Funding opportunities
Looking for funding for to help your organisation grow? Here's where we'll round up the latest grants, commissions and other funding opportunities for arts, culture and heritage.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Arts Fund Reopens for UK Applications
The Foundation is providing grants of between £90,000 and £300,000 to support the core costs of not-for-profit cultural organisations working at the intersection of art and social change within the UK so they can continue the work they are already doing and for programmes which are central to their mission.
The support is for not-for-profit cultural organisations who:
- Use their creative practice to help us engage with the complexity of the world around us.
- Centre the lived experience of those affected by injustice in their programmes, leadership and governance.
- Are exploring how values of care, equity and justice can be embedded in their own organisational culture.
- Have a clear sense of their own role in supporting change as part of a wider ecosystem.
- Are generous with their learning and working with other organisations towards mutual aims.
- Use their creative practice to challenge traditional cultural hierarchies of genre and art form.
The Arts Fund supports the long-term development and transformation of these organisations as a route towards social justice and sustainability.
This fund is focused on supporting organisations to become more sustainable and to deepen the impact of the work. This can include support for specific posts, skills development, underpinning of the strategy or business model and for project delivery which is central to their organisation’s mission and vision.
Consideration will be given to how organisations have been impacted by systemic inequities, such as (but not limited to) racial inequity, socio-economic disadvantage, having disabilities, living in isolated rural communities or experience of the immigration system. Priority will be given to applications which are actively anti-racist and intersectional in their approach.
Applications can be made for grants of between £90,000 and £300,000 for activity lasting up to three years. The grants can cover up to 50% of an organisation’s annual turnover over three years, based on their last audited accounts. In addition, a bursary of up to £500 is available to help organisations apply.
The funding will cover work that involves any of the following: crafts, creative writing (including poetry), dance, design, film, music, opera, photography, digital arts and media, theatre and drama, the visual arts and cross-arts practices.
PHF has moved from an open application process to two application windows per year with a two-stage application process.
Online Q&A sessions are being held to explain the changes: Registration is required:
Stage one applications for Round one are currently open until 31 May 2024 (12noon).
Funding to Support Contemporary Music Projects Across the UK
The Hinrichsen Foundation is offering grants to charities and other organisations across the United Kingdom to support the performance of contemporary music, which may include the commissioning of new work, non-commercial recording, or publication.
There are two levels of funding available:
- One-off small grants typically between £500 and £2,500 (for new applicants and former beneficiaries).
- Larger projects or concert series generally £2,000 and over.
The Trustees will occasionally provide funds for research projects that are not being conducted under the remit of an academic institution. Multi-year partnerships may also be considered.
There are typically three application deadlines per year.
The next application deadlines are 30 June | 30 Sep | 31 Dec 2024.
Funding to Support Music and Heritage Projects Across the UK
Radcliffe Trust is offering grants averaging between £2,500 and £7,500 for charities, not-for-profit groups, and exempt organisations for projects that fall under the following categories:
Music
Funding for classical music performance and training especially chamber music, composition, and music education. This includes:
- Composition and contemporary music - in the case of commission applications the lead composer must be named.
- Bursaries for courses and summer schools; limited to UK-based students.
- Music therapy and special needs.
- Academic research.
- Youth orchestras.
- Performance projects.
- Educational projects - excluding applications from individual mainstream primary and secondary schools.
- Miscellaneous.
Heritage & Crafts
Funding for the development of the skills, knowledge and experience that underpin the UK’s traditional cultural heritage and crafts sectors. This includes support for:
- Emerging craftspeople.
- Craft and conservation projects and training.
- Projects demonstrating creative outcomes by designer-makers.
- Projects with potential for capacity building within the sector.
- Special needs projects focusing on the therapeutic benefits of skills development.
Other areas of cultural creativity related to heritage and crafts may also be considered, including theatre, performance, and literature, especially where projects can be shown to contribute to the promotion and development of high-level skills among early career practitioners and disadvantaged groups.
There are typically rounds per year, with trustee meetings held in June and December. Groups can apply for both a Music grant and a Heritage & Crafts grant in the same funding round.
The next deadline for applications is 31 July 2024
Michael Tippett Musical Foundation Accepting Applications for 2024
The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation offers grants of between £500 and £3,000 are available to support the following objectives:
- To award grants to support the development of group music-making especially involving young people, with composing central to the project.
- To support the performance or recording of works by Michael Tippet.
For 2024 the Foundation will support performances or recordings from anywhere in the world of music composed by Tippett. The Trustees will consider applications about any of his compositions but are likely to prioritise plans for specific works that are less frequently performed or projects which are unlikely to be mounted without additional financial support.
Preference will be given to projects involving young people, or with a participatory element.
Proposed projects should start no earlier than January 2025.
The deadline for applications is 30 September 2024.
Final Round of Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) to Open on 4 March
The Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) is provided with funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and administered, awarded and monitored by Arts Council England (ACE).
This is the final round of the fund, and there is a total of £23.8 million with grants of between £50,000 and £5 million.
The funding is intended to support museums to achieve the following outcomes:
- Become more financially resilient and environmentally responsible.
- Increase the environmental performance of buildings and equipment to help reduce carbon emissions in the museum sector.
- Improve access for disabled people and accommodate diverse user needs.
- Strengthen contributions to local communities and regeneration by preserving landmark buildings.
Applications will be considered from:
- Non-national Accredited museums based in England.
- Local authorities based in England who are responsible for maintenance of non-national Accredited museum buildings.
- Partnerships between a local authority and a non-national Accredited museum based in England. Lead applicants must be registered with Companies House and/or with the Charity Commission or similar regulatory authority.
Non-national accredited museums who submitted an expression of interest or application in rounds one, two and three can apply to round four so long as the application is for a new project or a new phase of the previously funded project.
The fund will be investing in the following broad categories:
- Protecting fabric/longevity of the structure.
- Protecting the exhibits and collections.
- Upgrading building services.
- Dealing with equality and accessibility issues.
- Improving environmental performance of museum infrastructure through repairs.
Round 4 activities must start no earlier than 17 April 2025 and no later than 17 May 2025. The deadline to complete activities and claim final payment is 31 March 2028.
Webinars for Round 4 will be held on:
- 20 February 2024 (13:30 to 15:00).
- 4 March 2024 (9am to 10:30am).
Registration is required and can be done on the Arts Council England website.
Expressions of Interest will open on 4 March 2024 (9am) and close on 18 April 2024 (midday).
Postcode Society Trust (South of England) to Open on 27 May
Back for another year, the Postcode Society Trust is supporting organisations in the South of England with unrestricted funding in 2024.
The funding is for projects that have a clear alignment with one of the Trust's themes for 2024, which include:
- Enabling participation in physical activity
- Enabling participation in the arts
- Supporting marginalised groups and tackling inequality
- Improving biodiversity and responding to the climate emergency
- Improving green spaces and increasing access to the outdoors
Depending on their not-for-profit legal structure, organisations can apply either for a grant of between £500 and £2,500 or between £500 and £25,000.
The funding offered is unrestricted and therefore flexible. It can be used however it is most needed.
There will be two further funding rounds in 2024 with applications windows opening at 9am on:
- 27 May and closing at 12 noon on 3 June 2024.
- 26 August and closing at 12 noon on 2 September 2024.
Application forms will be available on the Trust’s website when each funding round opens.
The 2024 funding guide and 2024 application questions are currently available on the Trust’s website.
Cultural Development Fund (CDF): Round Four
The Cultural Development Fund aims to level up investment in culture and the creative industries across England. The fund will unlock local growth and productivity, increase access to creativity and culture, and regenerate communities. This is being achieved through capital investment in transformative place-based creative and cultural initiatives.
Round Four of the programme will support places to achieve the following outcomes:
- Unlock local economic growth and productivity.
- Become more attractive places in which to live, work, visit and invest.
- Strengthen local leadership, partnerships and capability.
The total budget available for Round Four is £15.2 million. Individual grants of between £2 million and £5 million are available. The funding will help create local job opportunities and new training places, while supporting local cultural institutions as they look to attract tourists and new businesses, helping to grow the economy. Applicants can apply for capital (asset) activity with a limited proportion of resource activity (project activity).
Applications are accepted from partnerships between formally constituted organisations from both the public and private sectors (and the voluntary sector where appropriate). The lead should be a local authority, combined authority, mayoral authority, Local Enterprise Partnership, university, cultural organisation, or other appropriate body in England.
This year’s round will be the first time since 2019 that projects in London are able to apply, expanding the range of places that can benefit from Cultural Development Fund investment.
- The Expression of Interest form will open on Grantium at 9am on Monday 5 February 2024. The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 12pm (midday) on Friday 15 March 2024.
- The full online application form will open on Grantium at 12pm (midday) on Monday 8 April 2024. The deadline for submitting full applications is 12pm (midday) Friday 17 May 2024.
- Applicants will be notified of the decision outcome in Late Summer 2024.
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Find out more and apply
Funding to Support UK and International Collaborative Arts Projects
The British Council is offering grants of between £25,000 and £75,000 for arts and culture organisations across the UK to work in partnership with international organisations from selected countries to support arts projects that help artists to make and develop creative artwork and encourage new international partnerships and innovative ways of collaborating.
In the second round of the International Collaboration Grants Programme, a total of £1 million is available for UK groups working in partnership with one or more organisations from eligible participating countries to deliver arts projects that can include:
- Film.
- Creative technology.
- Literature.
- Visual arts.
- Theatre and dance.
- Architecture, design, and fashion.
- Music.
- Cross-art forms.
- Activities with themes relevant to the creative economy.
- Cross-disciplinary projects (eg art and science, art and technology).
The scope of a project could be to collaborate on a piece of art or could include:
- Residencies.
- Exhibitions, festivals, showcases, screening programmes.
- Conferences, salons.
- Creative use of archives.
- Research and development of future project ideas.
Priority will be given to partnerships that show clear benefits to artists and international partners and genuine international collaboration. The Council is particularly keen to work with organisations that they have not previously worked with, especially those based outside Greater London.
A list of eligible participating countries is available from the British Council website.
The deadline for applications is 30 April 2024 (23:59).
New National Lottery Heritage Grants Accepting Applications from Across the UK
National Lottery Heritage Grants form part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund's new 10-year strategy, Heritage 2033, that aims to invest £3.6 billion across the UK with grants ranging from £10,000 up to £10 million.
The strategy is centred around a simplified framework of four investment principles:
- Saving heritage.
- Protecting the environment.
- Inclusion, access and participation.
- Organisational sustainability.
Grants are available to support projects of up to five years that care for and sustain heritage in the UK. This could include nature and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures, traditions and people’s memories.
The programme funds projects that:
- Clearly focus on heritage – this can be national, regional or local heritage of the UK.
- Take into account all four investment principles.
- Have a clear plan with a defined start, middle and end.
- Have not already started.
- Can demonstrate the need for National Lottery investment.
Two levels of funding are available:
- Grants from £10,000 to £250,000 for projects of no more than five years in duration.
- Grants from £250,000 to £10 million for projects of no more than five years in duration (excluding the development phase).
Applications from:
- £10,000 to £100,000 will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations, private owners of heritage and partnerships.
- £100,000 to £10 million will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations and partnerships led by not-for-profit organisations.
Applications for more than £250,000 require an Expression of Interest which can be submitted at any time. If successful, applicants will then need to submit a development phase application. These have quarterly application deadlines.
Applications for grants of between £10,000 and £250,000 are open all year round with decisions in about two months.
Commenting, the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Chief Executive, Eilish McGuinness said:
“Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to invest £870 million across our first three-year delivery plan in projects of all sizes that connect people and communities to the UK’s heritage.
“We see heritage as broad and inclusive. If there’s something from the past that you care for and want to pass it on to future generations, we want to hear from you.”
Applications are currently being accepted for all levels of funding.
Unlocking Collections: a time-limited grant theme for museums
Arts Council England’s time-limited theme is aimed at enabling museums to develop their collections-based work and increase public engagement with, and the use of, their collections. ACE is looking for work which:
- Reinterprets collections to reach a wider audience
- Uses digital tools and mechanisms within museums, and to link across the sector
- Collections review improving standards of collections storage and display
The application process varies depending on grant size, for under £30,000, £30,001 -£100,000 and over £100,001.
New DCMS fund to support grassroots music
A new DCMS fund has been announced to support grassroots music that will offer grants of up to £40k to rehearsal spaces, recording studios, festivals, venues and promoters. The fund is part of the UK government’s Creative Industries sector vision which aims to grow the creative industries by £50bn by 2030 will be administered by Arts Council England and available until March 2025.
Theatres Trust Small Grants Scheme
The Theatres Trust, the national advisory public body for theatres in the UK, offers small grants of up to £5,000 twice a year for essential works to not-for-profit theatres in the UK that will enable them to be viable and thrive in the future.
The grants will support small capital improvements to theatres run by charities and not-for-profit groups that will make a big impact to a theatre's resilience, sustainability or accessibility, or to improving the diversity of audiences.
Eligible projects include:
- Improvements and repairs to the building fabric.
- The installation of key plant and machinery.
- The purchase of key equipment (not software) to improve digital infrastructure.
Priority will be given to improvements to buildings that protect theatre use and remove barriers to participation and attendance.
To be eligible, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Own or manage theatres with titles or signed leases of more than five years on buildings in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
- Demonstrate that they run a regular theatre programme of professional, community and/or amateur work presenting no less than 30 performances a year.
- Have a bona fide UK charitable or not-for-profit legal structure and be able to provide certified or audited accounts for at least two years.
The funding cannot be used for revenue and survey costs.
The 2024 deadlines for application are noon on 7 June 2024 and 17 January 2025.
Youth Music NextGen Fund
The Youth Music NextGen Fund offers young creatives grants of up to £2,500 to make their ideas happen.
The Youth Music NextGen Fund is for early-stage musicians and wider music adjacent creatives to invest up to £2,500 in their own projects and make their ideas happen. The fund is especially aimed at those whose lack of finance holds them back from pursuing their goals. It's open to 18–25-year-olds (and up to 30-year-olds who identify as d/Deaf or Disabled) who live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
We want to support the future of the music industries. Singers, Rappers, Songwriters, Producers, DJs, A&Rs, Managers and Agents, right through to roles that have yet to be defined.
NextGen Fund Round 9
Deadline: 28 June 2024 | Notification: September 2024
NextGen Fund Round 10
Deadline: 15 November 2024 | Notification: February 2025
All deadlines are 5pm.
£1,000 Grants for People of Colour in Arts (UK)
Through the Grand Plan Grant, funding is on offer to support people of colour who want to create and deliver a new cultural project.
The programme supports creativity in all its forms, including poetry, paintings, fashion, zines, music, food, flowers, photographs, workshops, events, or something else completely.
Grants of £1,000 are available to cover the cost of equipment, courses, applicant's time, materials, travel, etc.
Applications are open to UK-based individuals, aged over 18, who and identify as a person of colour (Black, Asian, Brown and/or part of the Global Majority).
Forthcoming rounds are as follows:
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April - 7 May 2024
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Early July - Mid August 2024
Developing your Creative Practice
Developing your Creative Practice supports individuals who are cultural and creative practitioners and want to take time to focus on their creative development. Individuals can apply for £2,000 to £10,000 to focus on their cultural and creative development - this could be a period of research, time to create new work, travel, training, developing future ideas, networking or mentoring - and reach the next stage in their practice.
Applications for funding Round 19 are now closed, but three more rounds will open in 2024:
Round 20
- Opens for applications: 12pm (midday), 14 March 2024
- Closes for applications: 12pm (midday), 11 April 2024
- Decisions announced: 27 June 2024
Round 21
- Opens for applications: 12pm (midday), 25 July 2024
- Closes for applications: 12pm (midday), 22 August 2024
- Decisions announced: 07 November 2024
Round 22
- Opens for applications: 12pm (midday), 14 November 2024
- Closes for applications: 12pm (midday), 12 December 2024
- Decisions announced: 06 March 2025
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Find out more
Music Venue Trust - Pipeline Investment Fund
The Pipeline Investment Fund (PIF) is a new grant-giving fund established by Music Venue Trust with the support of venue members of the Music Venues Alliance. PIF is now open for small-scale grant applications (up to £5,000) from UK-based grassroots music venues to support two areas of work - small-scale capital applications and staff & training.
The fund will prioritise support for organisations who may be excluded from other available funding and they ask venues to approach the fund appropriately and economically, for something that will make a real difference to your organisation and venue.
ChangeX - UK Community Play Fund
Community engagement platform ChangeX, supported by the LEGO Foundation, has launched a £145,000 fund to enable communities across the UK to start proven learning through play projects. Groups can choose from a portfolio of 14 proven play ideas to create more playful experiences for children in your community, school or neighbourhood across the UK.
