Funding, Opportunities and Culture Jobs
Below we will outline the currently available funding, opportunities and culture jobs available in the city. Applications for individual grants should be with the organisations listed. To stay up to date with the latest opportunities then please make sure you are signed up to receive our Culture Hull newsletter
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Middle Child Theatre – Heritage Engagement Producer
Middle Child are seeking an experienced Heritage Engagement Producer with a minimum of two years’ experience in delivering and/or organising successful arts activities with a diverse range of groups.
The 18-month long role will begin in January 2026 as part of Let It Burn, a major new production about Hull’s original Theatre Royal, which stood on Humber Street until it burnt down in 1859, and again in 1869.
This story will be brought to life through performance and public engagement, rooted in original materials uncovered at Hull History Centre.
The production will happen in our new venue in 2027, just steps from the original site.
As part of this work, we’ll collaborate with residents in East Hull to explore the civic legacy of Ing Road’s theatre-themed street names – built between 1958 and 1961 – through creative workshops and a co-designed mural.
For a full job description and details of how to apply, before the deadline of Friday 14 November, visit the Middle Child website.
www.middlechildtheatre.co.uk/jobs-and-casting-calls.
To have an informal chat about the role, please email senior producer Sarah, on sarah@middlechildtheatre.co.uk.
Creative Foundations Fund
Arts and cultural organisations will soon be able to apply for a share of £85 million from the government for vital repairs and upgrades, ensuring everyone has access to high quality institutions in the places they call home.
The new Creative Foundations Fund will help arts venues across England to address a range of issues, such as repairing building infrastructure, outdated or failing systems, inefficient energy systems and inaccessible spaces. It will ensure beloved local venues like theatres, performing arts venues, galleries, grassroots music venues and contemporary arts centres can continue to offer opportunities, boost skills and attract more visitors from across the country.
Arts and cultural organisations across England are encouraged to apply for a share of up to £10 million each from the fund, which recognises the huge contribution they make towards boosting growth and breaking down barriers to opportunities for young people by helping them to learn vital creative skills.
The fund will open for Expressions Of Interest on Monday 30 June 2025. Full guidance, including eligibility criteria and details of how to apply, can be found on Arts Council England’s website.
Creative Foundations Fund: Guidance for applicants | Arts Council England
Hull Music Hub – Hull’s Musical Timeline
Hull has a long history of music making going back to the middle ages! This timeline, initially developed by Hull History Centre, enables you a read more about Hull’s rich music heritage.
And they now want to hear from YOU!
Do you have information, memories or reminiscences about musicians, ensembles, bands or events that are currently not recorded?
Drop them a line so that this timeline can continue to grow and develop.
Email: music.service@hullcc.gov.uk
Find the timeline on their website.
FUNDING
Youth Music New Fund – Shift The Scene
This fund supports organisations across all creative disciplines, not just music, that provide meaningful opportunities for Disabled children and young people. This fund has been informed by our Excluded by Design research.
Grants of up to £200,000 are available to help you create ambitious, accessible projects that push for genuine inclusion and make a lasting impact.
Check out their website for more information.
Cultural Bridge Fund Opens for UK Applications 1 October
This is a unique investment programme between the UK arts councils and leading German cultural institutions that supports the development of cross-border partnerships. Now in its fifth year, the funding has enabled arts organisations that place communities at the heart of their work, to build and develop new partnerships that allow exploration and exchange of practice across the UK and Germany.
The Fund is open to all arts and cultural organisations with proven expertise in socially engaged/participatory practice. Partnerships must be bi-lateral, including at least one German partner and one UK partner, from any one of the four nations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The total budget for the 2026-2027 programme is £370,000. It is anticipated that 20 awards will be made.
Two tiers of funding are available for activity that starts from 1 April 2026 and is completed by 31 March 2027.
Check out their website for more information.
Jerwood Foundation
Open to arts organisations to support projects and activities that make the arts available to the public.
The aim of this fund is to support organisations that focus on making art available for public benefit and emerging talent in the arts.
Applicants can apply for projects and activities that support the promotion of the arts for public benefit.
Applications should be sent either by email to info@jerwood.org or by post to PO Box 186, Ludlow, SY8 9DX.
Check out their website for more information.
Launch of the 2026 International Dylan Thomas Prize for Literary
The Dylan Thomas Prize is a competitive award provided in partnership by the Dylan Thomas Centre and Swansea University, to recognise and reward literary talent in young authors.
The prize will be awarded to the single author who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best literary Work – a commercially published original volume of English language poetry, collection of short fictional stories, fictional novel or novella, radio script or screenplay.
The main prize for the winner is £20,000. Each shortlisted entrant will receive a Runners-up Award of £500.
All authors of any nationality who are aged between 18 and 39 will qualify. Entries are to be submitted by international and UK publishers on behalf of eligible authors.
The closing date for entries to the 2026 Prize is Friday 7 November 2025.
Check out their website for more information.
UK Literary Prize Open for Novels Engaging with Climate Change
The Climate Fiction Prize is now open for submissions for its 2026 award. The prize, worth £10,000, recognises full-length novels that explore themes related to the climate crisis and the human response to it.
The award is intended for substantial works written in English, intended for adult readers, and published by an established UK imprint. Authors of any nationality are eligible to apply, provided they are over 18 years old and their work exceeds 30,000 words. Eligible entries must have been first published, or be scheduled for publication, as a print edition in the UK.
Novels can come from any genre, but the subject matter must engage with climate change. Qualifying works should either depict the impacts of the climate crisis on people, incorporate responses to it as a central element of the plot, or feature characters and storylines directly shaped by environmental challenges.
The £10,000 award will be given to the author or authors judged to have written the strongest novel meeting the stated criteria.
The deadline for applications is Thursday 13 November 2025.
Check out their website for more information.
DCMS Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund Launches New Round
Last open for applications in 2022, the Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund is once again offering capital grants of up to £400,000 to selected museums and galleries across England.
For over 20 years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Wolfson Foundation have worked together to jointly fund grants to support museums as they improve displays, enhance collections care and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors.
A total of £4 million is being made available over a two-year period (2025-27) with grants of between £20,000 and £400,000. Funding sought must not exceed 85% of total eligible costs. Funds must be spent by March 2027.
The funding is for projects that meet at least one of the following criteria:
• Material improvements to the display and interpretation of collections, in permanent galleries, exhibition spaces and public spaces, to enhance visitor experience.
• Improvements to access and/or interpretation for visitors with disabilities, children and young people, and/or underrepresented audiences.
• Improvements to environmental controls, collections storage and conservation facilities to enhance the care of collections.
All projects are expected to be environmentally sustainable and to have environmental considerations embedded in their planning.
The Fund is open to bids from accredited museums, museum services and galleries in England falling into one of the following categories:
• Museums/museums services and universities with at least one Designated collection
• Current Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs).
Only one capital project bid per museum, gallery, museums service or university will be considered.
Awards are not made retrospectively and thus funded works must not take place before 1 April 2026.
Applications will be accepted from 5 September to 14 November 2025, with funding decisions expected in March 2026.
Check out their website for more information.
Creative Growth: Hull and East Yorkshire
Creating investment ready businesses for Hull and East Yorkshire
The Creative Growth Hull & East Yorkshire Programme is a free-to-access scheme that supports creative businesses to reconsider their growth plans, with a view to helping firms become investment ready and ready for growth. Specifically tailored for local business founders who are looking to grow their creative businesses, this programme understands that businesses often have to manage conflicting business commitments and daily operational pressures, whilst at the same time managing the process of business growth. By using the advice, resources and learnings provided via the programme, and by sharing your own business experiences with other business leaders via peer learning, local creative business founders are supported to reexamine how they can develop their capacity and confidence to grow.
Across the five programme cohorts so far, sixty businesses have identified ways to achieve their future ambitions, gained the skills needed when pitching proposals, and benefited from the support available from the programme around what it really takes to develop a realistic growth and investment plan. You are now invited to register for the Programme’s Cohort 6 group which commences on Tuesday 14th October 2025 at Hull University Business School.
To find out more and to register your place on the programme simply click here https://exec-education-hull.my.canva.site/creative-growth or email us at creativegrowth@heybusinessgrowthskillshub.com
The Creative Growth Programme is a 12 week fully-funded course that includes 8 practical workshops (1 day a week over the first 8 weeks) covering a range of business growth and investment topics, in addition to diagnostics, specialist guest speakers, bitesize masterclasses, peer learning sessions, and mentoring. Participating businesses are also invited to exclusive ‘alumni’ events including socials, networking, guest speakers and industry insight events.
Cohorts 6 in October and Cohort 7 in January are the penultimate cohorts of the programme, so register your place now to avoid disappointment. The programme will close on 31st March 2026 due to external funding conditions, and there is no guarantee that the programme will operate beyond this.
England Grassroots Music Projects Invited to Apply for Funding
Arts Council England is offering grants to support organisations working within the grassroots music sector. The funding aims to help artists, bands and music professionals build sustainable careers while developing new audiences.
The Supporting Grassroots Music programme is delivered jointly by Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It provides financial support for a range of organisations including live music venues, rehearsal and recording studios, festivals, promoters and sector bodies.
Grants of between £1,000 and £40,000 are available. Projects may run for up to three years and must include some element of live programming or participatory activity that benefits grassroots artists or professionals. Eligible costs include artist and audience development, live programming, infrastructure improvements, touring networks and testing new approaches.
Applicants are expected to contribute at least 10% of total project costs from other sources. This may be through their own contribution, such as ticket income, or in-kind support from partners.
This is a rolling programme; should an application be received after a monthly deadline it will be automatically entered into the next round.
Check out their website for more information.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation – Arts Based Learning Fund
This fund supports arts and cultural organisations to work in partnership with schools and make arts-based learning a core part of education.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) imagine a fairer school system where every child gets to experience high-quality, arts-based learning as a regular part of their education. They believe the arts can bring real value to teaching and help schools reach their goals for students. This fund achieves this by:
- Supporting arts organisations to work in partnership with formal education settings leading to a mutual exchange and enrichment of expertise
- Focusing on pupils who experience systemic inequity and enabling them to make progress and overcome barriers to learning
- Exploring the role of arts-based learning in addressing issues of inclusion, especially racism, in education
- Creating more opportunities for high quality arts-based teaching and learning in education settings, especially in those which have not had this work in the past
- Enabling arts-based learning to be embedded in curricula and practice for the long-term
- Building a body of evidence and practice, and understanding how the work improves equity for pupils
Deadline: Rolling application cycle
Check out their website for more information.
Creative Lives publish new guide for funding for creative groups
Featuring details of national funders and trusts with a specific interest in creative organisations, our new fundraising guide ‘Cash For Culture’ is a handy resource for any creative group based in England.
With tips on writing funding applications, Q&As with creative group fundraisers, and ideas for raising money at a local level, this FREE guide is available to download now.
Garfield Weston Foundation
Supporting charities who work in welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith.
The fund is open to registered charities.
The foundation covers:
Capital costs – such as building works or repairs, or equipment that’s necessary to your organisation’s work.
Project costs – specific project or area of your work which fit the foundations priorities.
Core costs – operating/Core cost grants towards the general costs of running your organisation.
They have two grant streams:
Regular Grants – up to £100,000
Major Grants – £100,000 and above
Check out their website for more information.
BFI Creative Challenge Fund Supports UK Talent Development Programmes
The British Film Institute is accepting applications to the National Lottery Creative Challenge Fund for UK-based organisations delivering creative or talent development programmes. The funding aims to support projects in feature film and narrative immersive media, including narrative, documentary and animation.
The fund is designed to address challenges within the screen industry such as underrepresentation of certain genres, lack of early career producer opportunities and limited support for scalable projects with broad audience potential.
A total of £2.7 million is available over a three-year period. Applicants can request between £12,000 and £150,000. Eligible costs include staff and freelance fees, participant payments, venue and equipment hire, travel, creative practice sessions, mentoring and access provision. Reasonable overheads not already funded from other public sources are also eligible.
Applications are open to organisations across the UK with a track record in delivering professional or creative development work. These include production companies, film festivals, limited companies, CICs, partnerships, registered charities, local authorities and other statutory bodies. For-profit organisations may apply if the funded work is not-for-profit.
All funded work must be completed by 31 March 2026.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but must be submitted at least 16 weeks before the planned start of activity.
Check out their website for more information.
Postcode Places Trust (East of England) Open for Applications
Back for another year, the Postcode Places Trust is supporting organisations across the East of England with unrestricted funding in 2025.
The funding is for projects in the region that have a clear alignment with one of the Trust’s 2025 themes:
- Enabling participation in physical activity
- Enabling participation in the arts
- Improving biodiversity and responding to the climate emergency
- Improving green spaces and increasing access to the outdoors
- Preventing or reducing the impact of poverty
- Providing support to improve mental health
- Supporting marginalised groups and tackling inequality
Depending on their not-for-profit legal structure, organisations can apply either for a grant of between £500 and £2,500 or between £500 and £25,000.
The funding offered is unrestricted and therefore flexible. It can be used however it is most needed.
Application forms will be available on the Trust’s website when the funding round opens.
The 2025 funding guide and 2025 application questions are available on the Trust’s website.
Check out their website for more information.
Radcliffe Trust Accepting Applications for Second 2025 Funding Round
Radcliffe Trust is offering grants averaging between £2,500 and £7,500 for charities, not-for-profit groups, and exempt organisations across the UK to support projects in the areas of music or heritage and crafts.
For music projects, the Trust will consider projects in the following categories:
• Composition and contemporary music – in the case of commission applications, the lead composer must be named.
• Bursaries for courses and summer schools (limited to UK-based students).
• Music therapy and special needs.
• Academic research.
• Youth orchestras.
• Performance projects.
• Educational projects – excluding applications from individual mainstream primary and secondary schools.
• Miscellaneous.
For heritage and crafts projects, the Trust will support the development of the skills, knowledge and experience that underpin the UK’s traditional cultural heritage and crafts sectors. This includes support for:
• Emerging craftspeople.
• Craft and conservation projects and training.
• Projects demonstrating creative outcomes by designer-makers.
• Projects with potential for capacity building within the sector.
• Special needs projects focusing on the therapeutic benefits of skills development.
Other areas of cultural creativity related to heritage and crafts may also be considered, including theatre, performance, and literature, especially where projects can be shown to promote and develop high-level skills among early career practitioners and disadvantaged groups.
There are typically two rounds per year, with trustee meetings held in June and December. Groups can apply for Music and Heritage & Crafts grants in the same funding round.
Check out their website for more information.
Wolfson Foundation
The Foundation offer capital infrastructure projects from a broad range of organisations working across the fields of education, science & medicine, health & disability, heritage, humanities & the arts.
If your project exceeds £50,000 you will require match funding and should be in place at the point of submission of a Stage 2 application.
The following match funding criteria applies:
Arts and humanities, science and medicine or health and disability programmes: The Foundation typically stipulates that a minimum of 25% of the project’s capital costs must be secured prior to submission, except in cases where the project cost is below £50,000.
Schools/education programme: For projects exceeding £1 million in total cost, a 25% match funding is obligatory. Projects falling within the range of £50,000 to £1 million necessitate some matching funds. Conversely, projects with a total cost below £50,000 do not mandate any match funding.
Deadline: open
Check out their website for more information.
Idlewild Trust
Aiming to support learning programmes that provide opportunities for professional musicians, dancers, actors, writers, artists and those involved creatively in the arts at an early stage in their career.
Deadline: Friday 5 September 2025
Check out their website for more information.
British Council Funding Available for Visual Artists in Biennials
The British Council is inviting applications for its Biennials Connect programme, aimed at supporting UK visual artists to participate in biennials and festivals both in the UK and internationally. Funding is also available for international artists taking part in UK-based biennials and festivals.
The scheme offers up to £9,500 for collaborations between UK biennials or festivals and visual artists based in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA). The same amount is available for international biennials based in ODA countries partnering with UK artists. A maximum of £5,000 is available for partnerships with artists in non-ODA countries. An additional £2,500 is available per project to support access costs.
Eligible applicants include UK and international biennials, festivals and visual arts organisations working in partnership with a biennial or festival. Projects must support artists aged 18 and over and can involve multiple artists, though only one application per biennial organisation is permitted.
Funding can be used for travel, artwork production, professional development, networking, public engagement and access costs. Activities may take place in person or online.
Organisations must demonstrate alignment with the British Council’s commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion and fair pay for artists.
The deadline for applications is Sunday 14 September 2025 (11:59pm).
Check out their website for more information.
Three Funding Strands Open to UK Artists Working in Immersive Media
UK-based artists can apply for financial support and development resources through the Immersive Arts programme. The initiative is designed to support the use of immersive technologies in the arts, including virtual, augmented and extended reality.
Led by the University of the West of England and produced by Watershed, the programme is delivered in partnership with ten organisations involved in immersive arts and research. It supports a range of creative practices that connect physical and digital experiences, engage audiences and enhance sensory interaction.
Applicants can choose from three strands depending on the stage of their work. ‘Explore’ offers up to £5,000 for early-stage research, ‘Experiment’ provides up to £20,000 for project development and ‘Expand’ awards up to £50,000 for delivery and wider engagement.
Eligible applicants include individual artists, creative practitioners, technologists, small groups or collectives and arts-based organisations. Applicants must be based in the UK and aged 18 or over. The maximum group size is ten people for ‘Explore’ and ‘Experiment’, and 50 for ‘Expand’.
The deadline for applications is Monday 29 September 2025 (2pm).
Check out their website for more information.
Michael Tippett Musical Foundation Accepting Applications for 2025
The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation is offering grants of between £500 and £3,000 for groups across the UK to support the following objectives:
To award grants to support the development of group music-making especially involving young people, with composing central to the project.
To support the performance or recording of works by Michael Tippet.
In 2023 and 2024 the Trustees decided to focus the Foundation’s activity exclusively on the funding of performances and recording of music by Michael Tippett, to generate greater revenue for a wider range of activities in future years. This will remain the case in 2025.
The Trustees will consider applications about any of his compositions but are likely to prioritise plans for specific works that are less frequently performed or projects which are unlikely to be mounted without additional financial support.
Successful projects should commence January 2026.
The deadline for applications is Tuesday 30 September 2025.
Check out their website for more information.
Help Musicians Fast Track
Help Musicians Fast Track provides £500 as an investment to help grow or sustain your income from music, or to help you gain a career opportunity.
Check out their website for more information.
Two Ridings Community Foundation – Hull Fund
A new Community Fund for Hull is available now.
Check out their website for more information.
Applications are now open for the Unlimited UK Partner Awards!
Together with 11 UK partners, Unlimited are delighted to offer awards ranging from £15k to £60k for artists to create extraordinary new work that captivates, inspires, and deepens understanding.
Check out their website for more information.
Blue Spark Foundation
Aiming to support education and development of children and young people by providing grants for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects.
This fund is open to schools, community groups, clubs, societies or other not for profit organisations. However, individuals may also apply for a grant.
The foundation asks that applications must state exactly what the grant will be used for e.g. physical assets (such as sports equipment, or lighting for stage productions), services or facilities (such as music or drama tuition) or the provision of experiences (such as theatre visits). These examples are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive as to the funding which BlueSpark may provide to support projects.
Projects can be educational, cultural, sporting or other activities but particular consideration will be given to those that help the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people.
Check out their website for more information.
Goodwin’s Create to Change
Goodwin is looking for businesses working within the creative and cultural sectors to offer placements to young people and adults ages 16-65 years of age.
Create to Change offers businesses staff for 10 weeks at 25 hours per week.
- Goodwin will pay the wages for the person on placement
- Businesses will interview candidates and there is no obligation to take them on, if you find the candidate suitable please do offer them a placement.
- Goodwin will work with candidates for 2 weeks before they apply for roles which will ensure we are sending people who are work ready.
- The project will have a dedicated business engagement worker and keyworker who will support the business and candidate on placement, throughout and post placement.
- Business breakfasts – chance for all placement providers and potential placement provides to get together, chat to young people and Goodwin staff and receive support from third party organisations around business growth and support.
if you would like more information, please contact Zoe on 07593136045 or email ZSivell@goodwintrust.org
Hull 4 Funding
Hull 4 Funding is a Community Portal funded by Hull City Council to provide free funding information for local not-for-profit organisations and gives access to thousands of funding opportunities including for arts and cultural organisations.
Register to access Home | Hull 4 Funding (idoxopen4community.co.uk)
Maker Relief Fund Supports UK Craftspeople in Need
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 over the course of a year, starting in November 2024 and running through to the end of October 2025.
These grants are intended to provide flexible financial support, allowing recipients to use the funds without restrictions.
Practising professional craftspeople are eligible to apply if they identify with one or more of the following groups:
- Individuals on low incomes.
- Working-class people.
- Black and ethnically diverse people (including Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers).
- People with disabilities, neurodiversity or those managing chronic physical or mental health issues.
- LGBTQIA+ individuals.
- People with caring responsibilities.
The initiative aims to support these people in sustaining their careers during times of financial difficulty.
Applications can be submitted at any time until the end of October 2025.
Check out their website for more information.
Foyle Foundation’s Grants Programme to End in 2025
The Foyle Foundation, an independent grant-making trust that distributes grants to UK based registered charities and schools, has announced that it will complete its grant giving programme in 2025. Visit their website to find out more
Arts Council England Funding
Grants are open to individuals as well as organisations. Funding opportunities can support a range of activity, from a one-off project to your personal development as a creative or cultural practitioner. These include:
National Lottery Project Grants
National Lottery Project Grants supports thousands of individual artists, and community and cultural organisations with arts, libraries and museums projects. It’s open all the time and you can apply for grants between £1,000 and £100,000.
Developing Your Creative Practice
This fund supports individual cultural and creative practitioners ready to take their work to the next stage through things such as: research, time to create new work, travel, training, developing ideas, networking or mentoring. You can apply for up to £12,000.
Check out their website for more information as well as information about other open grants.
Schroder Charity Trust
The Trust will consider applications from charities registered in England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland in the fields of Education & Young People, Communities, Environment & Conservation, Health, Arts & Culture, International Development, Heritage, and Supporting the Armed Forces.
Check out their website for more information.