Discretionary grants are available for arts organisations across the UK to support a variety of projects and activities that make the arts available for public benefit. Deadline: 4 October.

Discretionary grants are now live for study or work related to natural history or the environment worldwide, such as expeditions, field trips or development of new teaching materials. Deadline: 30 November.

Funding is available for charities and not-for-profit organisations to support with the acquisition, restoration and conservation of historic buildings in the UK. Loans of between £25,000 to £500,000 are available. Funding is available to reuse or redevelop buildings that are of historic or architectural importance. This includes buildings which are listed, in a conservation area, or may be of special significance to the community. Applications can be made at any time.

Funding is available to local authorities, universities, charitable trusts and limited companies for strategic research and to build skills and capacity in England’s historic environment. The level of funding will vary depending on the project. The funding can be used for direct and indirect costs. Full detail on the scheme, including all relevant documents, can be found on Historic England’s website.

Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations to cover some of the costs of developing and coordinating a building project and taking it towards the start of work on site. The following grants are available:

• Up to £100,000 for projects in England (up to 90% of the cost of the work).

To apply for a grant, organisations must be a formally constituted and incorporated charity or social enterprise whose members have limited liability.

Detailed guidance notes and applications forms are available on the AHF website. Applicants must initially complete the online enquiry form to establish their eligibility. The deadline for applications depends on the amount of funding being requested.

Funding is available for charities and not-for-profit organisations to support with the acquisition, restoration and conservation of historic buildings in the UK. Loans of £20,000 up to £1 million are available. Funding is available to reuse or redevelop buildings that are of historic or architectural importance or of special significance to the local community. Loans could providing mortgage-style finance secured against a restored asset creating affordable housing or a community space, or may enable a Trust to restore and sell on a historic building. Applications can be made at any time.

Grants to not for profit organisations, registered charities, trusts, CICs for the restoration of important industrial buildings, structures, machinery, vehicles and vessels within the UK.  From 2020 onwards the available Grants pot is divided into two categories:

• Major projects where the maximum grant that can be awarded is £20,000. The grant from the AIA must be a significant part of the total project cost
• Small projects which are allocated at least 20% of the available funds. The grant limit is £7,500, for which the total cost of the project, excluding the value of volunteer labour, must not exceed £10,000.

Deadline for all applications: 31 March annually.

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.

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. The funding can support projects lasting up to a maximum of three years. The funding is for projects that are focused on one or more of the following disciplines:

• Music
• Theatre
• Dance
• Visual arts
• Literature
• Combined arts – including festivals and carnivals
• Museum practice (accredited or unaccredited)
• Libraries (for activities that deliver against at least one of the Universal Library Offers including: Creativity and Culture; Reading; Information and Digital; Health and Wellbeing).

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

New guidance were introduced from 1 November 2023

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.

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.

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.

ChurchCare supports those in parishes, dioceses and cathedrals caring for their buildings. It gives grants for urgent fabric repairs and the conservation of our historic church interiors and churchyard structures. Deadline: Varies according to grant applied for.

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.

Grants are available for UK registered charities working in the areas of horticulture and plant sciences, as well as fine art and art history. The Trustees will generally consider grants of up to £10,000, but because of the high demand, most grants are currently £5,000 or less. Applications are considered at quarterly trustee meetings, usually in January, April, July and October.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Grants are available to support the heritage sector to strengthen its recovery from the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current cost of living crisis across the UK.

• grants from £3,000 to £10,000
• grants from £10,000 to £250,000
• grants from £250,000 to £10 million

The funding will continue to support a broad range of heritage projects and activities, such as industrial sites, castles and historic places of worship, to the stories and memories of communities, and through to public parks, natural landscapes and native wildlife.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Grants are available for projects in the UK for the preservation/repair of historic buildings and the conservation of items, collections and records.

The following funding levels are available:

• Historic Buildings and Structures and Care of Collections and Objects: £1,000 to £30,000. Grants below £5,000 are considered on a rolling basis
• Places of Worship: no minimum or maximum levels are stated.

Applications may be submitted at any time.

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.

The Trust welcomes applications from small to medium-sized charities with an annual income of less than £500,000 or for specific activities within programmes of this size in larger charities in order to promote the advancement and accessibility of music and the arts, and in particular to support organisations helping young musicians, singers and dancers from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Trust consider applications twice a year. Applications received by end May will be reviewed in June/July and answered by the end of September. Applications received by end November will be reviewed in December/January and answered by the end of February.

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.

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.