Funding for the Arts

General funding advice and information

Charities Information Bureau
The fit4funding website provides help and advice for community groups and voluntary organisations who are seeking funding.

DCMS Arts Funding 
Department for Culture Media and Sport information about arts funding

East Midlands Funding Index
A comprehensive directory of funders for the East Midlands

Funding Central
Free website for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises, providing access to thousands of funding and finance opportunities, plus a wealth of tools and resources supporting organisations to develop sustainable income strategies appropriate to their needs.

Funder Finder
Funder Finder provides a complete database of funders. This site will tell you how you can get access to this database.

Grants Expert
Funding index for a variety of grants

Lottery Funding
The main Lottery advice and information site.

Voluntary Arts Network
National organisation supporting voluntary arts groups and activity. 

Funders - Local

Derbyshire Artists' Marketing Grants
Small grants of up to £500 for new and emerging Derbyshire Artists to develop their marketing practice..

Derbyshire Community Foundation
Local not-for-profit organisation providing funding for voluntary community action throughout Derbyshire.
'Local Giving' seeks to enable philanthropic giving to small local charities and community groups in the UK.  It’s open to any small local charities to register.  Please get in touch with the Derbyshire Community Foundation if your organisation is interested in registering.

Derbyshire Community Leadership awards
Project support for work in the community.

Derbyshire Dales District Council small grants scheme. Individuals and groups can apply for up to £500. See: Funding Guidelines and Funding Application

Derbyshire Small Arts Grants
Derbyshire County Council awards Small Arts Grants to organisations three times a year of up to £1,000.

Erewash Borough Council small grants scheme offers between £100 and £500 for individuals and groups to support arts activities.

Peak District - New Environmental Economy
Supports artists whose work is inspired by or uses resources from the Peak District.

Vickers Art Award
The Vickers Art Award is a signficant new biennial award which brings a rising artist to Derbyshire for a year's residency.

Funders - National

Allen Lane Foundation
Funds arts activities for people who are on the margins of, and excluded from society

Arts and Humanities Research Board
Provides funding for research and postgraduate study

Arts Council England
A number of funding opportunities are managed by Arts Council England, inclusing those for individual artists

Awards for All
Lottery Funding Scheme for smaller and newly established community groups. Up to £10 000 available. Since 2009, Awards for All no longer fund projects or activities that are predominantly based around Arts, Heritage or Sports

Big Lottery Fund - East Midlands 
BIG hands out half the good causes money from the National Lottery

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Supports arts organistions in the making of new art, including international collaborations

Clore Duffield Foundation
Supports the arts including The Clore Performing Arts Award for projects with young people

Crafts Council
The national development agency for contemporary crafts in the UK.

Creative England (operational from October 2011)
Supports sustainable growth of independent creative businesses, and the talent that feeds them, in every part of England outside London. Aims to assist development of the film, TV, interactive, games and digital media industries, and the growth of film culture in England.

EMI Music Sound Foundation
Grants are given to support music at non-specialist schools and bursaries are given to music students for insturment purchase.

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Foundation's primary interests are in the arts, education and learning, the environment and enabling disadvantaged people to participate fully in society.

Fenton Trust
The Fenton Arts Trust gives grants for individual works, activities, performances or prizes in the fields of drama, painting, sculpture, ballet, music and poetry, in particular final year or postgraduate students.

Heritage Lottery Fund
Supports projects that aim to give people better opportunities to experience, enjoy, care for and protect our heritage

Idlewild Trust 
A grant making trust that supports registered charities who encourage excellence in the performing and fine arts and the preservation of public of buildings and items of historical interest or national importance.

Lisa Ullman Travelling Scholarship fund
Scholarship fund supporting dancers, choreographers, administrators, teachers, therapists, journalists, photographers, and others working in dance/movement who want to enrich their practice through travel.

Lloyds TSB
Supports arts activities for disadvantaged people, people with physical and mental health need, and people with disabilities

NESTA - National Endowment for Science and the Arts
Supports talent, innovation and creativity in the UK. Their mission is to transform the UK’s capacity for innovation

Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Supports projects which address inequality of access and opportunity, particularly among young people 'at risk' and young offenders

Performing Rights Society
British Music Abroad, supports emerging UK acts that have been offered key overseas showcase opportunities

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust
This trust makes awards ranging from £2,000 to £15,000 to craftsmen and women of all ages to help them further their careers.

The Baring Foundation
Support arts organisations anywhere in the UK working with refugees and asylum seekers

The British Council
Works with overseas organisations to make arts events happen. Also "Grants to artists" scheme can help with costs of transporting work to an exhibition in a gallery abroad.

UK - Film Council
The UK FILM COUNCIL provides funding for film production and training

Wellcome Trust
Sciart - Supports arts projects that investigate biomedical science. Pulse supports young people's arts projects that engage with biomedical science.

Youth Music
Grants enable high quality and diverse music-making for young people who might otherwise lack opportunity.