets, in the absence of any mitigating circumstances, may lead to a corresponding reduction of the grant awarded.

Stage 2

Subject to satisfactory assessment of your questionnaire, you will be asked to provide a detailed business or event management plan. 

As a minimum, this plan must cover the following:

• aims, objectives and targets
• governance and management arrangements with details of relevant experience 
• budget forecasts (income and expenditure projections for each year of funding applied for including any other funding support sought or secured – including Value-In-Kind)
• risk management plan
• marketing plan
• legacy plans

You must also submit the following where these are in place or, otherwise, information regarding your plans to develop and implement such policies during the funding period. 

• Welsh language policy (which aligns with the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011)
• Sustainable event management policy (which aligns with the BS ISO 20121 Standard on Sustainable Event Management)
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion policy (which aligns with the Equality Act 2010)

The Event Wales team can provide advice and guidance on these and further information and resource links are available on our website e.g. the “Helo Blod” Welsh language advice service 

We will use your business/management plan to assess your experience of successfully delivering events and the overall viability of your proposals both financially and in terms of delivering a long-term positive impact for Wales. At this stage due diligence checks will also be undertaken and you may be asked for further information, such as up to date management accounts, to assist this. 

We may also share your proposal with relevant colleagues in other Welsh Government departments for additional views on the how the proposal aligns with their strategies or provides opportunities to leverage associated benefits. This could include, but is not limited to: Visit Wales, Creative Wales, International Relations, Transport, Health and Education. Where relevant we will also seek the views of, or confirmation of funding from, external bodies  such as the Arts Council of Wales, Sport Wales or appropriate Local Authority.

Our Strategy highlights the importance of strong partnerships and the business plan for delivering your event should explore opportunities to forge new strategic alliances and develop new forms of collaboration with public and private partners across geographic, organisational and sectoral boundaries. Consideration of geographic and seasonal spread of events across Wales will also be taken into consideration when assessing your proposal.

As funding for indigenous events is to support establishment, growth and development, we encourage applications which look to do this over several years (typically three).  This not only allows us to assess the long-term impact of our funding support but provides applicants with some stability to grow sustainably and develop longer-term proposals which may be more cost effective, and impactful, than short-term activities.  Applications must demonstrate how any ongoing activity and positive impacts will continue to be delivered and supported beyond the funding period.

Major international events will typically take place in one year only and Event Wales funding will be directed towards bidding for and leveraging the associated economic and other benefits of hosting these events in Wales.

There are no ‘bidding rounds’.  Applications may be submitted at any time, and for any future year, subject to eligibility and available budget.  We will not consider requests for retrospective funding.

The international events industry is highly competitive and built on long term planning, with lead in times of several years for some events.  As a result, significant proportions of the Event Wales budget can be committed several years in advance and our lead in time for consideration of funding support is normally 12 to 18 months as indicated above.  You should therefore speak to us at the earliest possible opportunity - we are happy to discuss proposals in draft and revisit these when they are further developed.  We will not consider any applications for an event due to take place within 6 months of first contact, other than in exceptional circumstances and subject to available budget and other competing priorities at that time.

Once all requested documentation has been received and we have completed our assessment and due diligence checks, advice will be submitted to Ministers for consideration. The timescale for assessment and decision making can be subject to a number of factors so whilst we will endeavour to provide a decision to you as soon as we can, we recommend that you allow a minimum of 12 weeks for your application to be fully processed. 

If the decision is taken not to support your event we will provide you with the reasons why as soon as we are able to. 

If your application is approved, a formal Award of Funding will be discussed with you and must be accepted by you before the funding is made available to you.  Further advice on this will be provided at the time of notification of a successful application.

Awards of funding will be made under one of the Event Wales schemes below depending on the nature of the application.  

• SC10185: Welsh Government Culture and Heritage Conservation Scheme 
• SC10591: Major sporting events 2022 to 2030

All information submitted to us in pursuance of Event Wales funding, including any personal data we collect will be managed in accordance with the advice in this guidance and the Welsh Government’s Privacy Notice for Grants. 

Grant documentation held by the Welsh Government, will be retained for at least 10 years, in accordance with the Welsh Government Retention and Disposal Schedule and the Welsh Government Grant Privacy Notice.

All successful awards of funding, including their value, will be published in a Decision Report on GOV.WALES.

Awards in excess of £100,000 will also be published on the UK Subsidy Register in line with UK Government requirements.

If you join Event Wales’ stakeholder database to receive sector related updates or invitations to information events, any personal information provided for this purpose will be managed in accordance with the Event Wales Contacts Privacy Notice.

Place    

• Number of (unique) visitors from outside Wales    
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous
• Net additional contribution to Welsh economy (using EventIMPACTS) 
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous
• Value of contracts to local suppliers    
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous
• Other private or public sector investment leveraged    
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous
• Innovation, engagement and interaction with appropriate businesses    
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous
• No. of skills training opportunities created (eg quality internship or student placement)    
  • National wellbeing goal: prosperous

Planet

• Sustainability/Waste management plan in place
  • National wellbeing goal: resilient
  • National wellbeing goal: globally responsible
• Public commitment to environmental practices/circular economy approach e.g. strategy in place to encourage attendees to use sustainable transport
  • National wellbeing goal: globally responsible

People

• Plan in place to promote participation in arts, culture, heritage or sport/physical activity to targeted audiences    
  • National wellbeing goal: healthier
  • National wellbeing goal: vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion policy in place (aligning with the Equality Act 2010)    
  • National wellbeing goal: more equal
• Commitment to the Code of Practice on Ethical Employment in Supply Chain    
  • National wellbeing goal: more equal
• Targeted local community engagement plan in place    
  • National wellbeing goal: cohesive communities
• Number and nature of outreach programmes    
  • National wellbeing goal: cohesive communities
• Number and nature of volunteer opportunities created    
  • National wellbeing goal: cohesive communities
• Welsh Language policy in place    
  • National wellbeing goal: vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language
• Number of planned territories for media engagement (or with other relevance such as base location of visiting artists or athletes)    
  • National wellbeing goal: n/a
• Number of Social media followers/engagements for the event    
  • National wellbeing goal: n/a
• Plan to integrate Cymru Wales brand values into event marketing    
  • National wellbeing goal: n/a

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. There are 7 connected well-being goals for Wales. Read the ‘Essentials Guide’: Well-being of future generations act: the essentials | GOV.WALES

If an offer of funding is approved you will receive an interim notification of this decision and subsequently issued with a formal funding award letter. It is only once this funding award letter is signed by you and returned to us that the funding will be made available. You should therefore not commit yourself to any additional or avoidable expenditure related to your application until this process is completed and a funding award letter in place. Any such expenditure is at your own risk and may jeopardise your application if it is considered that funding is not therefore needed to support that activity.

In addition to the standard Welsh Government terms and conditions, specific conditions and targets will be set based on the information provided in your application. The funding award letter will place legally binding obligations on you and you must be confident that you will be able to comply with the terms of the funding award letter and meet the targets set out in the funding award letter before signing it. 

The funding award letter will assign a named Event Wales Grant Manager to direct any enquiries to and liaise with on the ongoing monitoring requirements of the funding award letter. Once the funding award letter is signed you should make note of the key dates and associated grant conditions. Event Wales typically supports a portfolio of 30 to 40 events annually, running several years in advance in some cases. We are not therefore able to provide reminders of all due dates to grant recipients.

All instalments are cumulative and may not be released if there are outstanding conditions to be met on any prior instalments. As a department of Welsh Government, Event Wales is not able to carry funds between financial years and any outstanding grant not claimed, may therefore become unavailable.

Publicity and use of Welsh Government/Cymru Wales logos

Once the funding award letter has been agreed and signed you will be introduced to one of Event Wales’ Activation Managers. Their role is to assist you to effectively and appropriately embed the Cymru Wales brand into your event marketing collateral to promote the destination and to advise on the use of the Welsh Government logo to acknowledge WG funding. 

Event marketing and PR is the sole responsibility of the event owner and, whilst we will endeavour to make appropriate links to current Visit Wales, or other Welsh Government promotional campaigns, it is not the role of Welsh Government/Event Wales to promote or market the event directly, especially where funding has been awarded for this purpose.

All uses of Welsh Government owned logos and brands must be cleared in advance with the Activation Manager. Similarly any Ministerial quotes for press releases or event programme welcomes must be agreed in advance. These agreements involve other departments and you must therefore allow appropriate time to obtain these clearances. We recommend a minimum of 10 working days. You must also advise us immediately of any new ‘title’ or other significant sponsorship arrangements so that we may appropriately consider any potential impacts of that (e.g. a tobacco product sponsorship would not align with Welsh Government health policies)

Payment of funding and pre-event monitoring conditions

Funding is usually made available in 4 equal instalments (repeated annually where funding is awarded for more than 1 year). A maximum of 50% of the funding awarded will be released prior to the event taking place. Changes to this profile may be considered, on an exceptional basis, subject to business need. 

Grant conditions are applicable to all instalments and you should familiarise yourself with these in advance, in order to meet the agreed timescales as noted above.

All instalments are based on need, and evidence of expenditure is therefore required in support of each. This may take the form of copy invoices, purchase orders, contracts or similar totalling the value of the instalment claimed. Where these are too numerous to practically supply, a breakdown of costs accompanied by a sample of these documents across the range of price points may be considered instead. 

A pre-event progress report is required for all funded events, usually in support of the 2^nd instalment of grant. This must be submitted not later than 3 months prior to the event. This progress report must be submitted on the template which will be provided to you. This information need not be extensive but must be sufficiently detailed as to allow us to consider that appropriate progress, or efforts towards progress, is being achieved

Failure to provide this report, by the due date, or at all, may result in the withdrawal of a proportion of, or all, remaining grant.

Once the event has taken place the 3^rd instalment of grant may be claimed.

Post-event monitoring

Following the event you are required to submit a post-event report detailing how far the grant conditions and targets were met. This must be submitted on the template provided, not later than 3 months after the event has taken place (again this will be specified in your funding award letter). If an external report has been completed for other recipients (e.g. sponsors or other funders) you may submit this instead, provided it covers all information requested in the template. Where this is not the case any additional information must be provided on the template alongside the external report.

You will also be required to provide a detailed expenditure and income breakdown for the event and, for awards in excess of £30,000 (annually) this must be accompanied by an Independent Audit Letter (this will be set out in your funding award Letter along with the appropriate template for completion).

Once this information has been received and satisfactorily reviewed a post-event meeting will be arranged to discuss the outcomes and, where funding is due to continue, plans for delivery of the following year’s event.

Once this process has been satisfactorily completed the final instalment of grant will be released.

More information

Privacy notice: Welsh Government grants