Funding to Improve Young People’s Lives Through Music & the Creative Arts (UK)
Funding is available for organisations that use the power of music and the creative arts to improve the lives of young people of all backgrounds across the UK. Since its inception in 1989, the Brit Trust has distributed over £28 million to various organisations through funds raised primarily from the BRIT Awards and the Music Industry Trusts Award events. This funding supports music and arts initiatives that promote education, wellbeing, and community engagement, helping individuals realise their full potential, regardless of ability, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Applications are open to registered charities until the 30th April 2025. Applicants must have the support of a Music Industry contact to apply.

Grants to Help New, Innovative Visual Arts Projects (UK)
The Elephant Trust has announced that the next application deadline is the 19th January 2025. The Trust offers grants to artists and for new, innovative visual arts projects. It aims to enable artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when confronted with a lack of funds. The Trust supports projects that develop and improve fine arts knowledge, understanding and appreciation. Priority is given to artists, small organisations, and galleries who are making or producing new work or exhibitions. The Trust awards typically grants of up to £2,000, but larger grants of up to £5,000 may be considered.

Funding to Create Opportunities for Young People to Engage with Arts (London)
Arts organisations in London can apply for funding to deliver arts activities in schools. The John Lyon's Charity provides grants of up to £30,000 per year for two years, supporting high-quality, in-person arts programmes in at least two schools across Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, or the City of London. The funding aims to help organisations expand their impact by providing arts opportunities to young people from backgrounds typically underrepresented in the arts. Projects should focus on large group participation - whether for an entire class, year group, or whole school - and may include outreach, site visits, workshops, materials, and CPD support for teachers. Applications for the Cultural Capital Fund close on the 10th January 2025.

Student Opportunities in Public Museums & Galleries (UK)
Funding is available to help public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries, and visual arts organisations in the UK provide meaningful paid work experience opportunities for full-time university students that enable them to explore further their interest in the arts and related future career options before they graduate. Through Art Fund’s Student Opportunities programme, organisations can apply for up to £10,000 towards the costs associated with paying students for their time to help deliver projects. Art Fund will consider 100% of the funding for the costs. Applicants should allow at least eight weeks between submitting applications and when they need a decision. The next closing date for applications is the 10th January 2025.

Funding for Artists to Develop their Artistic Practice (England)
Arts Council England has announced that its Developing your Creative Practice programme is open for applications. Grants of up to £12,000 are available to support the development of independent creative practitioners working in dance, theatre, music, visual arts, literature, combined arts or museums practice. The aim is to offer practitioners the time and space to work on ambitious and innovative research and development opportunities to make a step-change in their practice. The next closing date for applications is 12 midday on the 12th December 2024.

Pilot Grant Scheme Launched for Large-Scale Theatre & Dance Tours (England)
Arts Council England (ACE) has launched a £5 million pilot scheme to support regional touring in England. The Incentivising Touring: Repayable Grants for Theatre and Dance scheme will offer repayable grants of up to 25% of a production’s capitalisation costs, up to a maximum of £500,000. This funding aims to reduce the risks associated with touring mid- and large-scale productions, encouraging boards and investors to support additional tours and attract broader investment. If supported tours are commercially successful, the grants will be returned to ACE for reinvestment in future tours. The pilot will test this new funding approach at scale, and could help shape a longer-term programme in the future. Applications open on the 25th November 2024 and close on the 20th January 2025.

New Fund to Support Early Career Music Promoters (England)
The PRS Foundation has launched a new fund to support the career development of music promoters in England. The Early Career Promoter Fund offers grants of up to £3,500 and capacity-building support to help early career independent promoters of all genres with the booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, showcases, tours and other performances, and the costs associated with these activities, as well as helping promoters build their skills. The scheme will also help to address underrepresentation in music by ensuring support reaches a diverse range of promoters. The Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport support the fund. The closing date for applications is the 12th December 2024.

Grants for Cultural Organisations Working to Create Social Justice (UK)
Grants ranging from £90,000 to £300,000 are available to build the capacity of cultural organisations that use art to create positive social change, particularly amongst historically underfunded communities across the UK. The Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Arts Fund provides core funding to arts organisations over three years, to increase their sustainability and to deepen the impact of their work. The Foundation will fund up to 50% of an organisation’s annual turnover. Priority will be given to applications which are anti-racist and intersectional in their approach. The deadline for applications is 12pm on the 31st January 2025.

Grants to Support Music Making (UK & Ireland)
Music for All, a UK charity that promotes music making, has launched a new round of its Community Project Funding Programme. Grants are available to community groups, schools and individuals under a number of different categories, each with their own criteria and award amounts. This round will support projects working with people with learning and cognitive challenges, individuals facing financial hardship, underprivileged children aged 0-4, and community initiatives for those with mobility and accessibility needs. It will also fund choral singing opportunities for underprivileged groups, as well as the Learn to Play Award for those who either attended a Music for All’s Learn to Play event in October 2023 or were inspired by a Learn to Play tutorial on Music for All’s YouTube channel. The closing date for applications is the 13th January 2025.