February: funding opportunities & competitions

Youth Music – NextGen Fund

Offers young creatives grants of up to £2,500. Open to 18–25-year-olds (and up to 30-year-olds who identify as d/Deaf, neurodivergent or Disabled). Supports the future of the music industries. Singers, Rappers, Songwriters, Producers, DJs, A&Rs, Managers and Agents, right through to roles that have yet to be defined. Deadline: 7 February. More info here.

Continuo Foundation

Continuo Foundation is offering grants of between £2,000 and £8,000 for professional ensembles playing period music and instruments to mobilise projects of outstanding artistic merit and create meaningful work for freelance period musicians, whilst engaging a wide range of audiences with historically informed live performances, particularly in areas lacking access to high-quality live classical music. Deadline 10 Feb. More info here.

Scottish Book Trust – Live Literature Programme

The Scottish Book Trust offers funding to schools, libraries, community groups and not-for-profit organisations based in Scotland to facilitate author visits in their local community. Applicants must intend to work with an author listed on the Live Literature Authority Directory. Deadline 14 Feb and then again in May and Sept. More info here.

Archives Revealed - Scoping Grants

Grant programme dedicated to the unlocking of archival collections. Grants of up to £3,000 are available to help analyse collections, supporting development of future plans for cataloguing priorities and projects. Deadline 14 Feb. More info here.

Idlewild Trust

Grants of up to £7,000 to registered charities working in the following two areas:

• Arts Grants: Nurturing Early-Stage Professionals - grants support training opportunities for emerging professionals, working creatively and backstage, within the performing and visual arts, post-training, and at an early stage in their career.

• Conservation Grants: Objects and Works of Art - grants support the conservation of cultural heritage of recognised national and international importance in museums, libraries, galleries, historic buildings, or landscapes accessible to the public (also available to museums that are exempt charities).

Deadline: 14 February. More info here.

The Scottish Hip Hop Bursaries

Will support approximately 20 applicants with grants of between £500 - £1,500 for projects that support artists working in Hip Hop to develop their practice and test out new ideas. Deadline 21 Feb. More info here.

Weir Charitable Trust

Grants of up to £25,000 to small charities and community groups across Scotland with an annual income of less than £125,000 to deliver projects and activities that improve the quality of life for local communities, including Culture - Supporting the heritage - tangible or otherwise - of Scotland, through projects that encourage participation in and preservation of Scotland's distinctive culture. Deadline: 28 February 2025. More info here.

Debut Writers Over 50 Award in 2025

To celebrate the diversity of writers over the age of 50 and to value their collected, distilled wisdom, their lifetime of reading and experience. Debut novelists based in the UK are invited to submit the first 5000 words of their novel. A shortlist will be announced on 27 July and the winner revealed during the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2025. The winner will receive £1000 cash prize, and a week’s course at Moniack Mhor Scotland’s Creative Writing Centre. Deadline: 28 February 2025. More info here.

PRS Foundation – Power Up

The Power Up initiative brings together music industry partners across all sectors to accelerate change and remove barriers for Black music creators and industry professionals. Deadline 13 Mar. More info here.

Hinrichsen Foundation

Grants of between £500 and £3,000 available for charities and organisations across the UK to deliver music projects that focus on the performance, commissioning, or recording of contemporary music. Deadline 14 Mar. More info here.

Grow Wild Youth Grants

Grants of £500 to young people (aged 16 to 25 years) to deliver a creative project that celebrates why UK native plants and/or fungi are so special. Deadline 19 Mar. More info here.

William Syson Foundation Small Grants Fund

Applications for grants of up to £5000 from arts charities working in any art form or cross-art form including but not limited to visual arts, performing arts, poetry, literature, film-making, music, photography, and digital arts. Deadline 28 Mar. More info here.

Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs (DBACE)

Aspiring individuals who want to go into business in the creative industries and require practical and financial support are being targeted. Applicants will be able to explore, develop and establish their creative ideas into sustainable ventures – through business planning training, mentoring and capital funding for starting-up. Cash prize fund of £60,000, to be shared amongst the winners plus up to £20,000 of investment to start or grow their enterprise. Deadline 31 Mar. More info here. 

Tom Grass Spirit of Adventure Literary Prize

The prize is for a short piece of stand-alone prose in either Fiction or Non-Fiction. It can be adapted from a longer work but must be satisfying to read by itself. The prize invites writers from all walks of life, whether writing a short story, essay, memoir, piece of reportage, historical investigation, or other hybrid form, as long as the writer reflects the sensibility of the prize. The prize is not aimed at the action-adventure genre nor limited to the idea of physical adventure. We invite writers to grapple with the spirit of adventure in any way they interpret. Deadline: 31st March 2025. More info here.

Scops Arts Trust

Grants of up to £30,000 to deliver projects and activities that help people to understand, participate in, and enjoy the arts, particularly the performing arts (music, drama, opera, and dance). Deadline 15 Apr. More info here.

The Brit Trust

Funding is available for organisations that use the power of music and the creative arts to improve the lives of young people of all backgrounds across the UK. This funding supports music and arts initiatives that promote education, wellbeing, and community engagement, helping individuals realise their full potential, regardless of ability, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Deadline: 30 April 2025. More info here.

Aesthetica Creative Writing Award

Open to Poetry and Short Fiction submissions on any theme, however, they are particularly interested in works that reflect upon our ever changing world. The winners in each category will receive a £2,500 cash prize, with a total prize fund of £5,000. Additionally, selected entries will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, providing further exposure for entrants. Deadline: 31 August. More info here.

The Cruach Trust

Grants of up to £2,000 are available to small Scottish charitable organisations to support environmental, community and music projects. Applications are considered once a year and the next deadline for applications is 12 September 2025. Find out more here.

Maker Relief Fund

The Maker Relief Fund is offering grants to UK-based professional craftspeople facing financial hardship. Grants of £1,000 will be awarded to 50 eligible applicants. Deadline: October 2025. More info here.

Music for All Community Project Funding Programme

Grants are available to community groups, schools and individuals under a number of different categories, each with their own criteria and award amounts. More info here.