The Minister for Tourism, Culture, the Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, has announced additional funding of €230,000 for the expansion of Minding Creative Minds. Founded by Dave Reid, the man behind the Choice Music Prize and the First Fortnight festival, Minding Creative Minds was formed as a support service to the entire Irish creative sector – but with a strong initial emphasis on music.

Originally launched in June 2020, Minding Creative Minds will now be extended to offer a range of new services to the Irish creative community. The complete suite of services will now include:

· 24/7 free dedicated phone helpline
· Up to 6 free counselling sessions
· Financial assistance, consumer advice and legal assistance for a range of issues
· Career guidance and life coaching
· Support for Non-Irish nationals and their families
· Mediation for conflict resolution.

Among the partners in Minding Creative Minds are First Fortnight, IRMA, IMRO, RAAP, the BAI, EPIC (music industry working group), MCD, Universal Music, KPMG, Music and You, the programme provider Spectrum Life and the Department of Tourism, Culture, the Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Thank you to @MindingCreative for providing wellbeing support to our music sector since June 2020.

Today I've announced funding of €230,000 so that they can expand their service to the entire Irish creative sector both at home and abroad. https://t.co/z76VuLsQAN

— Catherine Martin TD (@cathmartingreen) December 22, 2020