Currently 34 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the UK, across AI, arts, film, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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Festivals is one of the new National Lottery programmes Arts Council of Wales launched on 13 April 2026, and it is the clearest organisation-facing route for funding a public festival in Wales. It supports focused, time-limited festivals delivering high-quality arts programmes to broad audiences, in a single artform or mixed artforms, with preference given to festivals that commission, create and present new artistic work. Grants run GBP 500 to 100,000 across four tiers, with the tier ceiling tied to how long the festival has been established. Match funding is mandatory: the Council covers at most 75 percent of eligible costs and in-kind support is capped at 10 percent. There are two deadlines in 2026, both at 1pm: Wednesday 29 July 2026 and Wednesday 16 December 2026. TIMING RULE: a minimum of twelve working weeks must fall between the deadline and the project start date, so activity applied for in the July round cannot begin before roughly late October 2026. Retrospective costs are ineligible. Individual artists cannot apply.
Create and Engage is Arts Council of Wales's general-purpose National Lottery programme for making and presenting arts work, launched alongside Festivals in April 2026, and is the natural fit for exhibitions, public programmes, touring and participatory events that are not structured as a festival. It funds creation, presentation, programming, touring, community participation and, for organisations only, professional development. Small awards go up to GBP 10,000 and large awards run GBP 10,001 to 60,000, with up to GBP 100,000 possible in exceptional cases with advance manager approval. At least 10 percent of project costs must come from non-Council, non-Lottery sources, a notably lighter co-financing burden than the Festivals fund's 25 percent. TIMING RULES: Small Create and Engage is rolling with no set deadlines but requires a minimum of 10 working weeks between submission and project start; Large Create and Engage has fixed 1pm deadlines on 29 July 2026, 30 September 2026 and 16 December 2026, with a minimum of 12 working weeks between deadline and project start. Non-UK organisations can participate as partners but cannot lead. Applicants cannot have an application in to more than one Arts Council fund at the same time.
Creative Steps funds the professional, business and organisational development of artists who have experienced barriers to careers within the arts. Creative Steps for Individuals is open to individual artists and creatives who identify as being Ethnically and Culturally diverse, D/deaf, disabled or neurodivergent, groups that are underrepresented in Arts Council of Wales funding programmes due to barriers to entry. Applicants must have demonstrable experience as an artist or creative professional; those without may still be supported on the basis of artistic potential by submitting a portfolio, CV or examples of work, discussed with a Relationship Manager. WHAT IT SUPPORTS: career development, NOT creating new work or project delivery. Examples include peer-to-peer learning, training courses (not formal/vocational education), building networks, mentorship/coaching, business development/social media/marketing advice, website development/marketing materials/equipment or materials, and setting up a new organisation. Budgets may include the applicant's own time, freelancer costs (paid at standard industry rates), mentor/consultant costs, access costs, and childcare/caregiving costs. AMOUNT: GBP 500 to GBP 7,500 (plus access costs); up to 90% of the developmental cost, with the remaining 10% from a non-Arts Council of Wales / non-National Lottery source (in-kind, cash, or both, confirmed by letters of support). No application fee. APPLY: applicants must express interest at least 3 weeks before the deadline to receive support from an Application Coach or Access Support coordinator; an application form is provided by a Relationship Manager. The fund runs in rounds; the next round (Round 2 2026) has an Expression of Interest cut-off of 8 July 2026 and an application deadline of 29 July 2026. Later rounds: Round 3 (EOI 30 September, deadline 21 October 2026) and Round 4 (EOI 10 February, deadline 3 March 2027).
The Artists' International Development Fund (Organisations) is Arts Council of Northern Ireland's route for NI-based arts organisations to take a first substantive step into international working. It is the organisations counterpart to the individual-artist AIDF under the Support for the Individual Artist Programme, which is a separate scheme with its own amount band. Grants run GBP 1,000 to 7,000 and cover art materials, residency costs, travel including airfare and mileage, artistic and technical fees for production or post-production, venue hire, and equipment capped at 50 percent of the request value. The deadline is Thursday 30 July 2026 at 12:00 noon, and the online system closes precisely at noon. Applicants must be NI-based, must have received recognition for their work there, and must not already have extensive international experience. The application must evidence genuine interest from an overseas partner or host, so a confirmed international invitation, residency offer or presentation opportunity is effectively a precondition.
Project Funding for Individuals, part of Arts Council NI's National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme (SIAP), funds project-based creative activities across all artistic disciplines. Eligible activities include creating new work, research and development, residencies, mentoring, professional development, and time dedicated to specific creative outcomes. ELIGIBLE COSTS: art materials, artist fees/time, residency costs, travel (mileage at GBP 0.257/mile), venue hire, technical equipment (max 50% of request value), and IT equipment (laptops/PCs up to GBP 1,200; tablets up to GBP 500). ELIGIBILITY: artists of all disciplines and career stages, including emerging artists (less than 5 years professional experience), and in some cases technical staff/administrators; students and academics at third-level institutions may apply with departmental approval showing the costs are not covered by their employer or academic work. AMOUNT: GBP 62 to GBP 15,000. No application fee. Deadline: Thursday 30 July 2026, 12:00 noon (online submission required).
The Artists' International Development Fund (AIDF), part of Arts Council NI's National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme (SIAP), funds early-stage international development opportunities for individual, freelance and self-employed artists to build networks abroad. ELIGIBLE COSTS: art materials, travel, residencies (up to 4 weeks), technical fees, venue hire, and equipment, with IT devices capped at GBP 1,200 for laptops/PCs and GBP 500 for tablets. ELIGIBILITY: artists across all disciplines, particularly emerging artists (under 5 years professional experience); academics and students at third-level institutions may apply if the project differs from their employment/studies. AIDF applicants must have received recognition for their work in Northern Ireland, lack extensive international experience, and demonstrate interest in their work from an overseas partner/host. AMOUNT: GBP 62 to GBP 15,000. No application fee. Deadline: Thursday 30 July 2026, 12:00 noon.
ARIA is seeking proposals for opportunity seeds, funding of up to GBP 500,000 for early-stage research that explores new pathways for climate adaptation and resilience. Decarbonisation is the only sustainable route out of the climate crisis, but environmental changes are outpacing current mitigation efforts, and if an abrupt alteration in a climate system were to unfold we would have no tools to mitigate the effects; scientific, engineering and social science research could provide practical and responsible intervention and adaptation options. WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR: ideas ranging from early-stage, curiosity-driven research through to advanced translational science. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to: carbon dioxide removal (novel concepts to accelerate the drawdown of atmospheric carbon); extreme weather forecasting (breakthroughs in predicting extreme weather events to better prepare vulnerable systems); and new ideas related to solar geoengineering, strictly excluding proposals specifically designed to investigate altering the Earth's surface temperature by affecting planetary albedo, incoming solar radiation, or the atmosphere's emissivity (the core focus of the main Exploring Climate Cooling, ECC, programme). OUT OF SCOPE: ideas that squarely fit within the ECC programme; emissions reduction projects and improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings or vehicles; and commercial products or research likely to be funded by traditional venture capital or grants. CONSTRAINTS: any proposal for outdoor experiments must demonstrate conformity to ARIA's governance framework for outdoor experiments, and all successful applicants must sign ARIA's Intellectual Property Pledge to ensure findings are accessible for the public good. Application deadline: 31 July 2026, 14:00 BST.
Twelve-month postdoctoral fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, in partnership with the British Council, marking the Council's 90th anniversary. Up to two fellowships per year as part of the 2025-2027 partnership. Fellows spend ten months residential at IASH (January to October 2027) followed by up to two months of knowledge-exchange and dissemination work in their home country in collaboration with the British Council. ELIGIBILITY: postdoctoral researchers based in an ODA-recipient country where the British Council operates (full list of ~60+ countries published on the IASH page, spanning Albania to Zimbabwe and including the Occupied Palestinian Territories); PhD completed within the last seven years (career breaks excluded from the seven-year window); applicants must not hold a permanent university position and must not have held a prior IASH Fellowship. Research themes should align with British Council priorities across Arts, Education and English language, plus cross-cutting interests in international relations, soft power, international development, peace building, and cultural relations and diplomacy. NOTE: applicants are required to contact relevant University of Edinburgh researchers before submitting; informational webinar 26 May 2026. Decisions communicated late September 2026. References (minimum two, maximum three) must be emailed by referees directly to iash@ed.ac.uk by the deadline.
Project grants from the Hugo Burge Foundation, a major UK arts funder that distributed GBP 400,000 in its first full year (2025) across three funds: Creative Education (0-29 year olds), Creative Communities (organisations, festivals, community groups), and Creative Individuals. The Creative Individuals Fund (GBP 50,000 available in 2026) is open to individuals seeking support for the development of artistic projects or practice; it awards up to GBP 5,000 and can fund the entire project. Practitioners in all creative disciplines across the UK may apply. The Foundation also runs a GBP 7,000 access support fund (first-come, first-served) that pays access support workers up to GBP 300 for a day's services for applicants facing barriers to applying, including those who are Deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent (no proof required). ELIGIBILITY: practitioners in all creative disciplines based across the UK. Applications are submitted via Submittable and close 31 July 2026.
The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge marks its 25th anniversary with an open-call exhibition on the theme Knowledge in a Fractured World: how knowledge is produced, contested, and shared in a fragmented age. Accepts 2D, 3D, video, film, and sound work; a strong thematic fit for critical data and research-based practices. Open worldwide, free to enter, no commission on sales. Deadline 31 July 2026.
The Sarabande Foundation, founded by Lee Alexander McQueen, offers subsidised London studio residencies for creatives across disciplines (fine art, fashion, design, digital), with structured mentoring and pro bono expert support. ELIGIBILITY: applicants must have a UK address and the right to work in the UK; the foundation cannot sponsor visas. Deadline 1 August 2026.
Corridor seeks a socially-engaged artist based in the South East of England working with moving image / lens-based media for DAISY CHAIN, marking the 60th anniversary of Vera Chytilova's experimental film Daisies (1966). The commissioned artist will work with a group of LGBTQIA+ young people aged 15-26 in Adur (West Sussex) to co-create new artworks: a 2-3 minute moving image work and a series of 2D collage or mixed media artworks for public exhibition and screenings. DAISY CHAIN commissions six new artist moving image works overall (three England-based artists working with older women, young women and LGBTQIA+ youth; three artists in Czechia), developed in partnership with the National Film Museum in Prague (NaFilM) and Brighton-based videoclub, with results toured across England and Czechia in 2027. EXPECTATIONS: devise about eight hands-on workshops incorporating film, collage and mixed media (participants won't necessarily have an arts background); participate in 4-6 online peer sessions on collaborative practice led by artist Annis Joslin; complete exhibition-ready artworks on time and to budget; maintain a transparent dialogue on authorship with participants. Artists must have a participatory practice and experience of working creatively with young people. Note: to create a safe space, workshops will not be publicly labelled as LGBTQIA+. FEE: GBP 4,200 incl. VAT plus travel and a materials budget. TIMELINE: shortlist notified 7 August, online interviews 12 August 2026; launch event in Adur/Worthing March 2027. DEADLINE: 10am, 3 August 2026.
Next Wave Breakthrough Wave 1 is Innovate UK's current open Createch competition, investing up to GBP 10 million in early-stage innovation at the intersection of creative technology and the frontier industries named in the Industrial Strategy: video games, advertising and marketing, film and television, and music and the performing and visual arts. It funds industrial research to take innovations beyond proof of concept and de-risk future investment, with individual projects between GBP 100,000 and 500,000 in total costs. Grant rates depend on organisation size, from 70 percent for micro and small enterprises down to 50 percent for large organisations, so applicants must supply match funding for the remainder. The lead must be a UK-registered SME; non-profits and CICs are barred from leading, though they can participate as collaborators alongside a commercial lead. Non-funded partners may be based internationally. The competition opened 23 June 2026 and closes 11 August 2026 at 11:00am UK time. NOTE ON FIT: this is an R&D competition for creative-technology product development, not a fund for delivering festivals or exhibitions, so it suits an organisation whose work can be framed as industrial research with a commercial SME lead.
Discovery is the debut-director production strand of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, awarding up to GBP 1 million towards fiction features budgeted between GBP 1 million and GBP 3.5 million. It backs first-time feature directors working alongside experienced producers, and is structured so creative risk sits with a team rather than a lone filmmaker. ELIGIBILITY: applications must be made through a limited company registered and centrally managed in the UK, so unincorporated individuals cannot apply. A dedicated lead producer with an established track record must submit, and that producer must be someone other than the writer or director. The director must be making their first fiction feature, meaning no prior feature at or above a GBP 1 million budget and no prior commercial UK or Ireland theatrical distribution of a fiction feature. At least two people must be credited across the writer, producer and director roles, all aged 18 or over and not in full-time education. Projects need a fully developed script and a runtime of at least 70 minutes. LIMITS: one application per production company, producer and director per round, and applications must arrive at least 20 weeks before the proposed first day of principal photography. ROUNDS: Round 2 closes at 5pm on Thursday 13 August 2026. Round 3 opens Thursday 12 November 2026 and closes Wednesday 16 December 2026. Successful applicants must publicly credit BFI National Lottery support.
The newest strand of the UK Global Screen Fund extends the fund's international-distribution logic from film into UK independent narrative video games. It supports marketing and release activity for games with demonstrable international appeal and sales potential, awarding non-recoupable grants to help UK studios reach overseas players. ELIGIBILITY: applications must be made by the UK-based development studio deemed the lead developer for the game, and only narrative video games qualify. One application per game. The wider UKGSF requirement that applicants be independent screen-sector companies registered and centrally managed in the UK applies. TIMING: the round opened 14 May 2026 and closes at 12pm on Friday 14 August 2026, making it one of the few hard-deadline BFI opportunities currently live. Separately, applications must be filed at least eight weeks before the funded activity starts, so a game releasing in early autumn may fall outside the window even if the application lands before 14 August. NOTE: award amounts are not published on the fund page, so treat the range as unknown rather than estimated. A cumulative cap of GBP 625,000 per organisation across all UK Global Screen Fund strands over any three-year period also applies.
Forma, a London contemporary art organisation commissioning artists who address social and political questions, seeks an experienced curator to oversee delivery of its artistic programme for six months while the organisation undertakes a strategic review. Reporting to the Artistic Director, you step into an existing programme of commissions, exhibitions, residencies and public events, acting as the central point of contact for artists, partners and the Forma team, and keeping production, communications, budgets and timelines aligned. PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS during the term: Scotland + Venice, Bugarin + Castle's 'Shame Parade'; Frieze London Artist Award 2026; Artists' Film International 2027; the Forma Bermondsey Square Gallery Winter/Spring exhibition; and legacy planning and touring for Oliver Frank Chanarin's 'A Perfect Sentence'. RESPONSIBILITIES: coordinate multiple concurrent projects, maintaining project plans, production schedules and risk registers; set and monitor programme and project budgets with the Artistic Director and Managing Director; act as principal day-to-day contact for artists, curators and partners and coordinate contracts, agreements and rights; coordinate weekly delivery schedules, team updates and staffing across FormaHQ; support the Creative Producer on freelance technicians, logistics, health and safety, and be present at installation, film shoots, fabrication and live events; co-curate exhibitions, screenings, talks and performances at FormaHQ and Forma Bermondsey Square; and support the Marketing and Communications Manager, drafting exhibition texts, press releases and editorial pieces. ESSENTIAL: curating contemporary visual art, exhibition production, managing artists, budget and project management, working with multiple partners, excellent administration, calm under pressure, strong written communication. DESIRABLE: international contemporary art networks, public programme production, touring exhibitions, commissioning, trust and foundation fundraising, Photoshop and InDesign. Forma particularly welcomes candidates underrepresented in the sector due to barriers linked to ethnicity, class, disability, gender and sexuality, and offers informal conversations in advance of the deadline (contact Caroline Heron, ch@forma.org.uk). Apply via the online form. NOTE: this is a paid job, not a grant or fellowship. Deadline 16 August 2026; interviews w/c 21 August 2026.
The Learning Through Making fund supports UK-based visual art organisations to bring opportunities for making and material exploration into their art education work. Freelands Foundation is looking for exploratory projects that embrace openness, collaboration, and iteration -- enabling organisations to work with materials in an expansive way, unpicking preconceptions about making and material literacy without predefined outcomes. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES: providing materials, transport, or access to expertise and facilities; action-research trials such as a new series of workshops or events developing material literacy; adding a making-focused element to existing activity. Projects may range from a few days to several months, but must take place between 1 January and 31 December 2027. AMOUNT: up to £25,000; funding provided no earlier than December 2026. ELIGIBILITY: UK-based visual art organisations run with a charitable purpose and for public benefit; eligible types include charities registered in England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland; exempt charities; galleries, museums, or organisations within a Local Authority or larger charitable body (e.g. universities); and Community Interest Companies or Community Benefit Societies meeting specific criteria (charitable purposes, asset lock, no dividend distribution, ability to segregate restricted funds). Organisations with a prior Freelands Foundation grant relationship are eligible; you may not apply for activity already funded by Freelands Foundation. Individuals are not eligible. HOW TO APPLY: download the Application Form, Application Guidance, and optional Access Form from freelandsfoundation.co.uk; email completed form to grants@freelandsfoundation.co.uk with subject line 'LTM Fund - Application'; one additional page of images or diagrams may be included. APPLICATION SUPPORT SESSIONS (online): 9 July 2026, 10:30am-12pm; 12 August 2026, 10:30am-12pm. KEY DATES: applications open 17 June 2026; close 11 September 2026 at 12pm; outcomes shared 23 November 2026.
The Creative Challenge Fund does not fund films directly. It funds the organisations that run project-development programmes for UK creatives working on narrative, documentary or animation features, or on narrative immersive media projects. The BFI's stated aim is to decentralise development away from a small number of London-centric gatekeepers and build a wider, more resilient ecosystem of talent-development providers across the UK, with a recently added emphasis on independent producers. ELIGIBILITY: only legally constituted UK-based organisations may apply. Individual filmmakers seeking development money should look to the BFI Filmmaking Fund's Development strand instead. TIMING: Round One closed in March 2026 and has made its first awards. Round Two closes Monday 21 September 2026, with funded programme activity required to begin between 1 January and 30 June 2027. NOTE: award amounts are not published on the fund page. Successful applicants must prominently credit BFI National Lottery support.
The National Lottery Rural Engagement Arts Programme funds organisations to deliver arts activity in rural Northern Ireland, addressing isolation and social inclusion. It supports either a single one-off project or a multi-event public programme, making it usable for exhibitions, workshops, touring events and community-facing digital or media arts work. Grants range from GBP 500 to 10,000, covering artist fees, transport, materials, venue hire, accessibility support, volunteer expenses, evaluation, and equipment up to 50 percent of the request value. The deadline is Thursday 24 September 2026 at 12:00 noon, and the online system closes precisely at noon with no late or incomplete submissions accepted. TIMING RULE: funded activity must fall between 1 December 2026 and 30 November 2027, setting an effective earliest start date of roughly ten weeks after the deadline. Registered charities, formally constituted non-profit groups, local authorities and arts organisations are eligible, including bodies based outside Northern Ireland where the benefit accrues to rural NI residents. Consortium applications demonstrating partnership working are explicitly prioritised. The rural and community framing means creative-technology work qualifies only where framed for that audience.
Design Generators round two funds design-led research projects combining design interventions with arts and humanities methodologies to contribute to the green transition. Eligible activity includes design research prototyping, circular business model exploration, strengthening third-sector resilience, skills development, policy and strategy work, and public engagement programmes, so exhibition-style and public-facing outputs are in scope where they sit inside a research project. Awards are GBP 150,000 to 200,000 at 100 percent full economic cost with AHRC paying 80 percent, meaning the host organisation carries a 20 percent institutional contribution. The lead must be a postdoctoral-standing researcher at an AHRC-eligible UK research organisation, and every project must pair that lead with at least one non-academic co-lead from business, the public sector, the third sector or a community organisation, which is the practical entry point for an arts organisation. Freelancers and independent consultants cannot lead. The opportunity opened 21 July 2026 and closes 29 September 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. Decision lag is roughly three months from the deadline. IMPORTANT: this round explicitly excludes international stakeholders and international activity, so non-UK partners cannot be involved.
The Jerwood Foundation makes grants to UK organisations for public-facing arts activity across theatre, music, dance, visual arts and literature, including artist development programmes, commissions, residencies and projects involving the Jerwood Collection. Awards have historically gone as high as GBP 200,000, though the Foundation states most grants are much smaller. Applications are single-stage: a written proposal of no more than 10 sides of A4 excluding financial statements, sent by email to info@jerwood.org or by post, and it must include a summary sheet giving location, amount requested, timeline and audience figures. Applications missing that summary sheet are rejected automatically. The March 2026 deadline has passed; the next round opens 3 February 2027 at 9am and closes 17 March 2027 at 2pm, with decisions on 28 April 2027 and all applicants notified by 11 May 2027. TIMING RULE: activity funded in that round must start or open to the public between 1 July 2027 and 30 June 2028, so there is a long lead time and retrospective funding is impossible. Grants to individuals are not made, so artists must be supported through a host organisation. Core costs and capital work are explicitly out of scope, which makes this a good fit for discrete festivals, exhibitions and public programmes.
The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations is Creative Scotland's main open-access grant for constituted arts, creative and cultural organisations, and it is genuinely rolling with no deadlines. It supports a specific one-off project or production, creative research and development, or a longer-term programme of work, and can also fund business sustainability and organisational development costs. Eligible organisations can apply for GBP 1,000 to 100,000 for projects lasting up to 18 months. TIMING RULES: decision lag is banded by request size, with GBP 1,000 to 20,000 decided within 10 weeks and GBP 20,000 to 100,000 within 14 weeks. The start date must be after the decision date, and the guidance recommends allowing a further 2 to 4 weeks for funding agreements and first payment. Critically for festivals, applicants are barred from starting activity, including advertising events or issuing calls for collaborators, before funding is confirmed, so a public programme should be planned to start roughly 12 to 18 weeks after submission. Only one application may be in assessment at any time. Non-UK organisations can be involved but cannot lead. Current Regularly Funded and Multi-Year Funded Organisations are excluded.
Community-led Art and Creativity sits within Esmee Fairbairn's Creative, Confident Communities aim and is one of the Foundation's two arts-related priorities. It funds work where local people and local artists lead the creative and cultural activity in a place, emphasising cross-sector collaboration that delivers social, environmental and economic benefit alongside artistic outcomes. Cited examples include the Migration Museum's People's Panel, B Arts in Stoke and WeCanMake's Festival of Making Together, which confirms festivals and public programmes are in scope where genuinely community-directed. Applications are rolling with no deadlines, starting with an eligibility quiz and an expression of interest. The minimum grant is GBP 30,000 with no upper limit, and most awards run three to five years covering core or project costs including salaries and overheads. Applicants need at least GBP 100,000 annual turnover in the latest accounts and a formal constitution, charitable or non-charitable so long as the work is charitable. This is highly competitive: in 2025 only around 5 percent of initial expressions of interest converted into funded grants, so long-term systems-change framing matters more than the individual event. Esmee's other arts priority, Arts and Creativity Making Change, is currently closed.
The Arts-based Learning Fund supports sustained partnerships between arts and cultural organisations and state-funded educational settings so that arts-based approaches become embedded in how young people learn. Grants run GBP 30,000 to 300,000 over one to four years, with a ceiling of GBP 100,000 in any single year, and can cover both project delivery and a fair share of the applicant's core costs. Applicants must be arts and cultural organisations (charities, community organisations, social enterprises, not-for-profits) applying in partnership with at least one state-funded educational setting. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with no deadlines; an optional enquiry call with a grants manager is encouraged before applying. The process is two-stage: an initial online application, then, if shortlisted, further information plus a phone or video conversation, with a final decision by a grants panel. TIMING RULE: applicants should expect a response within about four months, and successful applicants should allow roughly six months from application to receiving funds, so projects should not be planned to start sooner than that. The Foundation explicitly encourages applications from organisations led by people most impacted by racism, ableism, classism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia. IMPORTANT: this is the only Paul Hamlyn arts route open to new applicants in 2026, since the main Arts Fund is suspended to new applications until at least April 2027.
Impact is the higher-budget production strand of the BFI Filmmaking Fund and carries the largest award available in the current BFI portfolio at up to GBP 1.25 million. It sits above the Discovery strand in scale, serving experienced directors with production budgets from GBP 1 million to GBP 15 million, and debut directors whose budgets exceed GBP 3.5 million. UNLIKE DISCOVERY, Impact accepts applications on a continuous rolling basis with no round structure and no published closing date, though applicants must submit at least 20 weeks before principal photography begins. SELECTION is explicitly criteria-driven: projects must address at least three of the BFI's stated aims, covering equity and inclusion, audience or cultural impact, talent development, creative risk, production activity across the UK nations and regions, and environmental sustainability. ELIGIBILITY: applications must come from a limited company registered and centrally managed in the UK, so individuals cannot apply. A dedicated producer is always required, though unlike Discovery the writer and director may be the same person. Directing credits must be evidenced. No explicit nationality or residency test for the director or writer is published. NOTE: the BFI cautions that maximum-level awards are rare, so realistic requests will typically fall well below the GBP 1.25 million ceiling.
Development Funding is the earliest-stage strand of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, supporting original live action and animated feature films through script and package development to the point where they are viable candidates for production finance. It is aimed at distinctive fiction projects from what the BFI calls 'adventurous storytellers', across a wide range of genres rather than a single house style. UNLIKE DISCOVERY, it does not operate in rounds: applications are accepted year-round, with the only fixed interruption being an annual closure through the month of April, plus occasional short pauses during periods of high demand or holidays. ELIGIBILITY: the application must be made by a producer through a limited company registered at Companies House, so unincorporated individuals are ineligible. Nationality and residency requirements are not published on the fund page. NOTE: award amounts are not published, so the ceiling should be treated as unknown rather than assumed. Successful applicants are required to publicly acknowledge National Lottery support in project credits and materials.
The Audience Projects Fund distributes GBP 19.7 million of National Lottery money over three years to widen UK audiences for film and immersive work, covering exhibition, distribution, festivals, touring programmes and sector-support initiatives. It reopened in November 2025 and runs continuously with no closing date, which makes it one of the more accessible large BFI pots for organisations working on the audience-facing rather than production side. AWARDS are tiered: small pilot projects receive GBP 10,000 to GBP 20,000, while full projects can receive GBP 20,000 to GBP 500,000 per year, with immersive projects permitted to include up to GBP 150,000 of production cost inside that envelope. ELIGIBILITY is strictly institutional. Applicants must be legally constituted organisations centrally managed in the UK and not more than 50% foreign-owned. Eligible types include limited companies (not classed as 'large' under the Companies Act 2006), community interest companies, LLPs, UK local or statutory authorities, and registered UK charities or trusts. Individual practitioners cannot apply. Applicants must evidence experience in marketing, festivals, distribution, immersive installations, cultural programming, touring or sector support. TIMING: there are no deadlines but lead times are enforced. Single-film distribution projects must apply at least 10 weeks before release; all other projects at least 16 weeks before the project starts.
The rare BFI stream that individuals can apply to directly. Individual Skills funding supports training and professional development for people working, or intending to work, in the UK screen heritage sector, the field concerned with preserving, digitising and widening public access to screen archive collections. ELIGIBILITY: applicants must be 18 or over, working or intending to work in the UK screen heritage sector, hold a UK bank account, and be eligible to work in the UK. TIMING: applications are rolling with no deadline, but must be submitted at least eight weeks before the training starts. All funded activity must be completed by 31 March 2029, the end of the current National Lottery funding plan period. CONTEXT: the wider Screen Heritage Fund has three strands. Project funding, open to legally constituted not-for-profit organisations operating a screen archive or collection network, runs year-round with a 16-week lead time and prioritises collections that better reflect the diversity of the UK. Resilience funding for the 2026-29 cycle closed on 31 March 2026 and is not currently accepting applications. NOTE: award ranges are not published on the fund overview page.
The Open Fund for Individuals is one of Creative Scotland's key funding programmes, supporting the wide range of activity initiated by artists, writers, producers and other creative practitioners in Scotland. The overall annual budget for this fund is GBP 5 million. WHAT IT SUPPORTS: periods of research, development and/or delivery of creative activity, such as specific projects and productions, for up to 24 months; it can support an individual's time where this is related to specific creative outcomes. Applicants are asked to give a start and end date for the activity and to describe the outcomes, benefits and impacts they wish to achieve. ELIGIBILITY: freelance and self-employed artists and creative practitioners living in Scotland who are at least 18 years old; applicants must have a UK bank account in their own name. Those who are not self-employed individuals or sole traders may instead be eligible for the National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations. FUNDING AMOUNTS: between GBP 500 and GBP 50,000. TIMESCALES: requests between GBP 500 and GBP 20,000 receive an outcome in about 10 weeks; requests between GBP 20,001 and GBP 50,000 in about 14 weeks. This is a rolling open fund with no fixed deadline. Download the guidance for applicants and apply via the online portal.
Abbey Road Red is the music-technology incubator run by Abbey Road Studios (part of Universal Music Group). It is primarily an in-kind and mentorship programme rather than a cash grant: selected early-stage music-tech startups (building tools to create, capture or connect music) get access to Abbey Road and UMG studios, experts and facilities, and the global label and publisher network, plus mentorship and some finance, over a 6-month programme. In exchange, Universal Music Group takes a 2 percent equity stake plus a participation right in future financing rounds. Open to startups worldwide; participants are based in London during the programme. Applications are rolling via the open form on the Abbey Road Red site. No application fee. Note: this is an equity-based incubator, not a grant.
Creative Debuts' Black Artists Grant (BAG) is a small, fast, recurring and unconditional cash grant for UK-based Black artists, deliberately barrier-free with no outcomes or reporting required. ELIGIBILITY: UK-based artists of Black heritage who self-identify as Black, across all creative disciplines (visual art, music, film, jewellery, sculpture, choreography and more); no age limit. One recipient is selected each month; apply once and the application is retained for future months. Apply via the Creative Debuts BAG page.
Monthly £500 grant for a different working-class creative practitioner based in the UK. Open to anyone making stuff: art, writing, performance, sound, music, craft, comedy, games. Money can be used for time, materials, equipment, research, subscriptions, development, travel, or rent and bills. Apply by emailing funding@thewhitepube.com with a brief intro, contact and a work sample. Rolling, no deadlines, no reporting expected. Non-recipients stay in consideration for future months without re-applying.
The BFI Doc Society Features Production Fund (delivered via BFI with Doc Society as delegate partner) supports UK filmmakers producing non-fiction feature films intended for theatrical release. Two strands: Directions (first- or second-time directors) and Momentum (established talent). AMOUNT: up to £150,000 non-recoupable grant (the total Doc Society contribution per project cannot exceed £150,000). ELIGIBILITY: UK-based filmmakers, both emerging and established directors; experienced and debut producers eligible; projects must meet at least three of six stated priorities: equity/diversity, audience impact, talent development, creative risk, UK-wide access, and environmental sustainability. PROCESS: two-stage — submit an Expression of Interest, then a Full Application if invited. Rolling intake year-round. Opened May 2026. APPLY via BFI Doc Society website. Contact: hellobfi@docsociety.org.
Hypha Studios matches artists with free meanwhile-use spaces across London and the UK. Speculative exhibition proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and kept on file until a suitable space opens. No geographic restriction is stated, but applicants practically need to be able to install and attend in the UK.