Promoting accessibility

There are a number of initiatives in the Netherlands for making art and culture accessible to children from poor families. Many of these initiatives take place at municipal level and involve discount cards, city passes and also more traditional types of special assistance. At national level, there are a number of organisations who grant subsidies to this group of children, such as the Youth Culture Fund [Jeugdcultuurfonds].48 The Youth Culture Fund works within a system of local funds under a national "umbrella". The local funds receive contributions from both the municipality and private sources. Applications for activities such as music or dance lessons are made by professionals involved with the child. Payment is in kind, i.e. made directly to the music or dance school. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has made two subsidy payments of USD 326,000 for the start-up of the Youth Culture Fund’s national organisation.