Covid19 - emergency funding for freelancers and small organisations
Funding available
This page will be updated as we become aware of further funding opportunities. Last updated on 11 May.
General:
Arts Council England – grants for NPOs and CPPs who are in financial need. Open for applications from 12-19 May https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/financial-support-npos-and-lead-cpp-organisations
Charities Aid Foundation – grants of up to £10,000 for charities whose income was under £1million in the last financial year (applications pause at 5pm on 6 April and will re-open soon) https://www.cafonline.org/charities/grantmaking/caf-coronavirus-emergency-fund
Community Foundation Tyne and Wear and Northumberland - supporting local charities whose work and income has been affected https://www.communityfoundation.org.uk/coronavirusfund/
Directors Charitable Fund - grants of around £500 for Directors in acute need https://www.directorscf.org/directors-support-scheme
Equity Charitable Trust – open to anyone who has previously worked on an Equity contract http://www.equitycharitabletrust.org.uk/coronavirusemergencysupport/
Facebook Small Business Grants – now open for applications https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants
Liverpool Coronavirus Support - a range of financial programmes to support local business through Covid19 https://investliverpool.com/news/metro-mayor-announces-15m-coronavirus-business-support/
London Community Response – Wave Two Funding now available to arts and culture organisations https://londoncommunityresponsefund.org.uk/available-funding/guidance-applicants/arts-and-culture
Pay it Forward – set up by the Creative Industries Federation to help people crowdfund https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/funds/creative-industries
The Royal Opera House Benevolent fund – for past and current employees of the Royal Opera House and Birmingham Royal Ballet, or of any other charity or organisation which gives public performances of opera, ballet or music https://www.roh.org.uk/about/benevolent-fund
The Schroder Charity Trust - support for charities impacted by Covid19 https://schrodercharitytrust.org/eligibility
The Steve Morgan Foundation - grants for charities in Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales helping the most vulnerable https://stevemorganfoundation.org.uk/morgan-pledges-1million-a-week-to-charities-hit-by-coronavirus/
The Yapp Charitable Trust - small charities with an annual expenditure of less than £40,000 can apply for up to £3,000 core funding http://yappcharitabletrust.org.uk/what-we-fund/
Royal Variety Charity – supporting people in financial need who work in entertainment http://www.royalvarietycharity.org/news/detail/assistance-for-those-affected-by-covid-19
Art:
Artists General Benevolent Institute – fund for fine artists https://www.agbi.org.uk/contact.html
Film and TV:
all applications now closed
Heritage:
National Lottery Heritage Fund – grants of between £3,000 - £50,000 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/heritage-emergency-fund
Literature:
The Book Trade Charity - support for people who work/have worked in a bookshop http://www.btbs.org/
Royal Literary Fund - financial support for published authors https://www.rlf.org.uk/helping-writers/applying-for-help/
Society of Authors – grants of up to £2,000 for writers, illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists and others https://societyofauthors.org/Grants/Grants-for-writers-in-need
Music:
Musicians Union – grants of up to £200 for MU members https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/hardshipfund
PRS – grants of up to £1000 for PRS members, open until 15 May https://www.prsformusic.com/c/emergency-relief-fund
Youth Music - emergency grants for music organisations, deadlines every Friday until 15 May https://network.youthmusic.org.uk/funding-application-deadlines
Photography:
BenSoc - support for professional photographers https://pub28.bravenet.com/emailfwd/show.php?formid=3770&usernum=2324751481
Theatre:
Actors’ Benevolent Fund – grants for those who have contracted Covid19 and have applied for Universal Credit (or are already in receipt of benefits) https://www.actorsbenevolentfund.co.uk/
Actors’ Children’s Trust – ACT gives money to actor parents and their children, they have paid £200 to each family who has requested support for food and bills in April. https://actorschildren.org/
Funds for Freelancers – for actors, creatives and ushers working in theatre. If you’re in need of financial support then all you need to do is email: submissions@paultaylormills.com with a few sentences about your situation.
Make a Difference Trust – grants of up to £200, priority will be given to those who have helped raise money for the Trust in the past https://www.madtrust.org.uk/project/make-a-difference-coronavirus-covid-19-hardship-fund/
Royal Theatrical Fund – for people who have worked in their profession (theatrical arts on stage, radio, films or television or any other medium by which such arts may be presented) for a minimum of seven years http://www.trtf.com/who-do-we-help
Theatrical Guild – for those working in theatre who are not on the stage https://ttg.org.uk/
Until the Curtains Rise – fundraising for grants which will be administered by Acting for Others https://www.untilthecurtainsrise.com/
Northern Ireland:
Community Fund – children and young people’s projects, which connect people through creative mediums https://communityfoundationni.org/grants/coronavirus-community-fund/
Scotland:
Crisis Fund - if you are on a low income and have lost work or money due to Covid19 https://www.mygov.scot/scottish-welfare-fund/crisis-grants/
Emergency Arts Workers Support Fund - grants of up to £250, open for a second phase from 6 - 15 May https://visualartscotland.typeform.com/to/S1nZRm
Third Sector Resilience Fund – grants and loans for charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations working in Scotland. https://scvo.org/support/coronavirus/funding/for-organisations/third-sector-resilience-fund
Wales:
Arts Council of Wales – Urgent Fund for Individuals (opens 14 April), Stabilisation Fund for Organisations (opens 21 April), Stabilisation Fund for Individuals (opens 29 May) https://arts.wales/funding/coronavirus
I’ve had the pleasure of working in children’s arts for my whole career, including for the last 12 years as Artistic Producer at 
The Hullabaloo stands in one of the 1% most deprived wards in the UK, many worlds away from the corridors of Whitehall and yet, through being part of an organisation like Action for Children’s Arts, we feel that we have a voice in influencing the future cultural opportunities of our children nationwide. It may just be a small corner of this confusing world, but together we can make it better.