£4.5m for anti-racist actions in culture, heritage and sport across Wales

Dawn Bowden, Wales’s deputy minister for arts and sport, has announced £4.5m over the next three years to support the delivery of actions across culture, heritage and sport in the Welsh government’s Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.

More than £2.8m has been shared between 22 local, regional, national and independently run culture, heritage and sport organisations across Wales. All projects receiving funding have a focus on co-production, demonstrating a commitment to placing lived experience at the centre of policy, service development and delivery.

The plan was published in June, detailing a series of actions to be taken across all government policy areas. It is set against a vision of a Wales that is anti-racist by 2030.

The culture, heritage and sport section of the plan outlines goals and actions that aim to “eliminate discrimination and barriers to the full enjoyment of all aspects of culture, heritage and sport, and to recognise and celebrate past and present racial and ethnic diversity in Wales”.

The action plan is part of the Welsh government’s Programme for Government and the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.

Dawn Bowden said: “Our national and local museums, galleries, libraries, theatres, and sporting venues need to be inclusive of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people and places. Our culture, heritage and sports services must be culturally competent and reflective of the history and contribution made by Black, Asian and minority ethnic people to Welsh society.

“I am committed to delivering the goals and actions in the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan and the Programme for Government commitments within my portfolio. I look forward to our continued progress as we deliver meaningful change with and for Black, Asian and minority ethnic people across Wales.”

The deputy minister recently visited Monlife Heritage in Abergavenny and Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham to hear how they will use the new funding.

MonLife Heritage has received funding to improve interpretation of their collections, more honestly communicating their complex stories, better representing their links to slavery, colonisation and empire and respecting their impact on communities past and present.

Tŷ Pawb has received support for the future development of the recently established Multicultural Hub, and the funding will support Tŷ Pawb’s Useful Art Space to host a range of activities led by Wrexham’s diverse communities. These will be directed by participants, and will include arts and crafts, music and dance, culinary exchanges, cultural celebrations and other activities.

A further £1.67 million has been awarded to the Welsh government’s cultural and sport arm’s length bodies, including Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, the Arts Council of Wales, the National Library of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales. The funding will be used to build on existing and new programmes of activity, accelerating their work on anti-racism at a national level.

The funding for the National Library of Wales will support several projects, including The Communities of Wales, which tells stories through the lens of people who moved to Wales. Funding for Amgueddfa Cymru will enable more cultural programmes and events to be co-designed with community-based organisations, individuals and artists. 

Funding for the Arts Council of Wales will enable the appointment of more Black, Asian and minority ethnic creative practitioners, and funding for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales will develop the Places We Remember project, which records the heritage of Welsh Asian communities in Wales.