Arts and Social Grants, tips and tricks – if you work in the arts or with communities, or with a combination of both, this is probably something you’re in need of.
In recent weeks various bodies from the Arts Council to private trusts and the National Lottery have started releasing funds for individual arts practitioners and organisations with a social mission to apply for. Each grant will have its own application process and criteria. In addition, for many artists and creatives, talking about your work in terms a funder might understand is a task in itself.
So the following links to resources are designed to help, to guide you through the minefield.
Good luck!
Tips and Tricks
- Before you start making any applications, read this and think about what you’ll need to get your application right > Developing-a–Good-Funding-Application
- Everything from Long Table participatory discussions to Intergenerational Arts Practice and Measuring Art (evaluation) – here’s a wealth of case studies and ‘how to’ guides > https://www.qmul.ac.uk/artsandculture/arts–culture-support-centre/toolkits-reports–research/
- APPLYING FOR ARTS FUNDING: A GUIDE by Sabrina Mahfouz helps to demystify the Big Five (what, why, how, who, when) and will be incredibly useful for all your upcoming funding applications > https://www.theplace.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Smashing%20It_A%20Guide%20to%20Applying%20for%20%20Funding.pdf
Arts Grants, Trusts and Foundations
- The excellent #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork have compiled a superb list of theatre aligned grants > https://freelancersmaketheatrework.com/financial-support
- The Baring Foundation have grants for arts orgs whose sole work relates to creativity with people, including children and young people, with mental health problems > https://baringfoundation.org.uk/news-story/baring-foundation-launches-first-funding-round-to-support-arts-and-mental-health-organisations/
- Arts Council England have reopened National Lottery Project Grants with a budget of £59.8 million available until April 2021. They are prioritising independent organisations, creative practitioners and freelancers > https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants
- And in relation to the above, do make sure you check this ‘how to‘ guide before even thinking of applying > https://www.the-uncultured.com/blog/july-2020-update-ace-project-grants
- Also from Arts Council England, the £2.25 million Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund seeks to ensure the survival of grassroots music venues from now until 30 September 2020 > https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/emergency-grassroots-music-venues-fund#section-1
- PRS Foundation’s Sustaining Creativity Fund supports artists, songwriters and composers to create and develop when they need it most. It has been adapted to provide targeted support for Black music creators > https://prsfoundation.com/funding-support/funding-music-creators/all-career-levels/sustaining-creativity-fund/
- The Theatre Artists Fund has been set up to provide emergency support for theatre workers and freelancers across the UK. It is for theatre professionals who are in need of urgent and critical financial support due to the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the theatre sector > https://theatreartists.fund/
- Visual artists might find this regularly updated list of prizes, competitions and funding useful > http://fundingforartists.org.uk/artists/
- The City of London Corporation – aka City Corporation – offers a variety of grants from a combination of trusts and foundations which it administers. Some have rolling deadlines, others are time bound, and all require careful thought and planning ahead of applying. Get the full fat here > https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/working-with-community/central-grants-programme
- Power to Change, Locality, The Ubele Initiative and Social Investment Business have £9.5 million to distribute on behalf of the National Lottery Community Fund. The scheme is aimed at organisations delivering services in their local community to support people who are at high risk from Covid-19, with an emphasis on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)-led or BAME-supporting businesses > https://www.powertochange.org.uk/get-support/programmes/covid-19-community-led-organisations-recovery-scheme/
- The Community Justice Fund is a joint initiative to help specialist social welfare legal advice organisations cope with the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lay the foundations for longer-term renewal > https://www.communityjusticefund.org.uk/
- Barrow Cadbury Trust, with the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF), are distributing COVID-19 emergency response funding to the migration charity sector in England. They have £5 million to distribute for work that will relieve hardship caused by the pandemic among refugees and asylum-seekers and by migrants experiencing barriers to accessing services > https://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/what-we-do/programmes/covid-19-support-fund/
- Homelessness organisations affected directly by COVID-19 can now apply for funding of £5.5 million in a second round of grants distributed by Homeless Link > https://www.homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2020/jul/13/covid-19-homelessness-response-fund-launches-second-round-of-funding
Sanjit Chudha 