Funder: Power Up by PRS

Deadline: 10th March 2021

Award: £15,000 Talent Development

Area:  New programme which will power up Black music creators and industry professionals and will tackle anti-Black racism and racial disparities in the UK music industry. Participants receive: Grant support of up to £15,000, capacity building and mentoring, access to partners and marketing support.Eligible applicants must be able to answer yes to the below questions:

• Are you a Black music creator (artist, songwriter, composer or producer involved in the creation of new music)?
• Do you face barriers to progression based on your race?
• Are you based in the UK?
• Within the genre(s) you work in, have you achieved a level of success that suggests you are at a crucial tipping point*
• Will the funding and other support have a significant impact on your progression?
• Do you release your music independently? (PRS Foundation is unable to support music creators signed to major record labels or publishers)

Link:  PRS Foundation

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Funder: The Cornerstone Fund: Stage 1

Deadline: 22nd March 2021

Award: TBC

Area: The Cornerstone Fund is a funder collaboration currently involving City Bridge Trust, the GLA, the National Lottery Community Fund, Trust for London and the John Lyons Charity. Now on its second round of funding, our collective vision is for London to be a city where all individuals and communities can thrive. Our mission is to reduce inequality and grow stronger, more resilient and thriving communities for a London that serves everyone. We welcome applications from:

• Partnerships at various stages of development. You may be a group of partners who have recently come together (e.g. formed in response to COVID-19) who want to build your partnership. You may have worked together for some time, and want to deepen or broaden your partnership or increase your focus on tackling systemic challenges. We expect that when you submit your application, you have an idea of at least some the core partners who will be involved
• Partnerships that operate at a regional, local or hyperlocal level
• Partnerships addressing a range of social issues. These might include (but are not limited to): wellbeing, digital exclusion, racial inequality
• Partnerships that take an experimental approach through testing and learning.

You do not need a specific ‘solution’ in mind, the main priority is that your partnership has a clear purpose/goal, connections with communities, collaborative relationships, commitment to tackling systemic issues and a learning culture to adapt your approach over time.

Link: Trust for London

Funder: The Women Thrive Fund

Deadline: 25th March 2021

Award: Grants of up to £15,000 with a turnover of £200,000 inclusive. Grants of up to £40,000 with a turnover of £200,001 – £999,999.

Area: Delivered by Rosa and Smallwood Trust, the Women Thrive Fund is distributing grants of up to £40,000 to specialist women’s organisations across the UK. Organisations should be working to enable women and girls to improve their mental health and wellbeing and/or improve their financial resilience. The fund responds directly to what women’s and girls’ organisations have told us throughout the pandemic: that declining mental health, increased risk of emotional trauma and increased poverty levels are their biggest concerns for women and girls across the UK. They can also apply for an additional 25% of their grant request for work which will strengthen their organisation. Funding is available to spend until December 2022. We’re also hosting a series of ‘how to apply’ webinars with Smallwood Trust to give potential applicants the chance to ask questions: March 8th, 6pm. REGISTER HERE and March 18th, 1pm. REGISTER HERE

Link: ROSA UK

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Funder: Writer Slam by UKTV and Triforce Creative Network (TCN)

Deadline: 25th March 2021

Award: Competition and Talent Development Scheme

Area: UKTV are partnering with TCN to turbo charge their groundbreaking Writer Slam programme. UKTV will be taking Writer Slam to the next level, promising not just a development commission, but a greenlit season of originals on Dave in 2021/22. As usual the competition is open to any UK resident, regardless of their previous experience or age. Whether your script is about telling a story we’ve never seen on TV before, or whether it’s simply a universal story told by a different voice, we want to hear from you. We want writers who represent the society that we live in, and who will offer different perspectives, experiences and opinions. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an agent or have never written professionally before – if you live in the UK, and you’ve got an idea, or a story to tell, we want to hear it. UKTV will select six writers who will receive a paid development commission to work up their original TV ideas into 30-minute scripts suitable for broadcast and for potential expansion into full length series. These writers will benefit from several writing workshops in addition to working with a script editor and experienced executive producer over a three-month period. Individual mentoring and support from TCN will also be available over this timeframe, culminating in a table read of all six scripts performed by a troupe of handpicked professional actors which will help inform the final selection process. Writers will be asked to submit a one-page pitch of their idea, as well as a 10–15-page sample of their writing. Four of these scripts will then be green lit to be produced for Dave.

Link: The TCN Writer Slam

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Funder: Black Thrive Employment Project

Deadline: 28th March 2021

Award: between £1,000 and £50,000 to deliver projects for up to 12 months

Area: Black Thrive, led by our Employment Working Group, will distribute £300,000 of grant funding over two years to improve employment outcomes for Black people with long-term health conditions (LTCs) in Lambeth.

Link: Black Thrive

Funder: Film Forward

Deadline: 11.59 PM, 28th March 2021

Award: £3,000 bursary

Area: Anew career progression programme to address under-representation in film. Film Forward is a new programme designed to create change in the UK film industry by supporting experienced Black, Asian or minority ethnic professionals to advance into more senior roles.

Film Forward will match professionals with at least five years’ experience in below-the-line roles in film, with paid placements on UK productions. It also offers financial and coaching support.

Successful candidates will gain experience in a step-up role that will enable them to apply for future positions at that level.

The programme will launch with up to six individuals matched with productions across the UK crewing up in 2021 or early 2022. Successful candidates will receive:

• The opportunity to be matched with a paid placement to support career development
• Access to bespoke Film Forward career coaching led by an accredited industry coach, before, during and after placements
• Access to a bursary of up to £3,000 to support the step up for expenses such as equipment or software

Placement allowances will be in line with salaries for the associated roles (to be confirmed by the production company).

Successful candidates will become a part of the production they are placed on, additional to crew, and will have an associated development contract for their time.

Applying to Film Forward does not guarantee applicants a placement. We will work with production companies across the year to design development placements to then match with up to six candidates from the Film Forward Talent pool subject to shortlisting criteria, interview and practical considerations.

Link: https://www.screenskills.com/bookings/film-forward/

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Funder: Image Behaviour by Dr. Martens and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)

Deadline: 30th March 2021

Award: £5,000 – £30,000

Area: This landmark partnership will provide 7 grants to support emerging and under-represented artists. The grants will help fund projects dedicated to forward-thinking design and moving image, providing a steppingstone for struggling artists at a time they need it most. We are currently inviting proposals from UK-based emerging artists and collaborators who are looking to make their first significant presentation in a UK institution and who feel that they would benefit from expert mentoring and production support. You must be aged 16 or over, and you don’t need any formal training to apply. Your proposal could be for an event-based installation, a single- and/or multi-channel projection, a performance, an online and/or streamable work, another moving image-based format or any combination of these formats – but it must have moving image at its core. We are interested in proposals that experiment, that innovate and that are both conceptually and aesthetically ambitious. Image Behaviour 2021 will also have a strong online presence, and we are open to receiving proposals for online-only works.

We’re committing to the following:

• £60,000 in production grants for new work in artists’ moving image
• The awards are broken down into one grant worth £30,000, and six worth £5,000, alongside dedicated mentorship and production support for all successful applicants
• The work will be premiered at Image Behaviour, the ICA’s annual convening dedicated to artists’ moving image festival, in October 2021.

Link: Dr Martens & The Institute of Contemporary Arts

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Funder: The Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs 2021

Deadline: 31st March 2021

Award: £60k prize fund. £100K worth of tailored business support. 5 winners.

Area: The Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs 2021 is now accepting submissions. Open to 18–30-year-olds seeking to drive positive impact through creative enterprise. All business stages eligible from idea stage to scaling up. Creative Industries specific. Resources and information sessions are available to support your application.

Link: DBACE 2021

Funder: Arachne Press

Deadline: 14th April 2021

Award: Call for submissions for UK resident writers of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage on the theme of maps and mapping.

Area: Arachne Press is planning an anthology of fiction and poetry from UK resident writers of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage. Publication will be October 2021. We will pay royalties. Once published in an Arachne anthology you may be invited to submit a collection or novel. We look forward to receiving new work from across the country and are excited to discover voices new and familiar. Poets can enter two poems maximum of under 50 lines and short story writers can enter one story of up to 2000 words. All entries will be read by the editors and there is no fee to submit your writing. We have an overarching theme for all our anthologies for the next 12-18 months of ‘maps and mapping’. You do not need to take this in any way literally – ‘the map is not the territory.’ Consider new lands, homelands, boundaries – real or imaginary; journeys, ideas of territory and ‘your place’. Landmarks and directions, roots and routes, (dis)location and getting lost – the possibilities are (almost!) endless.

Link: Arachne Press

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Funder:  Green Challenge 2021

Deadline: 12pm on the 15th April 2021.

Award: There is a total of €1 million in combined prize money for the five best start-ups with €500,000 awarded to the winner, €200,000 for the runner-up, and three finalists will receive €100,000 each. All finalists will also receive six months of expert coaching.

Area: Green entrepreneurs from across the UK are invited to compete for a place in the final of the Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge 2021. The international competition awards start-ups that successfully combine sustainability, entrepreneurship and creativity to tackle pressing environmental challenges. This year, the competition is looking for sustainable innovations or solutions that people can relate to, which can be used in everyday life and/or that can be turned into a consumer product.

Link: https://www.greenchallenge.info/

Funder:  Esmee Fairbairn Foundation – Bring Museum & Gallery Collections Closer to people (UK)

Deadline: 26th April 2021

Award: up to £90,000 over two to three years

Area: Museums and galleries in the UK can apply for funding for projects that bring art collections closer to people by demonstrating their significance, distinctiveness and power.

Provided by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and administered by the Museums Association, the Collections Fund will award grants for projects which engage and involve audiences as museums recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Foundation will support around seven to ten projects that take risks or are at an early stage of development and should focus on existing collections.

Link: https://www.museumsassociation.org/funding/esmee-fairbairn-collections-fund/

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Funder: University of Leeds

Deadline: 3rd May 2021

Award: Scholarship  – Masters courses in the School of Music

Area: Choose from 7 different courses, ranging from composition, performance, electronic music production, music and management, music and wellbeing, the psychology of music and musicology. One fee scholarship is available for a UK/EU/ International applicant. Covers full fees for UK students or 50% fees for international applicants. You can study full-time (12-months) or part-time (24-months).

Link: University of Leeds

 Funder: University of Leeds

Deadline: 28th May 2021

Award: Postgraduate Scholarships

Area: Masters courses in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries

Choose from 6 different courses, ranging from applied theatre, performance design, writing for performance, audience engagement, culture and creativity, global performance.

Three full-fee scholarships available for home/EU rated applicants. They will cover Full Home/EU fee or 50% of International fee, actual amount will vary according to programme. You can study full-time (12-months) or part-time (24-months.

Link: University of Leeds

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 Funder:  The Ironmongers Company’s grants programme – Enable Disadvantaged Young People Reach Their Potential (UK)

Deadline: 31st July 2021

Award: up to £10,000

Area: Registered charities (including Schools that are registered as charities for young people with disabilities) that work with disadvantaged children under the age of 25 can apply for funding of up to £10,000 through the Ironmongers Company’s grants programme.

Projects must meet all of the following criteria:

• For children and young people under the age of 25 who are disadvantaged
• Consist of educational activities that develop learning, motivation and skills
• Have clear aims and objectives to be met within a planned timescale
• Are within the UK

The Company is particularly interested in enabling primary age children to develop a strong foundation for the future. Projects could, for example:

• Support special educational needs
• Address behavioural problems
• Promote citizenship, parenting or life skills.

Preference will be given to projects piloting new approaches where the outcomes will be disseminated to a wider audience.

Link: http://www.ironmongers.org/charity_organisations.htm

Funder:  Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – Power & Accountability (UK)

Deadline: The deadline to register is the 13th August 2021 and the deadline to apply is 5pm on the 31st August 2021

Award: from £1,000 to £100,000+

Area: Funding is available from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) to support projects that challenge how power is concentrated, shared and used and how it is changing through globalisation, new technology, new channels of communication, extreme inequality and other factors.

Specifically, the Trust wants to support people to create a world in which power is more equally shared, and in which powerful institutions are responsive and accountable to wider society and aligned with the long-term public interest.

Applications should address the following:

• Strengthening corporate accountability
• Strengthening democratic accountability
• Encouraging responsible media
• Responding to the dual harms of Covid-19 and systemic racism.

In addition to the specific focus areas above, JRCT is open to occasionally supporting other work that furthers the vision of this programme, is highly innovative, with the potential to bring about systemic change and is exceptionally difficult to fund from other sources.

Projects can be UK-based or can be pan-European. Applications aimed at increasing the accountability of the UK government and other UK bodies for the impact of the policies and practices that they pursue within global institutions are also considered.

A broad range of organisations and individuals are eligible to apply – check eligibility here.

Recent grants awarded included: £34,500 to the Bevan Foundation, £11,000 to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, £1,000 to three 4 all theatre

Link: https://www.jrct.org.uk/power-and-accountability

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Funder:  Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – Rights & Justice (UK)

Deadline: The deadline to register is the 13th August 2021 and the deadline to apply is 5pm on the31st August 2021.

Award: from £5,000 to £100,000+

Area: The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is interested in funding work, which is about removing problems through radical solutions, and not simply about making problems easier to live with; that has a clear sense of objectives, and of how to achieve them; and is innovative and imaginative and where the grant has a good chance of making a difference.

JCRT makes grants to a range of organisations including registered, excepted or exempt charities based in the UK for work that seeks to make positive change across the UK as a whole, or across one or more of its member countries – England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The Funding priorities for the Rights and Justice theme are:

• Protection and promotion of human rights and their enforcement in the UK
• Promoting rights and justice for minorities who face the most severe forms of racism
• Promotion of rights and justice for refugees and other migrants by identifying and tackling structures and systems that may deny them their rights
• Responding to the dual harms of Covid-19 and systemic racism.

JRCT focuses on work at both a national and European level, although work at a European level is limited and must have direct relevance to communities living in the UK.

Whilst the focus is to support national advocacy and campaigning, JRCT is open to applications which aim to effect structural change at local and regional levels of policy-making, provided the applicant can demonstrate the wider significance of the work.

Across the policy, JRCT places an emphasis on supporting those who have direct experience of racism and oppression.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for a grant for unrestricted or core support, although support for specific programme or project funding is also available.

Link: https://www.jrct.org.uk/rights-and-justice

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Funder: The National Lottery Reaching Communities England

Deadline: Rolling

Award: £10,000

Area: This programme offers a larger amount of funding for organisations that work with their community to help them thrive. We fund projects that work to make positive changes in their community – whether that is for people living in the same area, or people with similar interests or life experiences. With the COVID-19 pandemic still with us, we’ll continue to support people and communities most adversely impacted by COVID-19. We can support you to:

• Continue to deliver activity, whether you’re supporting your existing users, responding to the immediate crisis or undertaking recovery activity
• Change and adapt, becoming more resilient in order to respond to new and future challenges.

Link: Reaching Communities

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Ongoing Funding: British Film Institute (BFI) Fund. The BFI uses National Lottery funds to develop and support original UK filmmakers and films, and to increase the audiences who can enjoy them. They seek to reflect the public in the films they support, the audiences who watch them, and the filmmakers, actors and crews who make them. Production and development funding: They provide support for the production, development and completion of feature films which fairly reflect people from different backgrounds. Distribution and exhibition funding: They support high quality British and independent releases, increase film choice for audiences and offer a springboard for UK film exports. Visit the BFI website to find out more about the different funding streams available.