Public benefit Making the arts central to the life and well-being of the nation In setting our objectives, and in the planning of our work, Council members have given serious consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. Public benefit is at the centre of all aspects of our work. This commitment is strengthened by the Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations legislation. As a Welsh Government Sponsored Body (WGSB) we allocate taxpayers’ money for the benefit of the Welsh public. The funding that we distribute has a number of public purposes:
1
it helps to make sure that Welsh audiences are able to enjoy and take part in high quality arts activities
2
it enables investment in the commissioning, production and exhibition of the arts, helping to sustain the careers of creative professionals in Wales
3
it makes the arts more affordable, bringing them within reach of more people
4
it encourages innovation and risk-taking, raising the quality and diversity of the arts made and promoted in Wales
5
it furthers the cultural, social and economic priorities of the Welsh Government
Public funding also helps to address ‘gaps’ in the market by investing in those activities that the commercial sector either won’t, or isn’t able to, support. In all aspects, our funding is intended to encourage the best of the arts and to enable as many people as possible to enjoy and take part in these activities. We undertake detailed research each year to assess the extent to which we’re achieving these goals. In the pages that follow, we set out the key highlights of our work during 2020/21 and the public benefit that these activities deliver.
21
