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.
Funding for culture, art and heritage
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 communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk.
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Art Fund - Student Opportunities
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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.
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Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust
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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.orgDeadline: ongoing.
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Benefact Trust – Roof Alarm Grants
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Discretionary grants are available to churches to finance the installation of church roof alarms. Deadline: ongoing.
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Benefact Trust – Building Improvement Grants
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Grants are available for Christian charities, churches, cathedrals, and denominational bodies across the UK to support the conservation, preservation, or aesthetic enhancement of Christian churches and charity buildings. There is no minimum or maximum award specified. Funding will be awarded at the discretion of the trustees. Funding can be used to support direct capital costs. Applications can be submitted at any time.
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Benefact Trust - Heritage Skills for Christian Buildings Grants (Capital funding included)
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Grants are available for registered Christian charities in the UK to provide training, scholarships, and apprenticeships for individuals in heritage skills that are essential for the preservation and maintenance of historic Christian buildings. Funding will be awarded at the discretion of the Trustees. Funding can be used for both capital and revenue costs. Apply any time.
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British Record Industry Trust (BRIT Trust)
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Discretionary grants are available to registered charities, working to encourage young people in relation to music. Deadline: 30 April.
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Didymus Fund
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Grants up to £30,000 are available to registered charities to make the arts more accessible to people living in Yorkshire. Deadline: ongoing.
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The Fenton Arts Trust
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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.
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Friends of Friendless Churches - The Cottam Will Trust
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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.
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Historic England - Regional Capacity Building Programme
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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.
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Historic England
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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.
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Historic England - Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk
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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.
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Historic Houses Foundation
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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.
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Friends of the Elderly - Grants for Older People
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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.
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Marc Fitch Fund
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Discretionary grants are available for individuals and organisations for research and publications that focus on both regional and local history. Deadline: 1 March 2025.
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Music Venue Trust - Pipeline Investment Fund (Capital funding included)
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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.
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National Heritage Memorial Fund
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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.
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National Lottery Heritage Fund: Strategic Initiatives – Heritage Places
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Grants up to £10,000,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations to deliver heritage projects that improve pride in place. Deadline: ongoing.
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National Lottery Heritage Fund - Enterprise Grants
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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.
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Nesta Arts & Culture Impact Fund
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Repayable loans of up to £1 million are available to support the UK’s arts, culture and heritage social enterprises. The Fund offers repayable finance between £150,000 and £1,000,000 with a repayment term until May 2031 and interest rates ranging between 3% and 8.5%. Eligible organisations must:
- Be registered and operating in the UK. Digital organisations will need to demonstrate their primary audiences are based in the UK
- Have core operations or primary activity in the arts, culture and heritage
- Have a clear social mission, reflected in its structure and governance
- Be able to demonstrate measurable social impact on individuals or communities in the UK.
Applications can be submitted at any time.
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Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Arts-based Learning Fund
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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.
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Paul Hamlyn Foundation Grants- Access and Participation Fund
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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.
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Radcliffe Trust
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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.
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Take It Away
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Interest-free loans up to £5,000 are available for musicians at every level to buy musical instruments, equipment and software at participating stores. Deadline: ongoing.
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War Memorials Trust
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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.
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Victoria Wood Foundation
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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.