Grant Directories

Youth Music is a UK charity that supports young people's involvement in music. The Youth Music Trailblazer fund offers grants of £2,000 to £30,000 to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music. The project should trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo.

The National Forest is 200 square miles of mixed habitat forest. It spans across parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire and aims to link the two ancient Forests of Charnwood and Needwood. The Arts Grants programme provides grants of up to £3,000 to support the National Forest creative community to develop and pilot new projects inspired by the National Forest and in response to one or more of the following themes - Nature, Health & Wellbeing, Sense of Place, Sustainability, Climate Action and Circular Economy. The scheme is open to any art form, including but not restricted to, visual arts, performing arts, crafts, lens-based media, digital arts and socially engaged practice. 

The Ragdoll Foundation was established in 2000. It has recently changed the focus of it's main grants programme and now provides funding to support gifted young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop their talents and skills in the arts and creative media, with a view to achieving their full potential. The programme aims to help disadvantaged young women between the ages of 14 and 25. Grants of up to £15,000 are available for pilot projects of one to two years

Buttle UK provides funding to help children and young people in the UK living in financial hardship and dealing with multiple challenging social issues reach their potential. Through their Chances for Children Grants scheme, grants of up to £2,400 are available to registered charities, housing associations and public sector organisations to support the needs of vulnerable children and young people who have experienced a recent crisis or change in life that has had a significant and enduring impact to their social and emotional wellbeing and their educational engagement. Support might include items and activities to support learning and development such as laptops, books, wi-fi, educational toys, tuition, etc; clothing and school uniforms; and social, sporting and leisure activities; and items for children/young people’s bedrooms. Applications can be made at any time.

The Ragdoll Foundation is dedicated to supporting the creation, appreciation and awareness of imaginative and innovative work that reflects the world from a child’s point of view. Through the Small grants programme the foundation provides grants of up to £1,500 to small one-off projects, pilots, or research and development to inform a new project or programme of work. The primary purpose is to make grants for charitable purposes that: Demonstrate how the concerns of children can be heard; Evidence the power of arts and creativity and their transformative power for children and young people; Promote children’s development through their imaginative thinking; Encourage innovative thinking and influence good practice elsewhere; Ensure effective evaluation of projects to promote sharing and learning.

Nottinghamshire Community Foundation exists to benefit disadvantaged communities by making grants to support relevant charitable or voluntary organisations, which make a difference to their local communities. Through the Brian Treffry and Joan Oliver Fund the foundation provides grants of up to £500 to young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who show talent in the field of fine art and community groups with art work or art therapy activities. The fund may be able to pay for such things as: art materials; additional training; exhibition space; help towards higher education fees, etc.

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust was established in for the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.   Through the Arts programme, the Trust aims to increase access to the arts for young and old people; support performances; and support charities that seek to use the arts to engage with young people on the fringes of society.

Gem Radio Cash for Kids distributes money to registered charities, to individuals to pay for specialist equipment, to sports organisations and to specialist projects for schools & playgroups; Projects must be for the benefit of young people under the age of 18; who are disabled and have special needs or who come from underprivileged backgrounds.

The Youth Fund supports organisations whose main purpose is to help young people (aged 14-25) who face complex transitions to adulthood. The Paul Hamlyn Foundation concentrate their support on those experiencing the most challenging circumstances: young people who are socially excluded or marginalised, whose experiences are often hidden or less well known, and whose voices are often erased or ignored.

Hays Travel Foundation was created in 2015. The foundation works with organisations that support people, who for one reason or another need help to achieve their potential. The foundations focus is on the following objectives: Education; Poverty; Health; Art’s and Culture; Sport. Support is provided to registered charities working with young people under the age of 25 in an area where Hays Travel operates.

The Art's Council England support activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. The Arts Impact Fund is a £7 million initiative set up to demonstrate the potential for impact investment in arts. The fund provides repayable loan finance of between £150,000 and £1,000,000 to registered charities or Community Interest Companies for various funding needs including building purchase/refurbishment, purchase of equipment, salaries or to buy in additional services to help the organisation generate more income.

The Clore Poetry and Literature Awards fund poetry and literature initiatives for children and young people, under the age of 19, across the UK. Through the programme, schools, FE colleges, community groups, libraries and other arts/cultural organisations can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 to support participatory learning projects and programmes focused on literature, poetry and creative writing for under 19s. The aim is to provide children and young people with opportunities to experience poetry and literature in exciting and compelling ways, in and out of school.

The Japan Society Small Grants (formerly Japan 21 Awards) are made by the Society to enable small scale projects and events related to Japan to take place in the UK. Applications may be made by organisations as well as individuals who are based in the UK for projects and events related to Japan and Japanese culture.  The maximum award is £1,000 and should not, in principle, cover more than 50% of the total budget. The Japan Society particularly encourages applications from those who are involved in organising grassroots projects and from schools and educational establishments.  Applications can be made at any time.

The Old Possums Practical Trust Grants aim is to increase knowledge and appreciation of any matters of historic, artistic, architectural, aesthetic, literary, musical or theatrical interest. Grants are more likely to be given for projects that involve: children or young people, disabled or disadvantaged people and communities and those projects which fall within historic, artistic, architectural, aesthetic, literary, musical or theatrical criteria and which enhance the lives of others, rather than the well-being of the applicants themselves. The amount of each grant usually falls within the range of £500 - £5,000. Applications may be submitted at any time.

The Skinners' Company Lady Neville Charity aim is to provide grants that will make a clear and significant contribution to grassroots charitable organizations working in designated priority areas. The priority areas are: Local Heritage - projects which help local groups to conserve and restore their landmarks, landscape, traditions and culture; Performing & Visual Arts Groups; Any charitable activity taking place where the Skinners Company has existing works or historical links (The city of London, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Hounslow, West Kent, Romney Marsh). One off capital grants for non-recurring expenditure of up to £1,000 are made to small registered charities and not-for-profit organisations.

The Ragdoll Foundation's Main Grant scheme has been designed to support the cultural sector's work with children and young people. Resources and funding are directed through three strands with Main Grants supporting organisations working with children and young people using the arts and creative media. Preference is given to innovative projects that share the same values of imagination and creativity as the Ragdoll Foundation i.e. that demonstrate a deep commitment to listening to children and allowing the perceptions and feelings of children themselves to be better understood. The Foundation is mainly interested in applications that involve children during their early years, but appropriate projects for older children (up to 18 years) will also be considered.