Aug 14 • Jo Cox-Brown

What to Do While Grantium Sleeps: Alternative Funders for the UK Arts Sector

The Arts Council England's Grantium portal is offline.

Many creatives, producers, and organisations are finding themselves in a sudden funding limbo, just as applications for winter programming would normally be submitted until Mid-Septenber.

If you’re one of those affected, don’t panic. Instead, consider this an opportunity to diversify your income streams and build longer-term financial resilience. Below is a curated list of active arts funders and alternative routes to help keep your project plans on track.

Alternative UK Arts & Culture Funders

1. National Lottery Distributors (Beyond ACE)
  • National Lottery Heritage Fund cultural project grants support cultural, heritage, and place-based projects.
  • The National Lottery Community Fund's arts and wellbeing funding supports community-led initiatives that enhance inclusion, wellbeing, and social connection.

2. Arts Trusts & Foundations
  • Paul Hamlyn Foundation arts access and education grants for organisations using the arts to drive inclusion, education, and systemic change.
  • The Jerwood Foundation's emerging artist funding in the UK supports early-career artists in the visual and performing arts.
  • Garfield Weston Foundation offers core funding for arts organisations. It provides unrestricted or core funding to charities across the arts and culture sector.
  • Foyle Foundation grants for arts and education Prioritises mid-sized charities supporting arts, music, and learning.
  • The Rayne Foundation's cross-sector arts funding supports creative work with broader social impact, particularly cross-disciplinary projects.

3. Music-Specific Funders
  • PRS Foundation music project funding UK – Supports new music creation, talent development, and international collaboration.
  • Help Musicians UK grants for music professionals – Offers wellbeing, financial, and career development support to professional musicians.
  • The Youth Music Trail Blazer Fund offers grants of £2,000 to £30,000 to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (aged 25 or under) to make, learn, and earn in music. The project should trial work, test a new way of working, sustain a grassroots programme, or disrupt the status quo (or all three!).

4. Theatre & Performance
  • Theatres Trust small grants for theatre improvement provide capital funding to improve theatre buildings and infrastructure.
  • Backstage Trust performing arts infrastructure funding, private funder supporting the resilience of the UK performing arts sector.

5. Visual Arts & Craft
  • Elephant Trust funding for experimental art – Small grants to support new work and artistic experimentation.
  • Art Fund UK grants for museums and visual arts projects: Supports museums, curators, and public engagement with visual arts.

6. Children & Youth-Focused Arts
  • BBC Children in Need grants for youth arts programmes fund projects that support the well-being and development of children through creativity.
  • Youth Music UK funding for inclusive music education supports music-making projects that engage and support young people facing barriers.

7. People’s Postcode Lottery
  • Postcode Neighbourhood Trust Arts & Culture Grants: Funds community-focused arts, heritage, and environmental projects in local neighbourhoods.
  • This funder is known for its accessible, flexible funding streams, which support small and medium-sized organisations.

8. Disabled Artists
The We Are Unlimited Open Awards return in August 2025 with amounts ranging from £15,000 to £80,000. These commissioning awards will support the creation of extraordinary new work in art forms including theatre, dance, music, visual arts, literature, and combined arts. They support bold, creative visions from disabled artists, whether it’s a seed of an idea or something production-ready, they help bring it to life https://weareunlimited.org.uk/open-awards-for-disabled-artists-totalling-413000-now-open-for-applications/

9. Emerging Artists
Will Smith, in collaboration with The Supporting Act Foundation, has launched the Will Smith Emerging Artist Fund to support emerging music artists aged 18 to 30 across Europe.
Award: 20 unrestricted grants, each worth €5,000, intended to support artists in covering costs tied to artistic growth and development.
Including: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom.

10. Scotland Creative Communities
Funded by the Scottish Government and facilitated by Inspiring Scotland, the Creative Communities Scotland fund will support grassroots community-led organisations across Scotland to develop and deliver projects that harness the power of creativity in supporting the well-being of people and communities. The fund is open to all hands-on, participatory art forms, including dance, filmmaking, creative writing, music making, and storytelling https://inspiringscotland.org.uk/fund/creative-communities-scotland/

Other funding routes

1. Crowdfunding & Match-Funding
  • Crowdfunder UK arts project match funding includes regular match-funding programmes with national partners.
  • Spacehive is a place-based crowdfunding platform for creative projects, ideal for civic and placemaking cultural initiatives.
  • Kickstarter for UK creative crowdfunding campaigns: an audience-driven funding platform for the creative arts, media, and innovation.

2. Corporate Sponsorship & CSR
Look beyond traditional grant funding and consider companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals aligned with arts, wellbeing, regeneration, or education. They may fund partnerships, brand activations, or impact-driven arts initiatives.

3. Local & Combined Authorities
Many local authorities still offer cultural commissioning or small grants for festivals, public art, or community wellbeing.

Additionally, consider exploring Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) if your work supports regeneration, skills development, or place-based economic outcomes. For example:
  • Greater Manchester Combined Authority culture funding
  • West Midlands Combined Authority culture & digital
Write your awesome label here.

Final thoughts

While the Grantium pause may feel like a disruption, it’s also an opportunity, a moment to rethink your funding strategy, tap into new networks, and strengthen your project's financial future.

Many of the funders listed above have rolling deadlines or are currently accepting applications. So don’t wait — this is the moment to act.

Need help identifying the right funders, writing bids, or building a sustainable income strategy for your creative work?

Get in touch with us at fundraising@nighttimeeconomy.com. We’re here to help.