Grant Directories

The Universal Music UK Sound Foundation provides bursaries to music students at select UK music colleges and conservatoires, offering financial aid specifically for tuition fees. The award aims to support music students who are financially in need, providing aid for their tuition fees at eleven designated music colleges and conservatoires in the UK. The Foundation distributes £5000 per college annually as bursaries, and the allocation of these funds is managed at the discretion of each institution according to the Foundation's criteria.

The grant offers up to £1000 for individuals in full-time education to purchase musical instruments or equipment. Applicants must be EU/EEA nationals, British, or ordinarily/habitually resident in the UK. The grant does not cover music lessons, tuition fees, or maintenance costs. Applications require a reference from the applicant's current music teacher and are accepted twice a year.

Youth Music is a UK charity that supports young people's involvement in music.  The Youth Music Catalyser Fund offers grants between £30,001 and £ 300,000 to organisations in England who want to sustain work, scale-up delivery, or create change in sector practice. The Catalyser programmes must support children and young people who face barriers to make, learn or earn in music, and aim to make music activity more inclusive so everyone can access it. 

UK charities and non-profit organisations can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 per year, for up to three years from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's Creators and Curators funding scheme.  The aim of the scheme is to support organisations that work with artists to create new or reimagined work; and to strengthen those institutions that focus on making use of curatorial skills to attract a wider public.

Youth Music is a UK charity that supports young people's involvement in music. They offer grants of up to £2,500 to support emerging musicians and behind-the-scenes creatives aged 18-25 through their NextGen Fund. The funding helps artists including singers, songwriters, producers, and more launch creative projects, businesses, and platforms that support underrepresented voices. The funding can cover costs for career development, equipment, software, marketing, and more.

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music Foundation supports talent development and new music across the UK, enabling songwriters and composers of all backgrounds to realise their potential and reach audiences across the world. Through the Hitmaker Fund, the Foundation awards up to eighteen grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 each year to develop the careers of songwriters and producers working in popular music genres in the UK. Applications can be made by songwriters or producers directly (or by their representatives) who have at least five credited works registered with PRS for Music (ie: a reputable cut or songs that have national radio plays, streaming plays, or from a reputable writing camp). The deadline for applications is 6pm on the 2nd June 2021.

The Victoria Wood Foundation was set up after the death of Victoria Wood. It seeks to supports all aspects of the arts across the UK, particularly in and around London and the North of England. Arts organisations and groups are encouraged to apply for funding. The Foundation meets twice a year, in July and December to consider applications. Applications should be received at least two weeks before the following meeting.

Youth Music are a national charity supporting young people's lives in music. Through the Music Education Hub (MEH) Development fund the charity provides grants of up to £50,000 to partnerships of at least three Music Education Hub lead organisations. The fund is designed to support organisational development, specifically to help Hubs to develop their policies and practices around equality, diversity and inclusion.

The Arts & Culture Impact Fund brings together public, private and charitable funding to provide affordable repayable finance to the UK’s arts, culture and heritage organisations able to demonstrate measurable positive social impact. The funding could be used, among other things, to acquire new assets, improve built infrastructure, develop new ventures or scale up existing revenue streams.

The Pilgrim Trust gives grants totalling approximately £2million each year to charities and other public bodies. Through the Preservation and scholarship programme the Trust provides funding for projects that preserve the United Kingdom’s unique heritage for the benefit of future generations. Part of that heritage lies in physical objects such as buildings, artifacts and recorded information such as manuscripts or books. The main emphasis is on projects that conserve historical buildings, monuments and collections. 

Connections Through Culture: UK-Southeast Asia aims to develop exciting cultural exchanges and collaborations between artists, arts professionals and arts organisations, and to support long-lasting relationships between people from East Asia and the UK.

The Wolfson Foundation awards grants to support and promote excellence in education, science & medicine, the arts & humanities and health & disability. Through its Funding for Performing Arts Organisations funding stream the Foundation aims to support organisations with an outstanding artistic programme to improve their performance and training facilities. Grants are generally awarded towards refurbishment of artists’ facilities such as dressing rooms or other back stage spaces, refurbishment of auditorium facilities such as seating, and rehearsal spaces; teaching and education facilities; and less often, specialist equipment.

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for people and communities throughout the UK. The Foundation does this by funding the charitable work of organisations that are building an inclusive, creative and sustainable society.  Through the Arts programme the Foundation wants to support projects that use the power of culture to bring communities together and give opportunity and visibility to people who may otherwise be marginalised.

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Teacher Development Fund (TDF) supports arts-based learning projects that help primary school teachers develop their skills to deliver effective arts education. The fund prioritises professional development projects focused on creating sustained arts engagement, especially for disadvantaged children. Schools and not-for-profit organisations can apply, with a focus on partnerships between teachers and arts practitioners.

The PRS Foundation is the UK’s leading funder of new music and talent development across all genres. The Writer Producer Fund offers an opportunity for songwriters and writer-producers working in popular music genres to further develop their careers and writing/production credits with grants of up to £10,000. The Writer Producer Fund is delivered by PRS Foundation in association with the BASCA Trust.   The BASCA Trust provides education and grants, and raises public awareness about songwriters and composers

The Cultural Impact Development Fund will provide a total of £3.7 million of small-scale repayable Finance to socially driven arts and cultural organisations between 2018 and 2023. Cultural Impact Development Fund will pioneer the use of financial incentives to drive the achievement of social impact targets in its investment portfolio. Unsecured loans are available of between £25,000 and £150,000 with repayment terms of one to five years and interest rates ranging between 5.5% and 8.5%. The fund aims to: Enable risk taking, ambitious organisations in the arts and cultural sector to take on small-scale repayable finance in order to achieve social outcomes; Increase the capability of arts and cultural organisations to articulate, achieve, monitor and evaluate their intended social impact.

The Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. The Developing your Creative Practice programme has been designed to support independent artists and creative practitioners, allowing them the time and space to undertake ambitious research and development opportunities, to build new networks and create new work. The Fund aims to create more pathways for individuals looking to make a step change in their practice and ensure excellence is thriving in the arts and culture sector. A total of £3.6 million will be awarded each year for four years. Individual grants are available of between £2,000 and £10,000

Arts Council England champion, develop and invest in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. The National Lottery Project Grants scheme is an open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects, the fund will support thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations and aims to create and sustain quality work and help people across England to engage with arts and culture. Grants of between £1,000 and £100,000 are available to projects lasting up to three years that are focused on the following artforms and disciplines: Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual arts, Literature, Combined arts and Museum practice. The programme supports development by allowing artists, cultural practitioners and organisations to work in new ways and to get their work out to new audiences. Applications must meet the programme’s four criteria: Quality, Public engagement, Finance and Management.

Help Musicians UK is the leading UK charity for professional musicians of all genres. The Develop your skills programme provides funding of up to £1,500 to help applicants take advantage of opportunities that enhance their skills or artistic practice. This could be a virtual conference to learn more about the industry, an online course to enhance their skills, one-to-one coaching or perhaps some time to work with a mentor. Grants of up to £3,000 are available to record and release new music at the same time - as long as the skills being developed are related to the plans applicants have around their music release.

Help Musicians UK is the leading UK charity for professional musicians of all genres. The Music-Led Creative Collaboration programme provides grants of up to £5,000 to undertake a UK-based collaboration between themselves and other non-music artists, for example storytellers, lighting designers, choreographers, technologists, scientists, gaming designers, theatre directors, visual artists etc. There should be an end result of the collaboration, such as a body of work created for an upcoming recording or a new performance. Overall, the collaboration should push the boundaries of what you do as a music creator or performer, exploring or
testing something that you are not currently able to achieve without support.

Help Musicians UK is the leading UK charity for professional musicians of all genres. The Peter Whittingham Jazz Award has helped to launch the careers of some of the UK's top jazz stars, including Soweto Kinch, Errollyn Wallen MBE, Empirical, Phil Meadows, Led Bib and Roller Trio. The fund is open to emerging jazz musicians and groups who can demonstrate that they have the talent, innovative approach and commitment to make a sustainable impact on the sector. The award of £5,000 is to be put towards creative development opportunities including recording, filming, touring, mentoring, showcasing, performances, collaboration and promotion. Applications that incorporate a range of activities are encouraged.

The Joyce Fletcher Charitable Trust supports institutions and organisations, usually registered Charities specialising in music in a social or therapeutic context especially for special needs children, the disabled and the disadvantaged. Some children's welfare and support organisations can be supported, preferably for arts activities. Some grants for projects falling outside of these priorities are given each year. The Trust has a strong preference for the South West of England. Capital or revenue funding is available for one off or recurring costs.

The PRS Foundation are the UK’s leading funder for new music across all Genres, it aims to stimulate and support the creation and performance of new music throughout the UK. The Women Make Music programme aims to: break down assumptions and stereotypes within the music industry by encouraging role models for future generations, raise awareness of the gender gap and to ensure that women are aware that support for new music is available to them, increase the profile of women who are creating new music in the UK and stimulate new collaborations between organisations and female music creators. Grants of up to £5,000 are available and can be used to assist with the costs of the first performance and/or the fee for the music creator working in any music genre.

The PRS Foundation are the UK’s leading funder for new music across all Genres, it aims to stimulate and support the creation and performance of new music throughout the UK and to ensure that this music is enjoyed by a wide audience. The International Showcase programme offers funding support to artists based in England who have been invited to play at international showcasing festivals and conferences. Grants are available to help cover the costs of travel, visas and accommodation. The kinds of events and festivals that are covered by the funding are those that have a mostly music industry audience or delegation. The fund cannot support artists to play at festivals for the general public. 

The Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places Fund will support projects in places where involvement in the arts is significantly below the national average. The Creative People and Places Fund will operate over three years and will invest in around 15 programmes of activity that use radical new approaches to developing excellent, inspiring and sustainable arts experiences for communities not currently engaging with the arts.  The Arts Council is keen to encourage long-term collaborations between local communities and arts organisations, museums, libraries and local authorities. 

Take it away aims to make musical instruments and tuition more affordable for aspiring musicians, especially younger people and those on lower incomes.  The scheme allows individuals to apply for a loan of between £100 and £5,000 for the purchase of any kind of musical instrument, completely interest free. Take it away loans are now available through a network of over 300 +  musical instrument retailers across England. All instruments are included in the scheme and, to help musical development and manage costs, equipment and services such as amplifiers, sheet music and tuition can be included within the loan where available. The scheme is only open to individuals so schools or organisations cannot use it for multiple purchases.

Through the Awards for Young Musicians, grants of between £100 and £2,000 are available to support major costs of the musician's training such as; lessons; buying instruments; travel; specialist's courses. Grants will be made directly to institutions, music organisations music teachers and other suppliers. The Awards for Young Musicians programme supports young people aged between 5 and 17 living in the UK and who are instrumentalists, are in financial need or have exceptional musical talent and potential.

The Elephant Trust offers grants to artists and institutions (priority is given to small organisations and galleries) for new, innovative visual arts projects based in the UK. The Trust was set up in 1975 to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when frustrated by lack of funds. It is committed to helping artists and institutions that depart from the routine and signal new, distinct and imaginative sets of possibilities.  Priority is also given to artists and small organisations and galleries who should submit well argued, imaginative proposals for making or producing new work or exhibitions.

The Radcliffe Trust supports classical music performance and training especially chamber music, composition and music education. Particular interests within music education are music for children and adults with special needs, youth orchestras and projects at secondary and higher levels, including academic research. Applications are considered under the following headings: composition and contemporary music, bursaries for courses and summer schools; limited to U.K. based students, music therapy / special needs, academic research / projects, youth orchestras, performance projects and educational projects. The funding amount is discretionary.

Philip Bates Trust Arts Grants provides grants of up to £500 to charitable and not for profit organisations as well as individuals for the provision of creative and artistic projects and workshops. The scheme aims to allow young people up to the age of 25, to develop artistic skills and encourage creativity. The Trusts main objectives are to advance the education of young people in the arts by the provision of awards to encourage and support their pursuit of creative and artistic achievement, and the provision of financial support to projects or workshops. Applications from individuals and organisations within the West Midlands or from organisations undertaking activities in the West Midlands are particularly welcome. The Trustees meet three times a year - usually in February, June and October to assess applications.

The Clore Duffield Foundation is a grant making charity which concentrates its support on cultural learning, creating learning spaces within arts and heritage organisations, leadership training for the cultural and social sectors, social care and enhancing Jewish life. Through its main grants programme, the Foundation makes grants of between £10,000 to in excess of £1 million to registered charities; the majority of support under this programme is directed towards the cultural sector. Funding is available for capital re-developments as well as project, programme and revenue funding. There is no deadline for the Main Grants Programme and applications are accepting on a rolling basis.