Funding for culture, art and heritage

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art materials

Below is a list of ongoing grants focusing on culture, art and heritage for you to have a browse through.

Please note: the ongoing grants listed below do not represent all the funds available to groups.

Searching for funding

If you wish to make a key-word search, please click below on the relevant section, then press CTRL + F. In the search box that pops up,  write down the funding body or the name of the grant your are looking for.

 

Please note this page is reviewed monthly. For this reason, please always have a look at the funder’s websites for up-to-date information. If you know of other sources to be included below please email info@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk.

American Express - Community Giving Programme

Varied grants are available for not-for-profit organisations to help empower diverse and inclusive communities. Deadline: ongoing.

Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) - Project Viability Grants for England

Grants up to £15,000 are available to support early-stage work on historic building projects. Deadline: ongoing.

Art Fund - Commission Grants

Discretionary grants are available to commission and acquire new artwork in museums and galleries. Deadline: ongoing.

Arts Council England - National Lottery Project Grants

Grants of between £1,000 and £100,000 are available for individual artists, community and cultural organisations to support arts, museums and libraries projects that engage people in England with arts and culture. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Art Fund - Student Opportunities

Funding available to harness the talent of university students to help realise a project at a museum or gallery in the UK. Applications for up to £10,000 will be considered. Art Fund will consider 100% funding towards the costs. Eligible applicants are UK public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

Grants up to £4,000 are available for registered charities carrying out projects relating to the arts, heritage or conservation.

To apply, write to:

Denise Gardiner
Trust Administrator
Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust
3 Honeyhanger
Hindhead Road
Hindhead
GU26 6BA
Tel: 07762942914
Email: denise@bwct.org 

Deadline: ongoing.

BFI National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund

Grants up to £150,000 are available to organisations to deliver creative or talent development programmes. Deadline: ongoing.

Benefact Trust – Community Impact Fund

Discretionary grants are available for churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies, Christian charities, schools, and theological institutions to carry out projects that have a positive impact on communities. Deadline: ongoing.

BFI National Lottery Screen Heritage Fund

Grants up to £80,000 are available to support the public screen heritage sector. Deadline: ongoing.

Biffa Award Main Grants Scheme – Cultural Facilities

Grants up to £75,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations to improve cultural facilities that are located near a Biffa Operation or Biffa Landfill site. Deadline: ongoing.

Didymus Fund

Grants up to £30,000 are available to registered charities to make the arts more accessible to people living in Yorkshire. Deadline: ongoing.

Ernest Cook Trust

Grants up to £1,000 are available for charities and not-for-profit organisations for educational projects that encourage young people to gain interest in the countryside.  Deadline: ongoing.

Eric Twiname Trust

Varied grants are available for not-for-profit groups and organisations to enable and encourage young people in full time education to sail or race. Deadline: ongoing.

Family Fund Trust - Your Opportunity Grants Programme

Varied grants are available for families raising a disabled or seriously ill young adult (18-24) living at home, to fund items/activities that will enhance their life. Deadline: ongoing.

Fenton Arts Trust

The Trust focuses on supporting artists at the beginning of their careers. The Trust’s overall aim is to give encouragement and financial support to those actively contributing to the creative arts in the UK. It assists individuals and organisations that contribute to the artistic and cultural life of this country. Grants are generally from £1,000-£5,000. Trustees meet three times a year to consider applications, in Spring, Summer and Autumn. There is a deadline for the receipt of applications approximately three weeks before each meeting.

Friends of the Elderly - Grants for Older People

Grants up to £500 are available to provide support to older people on low incomes with the costs of home essentials, unexpected large bills, general living costs and online connection. Deadline: ongoing.

Friends of Friendless Churches - The Cottam Will Trust

Grants are available for the purchase of works of art to be placed in medieval churches in England and Wales for the advancement of religion. Funding is at the discretion of the Trustees. Both large and small grants are available. Grants can be made for items such as: statues, murals, paintings, paschal candlesticks, vestments, Commandment Boards, stained glass, altars and altar frontals. Anyone in England can apply for a grant but applications tend to come from Parochial Church Councils (PCC). An application form is available upon request from the office of the Friends of Friendless Churches. Apply any time.

Hodge Foundation (Jane Hodge Foundation)

Varied grants are available to charities for projects that address the following:

  • Welfare
  • Education
  • medical treatment
  • Research
  • Religion

To learn more, contact:

Foundation Administrator
Hodge Foundation
One Central Square
Cardiff
CF10 1FS
Tel: 029 2078 7674
Email: contact@hodgefoundation.org.uk

 

Deadline: ongoing

Historic England - Regional Capacity Building Programme

Grants are available to third sector organisations in England for local and regional projects which promote the understanding, management and conservation of the historic environment. No minimum or maximum grant levels are specified. Apply any time.

Historic England

Charitable trusts can apply to Historic England for discretionary funding for strategic research and to build skills and capacity, and to help more diverse people engage with heritage and the historic environment.

Historic England - Heritage Protection Commissions and Capacity Building Programme

Varied grants are available for projects that help develop resilience, capacity and capability within the heritage sector. Deadline: ongoing.

Historic England - Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk

Grants are available for the repair and conservation of listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens that are most at risk of being lost and which could not go forward without funding. Applicants must be the organisation or individual who has legal responsibility for the repair of the relevant listed building, scheduled monument or registered park/garden. There is no standard rate for individual grants. Grants are awarded at the discretion of Historic England and will depend on the nature of the project and the work that is needed. You can apply for a grant at any time during the year.

Historic Houses Foundation

Grants up to £250,000 are available for repairs and restoration work required to prevent loss of or damage to historic buildings, their gardens, and any outbuildings. Deadline: ongoing.

Hugo Burge Foundation - Creative Grants

Grants up to £15,000 are available to support organisations that promote creativity via three areas: creative education, creative communities, and creative individuals. Deadline: 30 September.

Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Varied grants are available towards the VAT incurred carrying out repairs on listed buildings used as public places of worship. Deadline: 31 March 2026.

Liveline Fund

Varied grants are available to grassroots music venues, artists and promoters to fund live music projects. Deadline: ongoing.

Mackintosh Foundation

Varied grants are available for registered charities to fund theatre and performing arts projects.

To find out more about this grant, contact:

Enquiries
Mackintosh Foundation
1 Bedford Square
London
WC1B 3RB
Tel: 0207 637 8866
Email: info@camack.co.uk

Deadline: ongoing

Music Venue Trust - Pipeline Investment Fund (Capital funding included)

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to community-based grassroots music venues in the UK to support small-scale capital projects or organisational development activities. Applications will be accepted from community-based organisations operating grassroots music venues in the UK. Grants may be used to help meet the cost of the following projects and activities:

  • Small-scale capital projects including: lights; sound; access; ventilation; and minor building alterations
  • Organisational development projects including: staff and training; diversifying the workforce; succession planning; skills development; and strengthening local community ties.

Applications may be made at any time.

National Archives – Records at Risk Grants

Grants up to £5,000 are available for charities to help preserve and maintain physical and digital historical records in museums. Deadline: ongoing.

National Archives – Skills Bursaries

Grants up to £1,000 are available for charities to fund training for museum archivists in the following categories:

  • Digital archiving
  • Environmental sustainability
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion

Deadline: ongoing.

National Manuscripts Conservation Trust - Grants for the Conservation of Manuscripts

Varied grants available to publicly funded institutions for the preservation of manuscripts and archives. Deadline: 1 October.

National Heritage Memorial Fund

Funding for charities, not-for-profit organisations and public bodies to help with the cost of acquiring historic land, buildings, works of fine and decorative art and other objects of interest which are important to national heritage. There is no set minimum or maximum amount of funding. The Fund is essentially a ‘last resort’. Applicants must be able to prove that they have explored, or are exploring, all other possible sources of funding. Applications can be made at any time.

National Lottery Heritage Fund: Strategic Initiatives – Heritage Places

Grants up to £10,000,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations to deliver heritage projects that improve pride in place. Deadline: ongoing.

National Lottery Heritage Fund - Enterprise Grants

Grants from £250,000 to £5 million are available to enterprising community organisations and commercial organisations working in partnership with community organisations to help rescue neglected historic buildings and sites and return to viable productive use. Applications will be accepted from:

  • Not-for-profit organisations
  • Partnerships between commercial and not-for-profit organisations.

Applications go through a two-round process. Step one is to submit a short Expression of Interest form. Applicants who are successful at step one will be invited to submit a development phase application.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Arts-based Learning Fund

Grants from £30,000 to £400,000 for up to two or three years are available to support work which enables pupils in formal education settings, particularly those experiencing systemic inequality or disadvantage, to thrive through engagement with high quality, arts-based learning. Charities, community organisations, social enterprises and not-for-profit companies active in the arts are eligible to apply. Applicants must be working in partnership with schools or other formal education settings, such as primary and secondary schools, further education colleges, alternative provision, special schools and early years. Apply any time. There are no deadlines.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Grants- Access and Participation Fund

Grants for organisations to widen and deepen participation in the arts. Not-for-profit, formally constituted organisations in the UK are eligible to apply. Grants of between £30,000 and £400,000 for activity lasting between 12 months and 4 years with an option to extend for a further period. Most grants are in the £60,000 to £250,000 range.

Priority will be given to organisations that are led by, and work that is developed and delivered with (including as artists and or practitioners), people who are most affected by systemic oppression and or discrimination. This means Black, Asian and other groups who experience racism, Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people who experience the effects of ableism, those who identify as sitting at the intersections of several minoritized identities, and people experiencing poverty. The funding will cover work that involves any of the following: crafts, dance, design, digital arts and media, film, literature (including creative writing and poetry), music, opera, photography, theatre, the visual arts, and cross-arts practices. There are no deadlines. Applications can be made at any time.

Radcliffe Trust

Funding is available for UK charities, not-for-profit and Exempt organisations working in the areas of music, especially chamber music, composition and music education, or in heritage and crafts. Grants are generally in the region of £2,500 to £7,500. There are two deadlines per year for both the Music and Heritage and Crafts schemes: 31 January and 31 July.

Royal Society of Chemistry - Inclusion & Diversity Fund

Varied grants are available to fund projects that make the chemical sciences community more diverse and inclusive. Deadline: 15 September.

War Memorials Trust

Grants of between £125 and £20,000 are available for up to 50% of total eligible project costs to protect and conserve war memorials marking any conflict, in communities in the UK who could not otherwise fund the works required. Currently, the Trust considers awarding grants of up to:

  • £5,000 for non-freestanding war memorials
  • £20,000 for freestanding, non-beneficiary war memorials.

Applications are accepted from individuals and organisations, including councils. Applicants who are not legally responsible for the war memorial are expected to get written consent for the project from the person or organisation that is responsible.

Grants can be used to support repair and conservation works, which are undertaken following best conservation practice, on most types of war memorial in the UK. Pre-application forms may be submitted at any time.   Please check the website for deadline dates for full applicants.

York Children's Trust

Varied grants are available for charitable organisations working with children and young people (below 25) living in a 20-mile radius of York, who are in need.

To apply and learn more, contact:

Administrator
The York Children’s Trust
2 Stone Rings Close
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG2 9HZ
Tel: 07553 196649
Email: yorkchildrenstrust@hotmail.co.uk

Deadline: ongoing.

Victoria Wood Foundation

Grants are available for arts projects and initiatives in the UK. No minimum or maximum grant amount is specified. Costs associated with eligible arts projects. The Trustees normally meet twice a year, in July and December.