Funding for the arts

We have pulled together a list of organisations and online resources related to funding for the arts. We hope you find this a useful resource.
If you find any broken links, or have suggestions about additions, please email us: editor@artsderbyshire.org.uk.

Creative Lives has published this useful guide to how to write a successful funding application – How to write a successful funding application | Creative Lives (creative-lives.org)

Local & Regional Funding Organisations

Foundation Derbyshire
Local not-for-profit organisation providing funding for voluntary community action throughout Derbyshire.

Local Giving
Local Giving’s mission is to strengthen UK communities by safeguarding the sustainability of the local voluntary sector.

Vickers Art Award
The biennial Jonathan Vickers Fine Art Award is one of the most prestigious art competitions in the Country and is also receiving national and international recognition. It is also one of the largest art prizes nationally.

National Funding Organisations

Allen Lane Foundation
The Allen Lane Foundation is a grant-making trust which was established in 1966. They award funding for charitable purposes across the UK.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation supports projects in the areas of culture, heritage and the arts and will consider funding towards projects that make a real and ongoing difference to people’s lives.

Arts and Humanities Research Council
The Arts and Humanities Research Council explores the human interactions and the evolution of identities over time. They make sense of our historical past, literary and artistic achievements, ability to translate across cultures, and the foundations of knowledge itself.

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

Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust
The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust awards grants to UK registered charities for projects undertaken in the UK.

Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy
Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy transforms the fundraising knowledge, skills and levels of success of arts organisations.

BBC Children in Need
The BBC Children In Need have been supporting over 2,600 projects, working 365 days a year, all over the United Kingdom.

Crowd funding
Kickstarter campaigns make ideas into reality. It is where creators share new visions for creative work with the communities that will come together to fund them.

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is an internation foundations based in Portugal who’s statutory aims are in the fields of arts, social welfare, education and science.

Charity Bank
Charity Bank is entirely owned by charitable foundations, trusts and social purpose organisations. They’re an ethical bank.

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

Coalfields Regeneration Trust
The CRT awards grants in the coalfield areas of Derbyshire around the key themes of health and wellbeing, employment and skills.

Crafts Council
The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see collect and learn about contemporary craft.

Creative England
Creative England uncovers, connects and backs the best original storytellers; driving diversity, collaboration and growth in the creative screen industries.

Funding sources in England
The Arts Council in England invest in arts and culture for a lasting return. They look for organisations, artists, events, initiatives and others to apply for the funding and help achieve their strategy.

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation aims to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK.

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.

Fidelio Charitable Trust
Fidelio welcomes applications for grants in support of the Arts, particularly for Music, Lieder, Composition and Dance.

Foyle Foundation
The Foyle Foundation is an independent grant-making trust that distributes grants to UK charities.

Grants Expert
GrantsExpert was formed to offer a unique reference point on how to find grant or funding for home, family or hobby.

Grants Online
A database of grant giving bodies with regular news updates.

Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest dedicated funder of heritage in the UK. They believe that understanding, valuing and sharing heritage brings people together, inspires pride in communities and boosts investment in local economies.

Idlewild Trust
The Idlewild Trust was founded in 1974 and awards grants of up to five thousand to UK registered charities working in either The Arts or Conservation.

Lisa Ullman Travelling Scholarship fund
The aim of this small charity is to provide financial support to individuals who wish to travel abroad or in the United Kingdom to attend a conference, to pursue a research project or undertake a short course of study in the field of movement or dance.

Lloyds Bank Foundation
Lloyds Bank Foundation are an independent charitable trust funded by the profits of Lloyds Banking Group. Through core cost funding, developmental support and influencing policy and practice, they help charities make life-changing impacts.

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
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation are an independent grant-making foundation, using resources to support social change.

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 National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery raises money for good causes. People use this funding to do extraordinary things, taking the lead to improve their lives and communities.

Tesco Charity Trust
Tesco community grants fund thousands of local projects right across the UK.

The Baring Foundation
The Baring Foundation is an independent foundation which protects and advances human rights and promotes inclusion. They seek to build positive, purposeful partnerships with grant recipients, grant-makers and others in order to work together for socially just change.

The British Council
Arts is a cornerstone of the British Council’s mission to create a friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and the wider world. They find new ways of connecting with and understanding each other through the arts, to develop stronger creative sectors across the world that are better connected with the UK.

The Tudor Trust
The Tudor Trust is an independent grant-making trust which supports voluntary and community groups working in any part of the UK.

The Wolfson Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation awards grants to support and promote excellence in the fields of science and medicine, the arts and humanities, education and health and disability.

UK Film Council
The UK Film Council provides funding for film production and training.

Universal Music UK Sound Foundation
UMUK Sound Foundation is an independent music education charity. The Foundation’s aim is to improve access to music education in the UK & Ireland.

Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity
The Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Charity raises money to improve the lives of sick children in hospitals and hospices throughout the UK, providing a wide range of support to patients, families and staff.

Wellcome Trust
Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. They support researchers, take on big health challenges, campaign for better science, and help everyone get involved with science and health research.

Youth Music
Youth Music’s vision is that one day, all children and young people will be able to have musical lives. A national charity investing in music-making projects which support children and young people develop personally and socially as well as musically.