Self-employed people in the cultural sector from Groningen can receive further training with financial support from the province. From 24th February, they can apply for a subsidy from the Kunstraad Groningen for coaching, training or a course to keep up with the developments in the cultural sector. The available budget of 200,000 euros comes from the corona fund.
Extra contribution
With an extra contribution, the province wants to stimulate the use of the national scheme for Permanent Professional Development (PPO), implemented by the Platform Labor Market Cultural and Creative Future (PACCT). The scheme is intended to improve the position of the self-employed in the cultural and creative sector on the labor market.
Heavily hit
The cultural sector consists of approximately 60 percent self-employed persons. They are creators (artists, actors, writers) as well as supporting functions (technology, marketing, transport, scenery). The sector has been hit hard by the corona crisis. Self-employed people hardly have any assignments and therefore no income.
Relaxations
The conditions for the PPO scheme have therefore been considerably relaxed. After a regular application to the PACCT, the province will reimburse one third of the training costs incurred, up to a maximum of 1800 euros. It was previously announced that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is supplementing the national scheme. As a result, the self-employed person from Groningen only has to pay 10% of the training costs themselves.
To apply
Applicants for the extra PPO contribution can contact the Kunstraad Groningen from Wednesday, 24th February. More information and application conditions can also be found here. Anyone who wishes to be eligible for the contribution must in any case submit an approved application to the PPO tool. Self-employed persons who have submitted an application to the national PPO after 1st January 2021 can submit these training costs retroactively to the Arts Council.
Corona Fund
The province has reserved 2.3 million euros for culture and leisure in the corona fund. Half of this has been invested in an incentive package for the self-employed, of which this scheme is part. With this extra contribution, the province can support and stimulate more than 100 self-employed people in Groningen in their professional development. The other half is for financial support for institutions affected by the corona crisis.
Stronger from the crisis
The province’s corona fund is intended to help companies and organizations emerge stronger from the corona crisis. The emphasis is on leisure economics, education and job retention.
