After the announcement of its closure, Forest Forge has allocated remaining funds to support local artists and organisations with grants of between £500 – £5,000.
In 2026 Forest Forge Theatre Company announced its closure after 45 years of making and touring theatre in the New Forest. As the journey comes to an end, the team are eager to support artists and cultural community organisations in the New Forest via some small commissions. We hope that by providing small pots of funding we can support sustainability and can seed fund new ideas.
We have ringfenced some of our remaining funds to support local artists and organisations with grants of between £500 – £5,000. We anticipate making between 5 – 10 Forge Ahead Commission grants.
Projects should deliver activity within one of our three areas of activity:
We are also especially excited to support projects and ideas that complement the Forest Forge ethos; those that are playful, heartfelt, joyful and irreverent.
Funds can be used for any number of costs including artist fees, travel, room hire, materials, marketing, training and can be used as match funding.
We welcome applications from:
Projects must:
Key dates:
Grants are made at the discretion of the trustees and decisions are final. Successful applicants will be required to report back to a Forest Forge Trustee after the closure of the company.
For more information, click the Opportunity Info link below!
This year Cork Theatre Collective are looking for three pieces of theatre in development to present as works-in-progress for audiences during SHOW, on 27, 28 and 29 November 2026.
What you get:
Access:
Access costs are covered separately
Who can apply?
Key dates:
For more information and to submit, click the Opportunity Info link below!
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 for supporting career development, and NOT for creating new work or project delivery. For example, creating artwork to sell online would not be applicable but working with a mentor to develop your painting skills would be.
We want artists to identify exactly what they need to progress and professionalise their artistic career, and to remain open to exploring different ways of doing this with our support.
We recognise that everybody’s needs are different and that professional development varies from individual to individual. However, these are some of the things that your application could include:
When completing the budget, you should include the following:
We expect all applicants to pay freelancers the standard industry rates as a minimum. If people are providing their time in-kind, we would need to know why and have this confirmed in a letter of support from them.
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 £5 million.
The fund is intended to support 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.
We will ask you to tell us the start and end date for this activity and to describe the outcomes, benefits and impacts that you wish to achieve.
Freelance and self-employed artists and creative practitioners living in Scotland who are at least 18 years old are eligible to apply. You must have a UK bank account in your name.
If you are not a self-employed individual or a sole trader, you may be eligible for the National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations.
Please read the guidance for full information on eligibility.
You can apply for between £500 and £50,000.
As standard, if your application request is between £500 and £20,000 you will hear the outcome in 10 weeks. If your application request is between £20,001 and £50,000 you will hear the outcome in 14 weeks.
Please see above for details of our 25/26 Christmas closure and the effects it will have on our processing timelines.
Every year, Mountview awards a range of scholarships and bursaries to support students with the costs of study, made possible thanks to generous individuals, trusts and foundations.
Scholarships are awarded on the basis of talent, potential and financial need and designed to ensure that cost is not a barrier to study.
In 25/26, 1 in 3 students received a scholarship with the average award being £3,250.
We usually receive far more applications for scholarship funding than we have available, so we encourage you to seek other funding opportunities as well and will provide support and guidance to do so.
Find out more about Funding and Scholarships at Mountview.
The Black Artists Grant (BAG) offered by Creative Debuts as a no-strings attached financial support to help Black artists. They can spend the grant on whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses.
This grant has been set up because Black artists are systematically under-supported by the art world; by institutions, curators, the artist-led scene, major and minor funding bodies, the market, art schools, and by audiences too.
Creative Debuts recognises that a full institutional overhaul and dismantling of racist structures is required to transform the industry permanently, but they hope in a small way that this grant will help enable recipients to continue their artistic practice when the odds are so stacked against them
There is no deadline as this is a monthly rolling grant, no age limit, and the grant does not expect any outcomes or reporting. Please only apply once, if you apply in February for example, you are still eligible for selection in a different month, all applications are kept and reviewed.
Financing your studies may seem daunting at first, but help is at hand. Bristol Old Vic Theatre School will provide all the support you need to take control of your finances.
For fees purposes, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School classifies students as UK or International. Your residency classification determines the amount you pay in tuition fees as well as the financial support available to help towards tuition fee costs and living expenses.
The School is deeply committed to equality of opportunity and students are admitted solely on the basis of merit. In light of this, the School does its best to ensure that no student offered a place is prevented from enrolling on the grounds of financial hardship.
The School offers a wide range of scholarships to students regardless of domicile. These scholarships are supported by a variety of generous donors including City Livery companies, grant-making trusts and foundations, businesses and individuals.
A scholarship award may be made to cover either the full or partial costs of tuition fees, and may also include support for maintenance costs. Awards are made to individuals on the basis of their talent, potential and personal financial need. The School allocates in excess of £2million per annum to such eligible students.
The Wayne Sleep Foundation Awards are medium to large sized grants given to individuals who have obtained a place at a higher education Arts Institution, and are specifically to be put toward accommodation and living costs.
In previous years, the Foundation has supported students who have gained places at: Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Central School of Speech and Drama, Dance for All, Elmhust School for Dance, Hammond School, Laine Theatre Arts, London Studio Centre, Northern Ballet School, Rambert School, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Ballet School, Royal College of Music.
The Foundation has also supported organisations and projects, including those organised by: Central School of Ballet, Circus Arts, British Ballet Organisation, Dance Forward Summer and Easter Schools, Dance Northern Ireland, Dance Teachers’ Benevolent Fund, English National Ballet School, Fertile Ground, Liverpool Theatre School, National Ballet of Cuba, One Dance UK, Peter Darrell Trust, Rambert School, Royal Academy of Dance, Urbana Academy, and Yorkshire Ballet Seminars.
This dynamic and intensive course takes place across four terms in a full calendar year. It is designed for those aged 21 and over who can discover and realise their potential as a creative artist over a year of training. You will be taught in group classes, developing your professionalism, collaboration and technical skill through ensemble learning and individual tutorials.
We expect you to be bold and fearless in your willingness to understand yourself and be prepared to be open and curious whilst experimenting with new methods of working. Throughout your training you will have opportunities to collaborate with leading directors, writers and producers.
The year culminates in London where you will perform in London venues to the public and to an invited industry audience. On completion of the course, you will be awarded Equity membership.
Graduates of this course include Tanya Reynolds, Babou Ceesay, Jude Owusu, Claire Foy and Richard Gadd.
