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 - learn more about legal names of applicants.
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.
The Support for Individual Artists Programme (SIAP) is a range of schemes which aim to support artists across all disciplines to create work and develop their practice
The Project Funding for Individuals scheme aims to support the wide range of activity that can be undertaken by artists of all disciplines in relation to their practice, and to enable innovation and experimentation. A “project” and its associated costs can be any activity that develops and supports your creative practice.
Project proposals could, for example, be any of the activities below - or a combination of them:
If you are looking for information on other Support for the Individual Artist Schemes, guidance notes for all schemes are available from artscouncil-ni.org/funding/funding-for-individuals You should read the guidance notes for each scheme to find the most suitable for you and your project idea.
Deaf Theatre Makers is delighted to offer 8 paid placement opportunities for deaf creatives across the UK. Working with our partner organisations, these placements are designed to provide hands on experience within professional theatre settings and help deaf people develop skills, confidence and industry connections.
Whether you are interested in producing, technical theatre, programming, creative development or exploring a career behind the scenes, this is an opportunity to learn directly from experienced theatre professionals.
Successful applicants will receive:
Placements do not need to take place over five consecutive days. Depending on the host organisation and your learning goals, activity may be spread across a project, production or period of time.
(shared placement across both organisations)
This placement offers an introduction to producing, programming and arts management across two very different cultural organisations. You will gain insight into how work is programmed, developed and delivered, while meeting staff from a range of departments.
areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible from August 2026 onwards.
This placement can be tailored to your interests and career goals. Working with staff across the organisation, you will have the opportunity to explore the areas of theatre that interest you most.
potential areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible.
This placement will be hands on and can be shaped around your interests and offers the opportunity to gain experience across a range of departments within a producing theatre, or to focus on one or two areas of interest if that is preferred.
potential areas of focus include:
timing: Flexible.
This placement is ideal for anyone interested in producing, technical theatre and the development of new work.
The placement will be linked to a festival taking place at Sheffield Theatres, offering the opportunity to observe and support activity during a busy period of theatre making.
areas of focus include:
timing: Applicants should be available for activity taking place between 28th September and 10th October 2026.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre exists to provide opportunities for young people aged 5 – 19 yrs from our community to participate in weekly drama sessions with the aim of improving confidence, developing performance skills, working as part of a team and enabling participants to live creative lives. Our programme works across the week at the theatre and across community settings and we’d love for you to come join us.
Winner of the Little Viking’s Best Drama Class for five years running (2018 – 2022), it’s no surprise that our Youth Theatre is hugely popular with York families.
Our Youth Theatre takes place in venues across our beautiful city, including:
You can select any of the following fee bands online when you making your booking:
Sibling discount: If you have more than one child in Youth Theatre, there is a sibling discount of £5 off each young person, which can be applied to any of the 3 fee bands. Use discount code: YOUTHSIB5
If you have selected the lower priced bands we will ask to see some evidence of your situation after you have made your booking, to ensure the system is fair for everyone.
Autumn 2026 Sessions
Priority booking for current members opens on 23 June at 1pm.
Public booking for new members for our Autumn Term opens on 30 June at 1pm.
Places can be booked online via our website, in person at the Box Office, or over the phone. All places are offered on a first come, first served basis, so we recommend booking as early as possible to secure your preferred class.
Our Autumn Term runs for 10 weeks from the week commencing 21 September (11 weeks for production term groups), with no sessions taking place during the half-term break (Wc/26 of October).
Mon 21 Sep - Wed 23 Sep
A mentorship scheme hosted by The Old Vic for mid-career directors, offering insight and support to demystify the next steps in your career.
Three mid-career directors will be paired with established directors for six mentoring sessions taking place between Sep 2026–Feb 2027. Our mentors are Sally Cookson, Richard Jones and Clint Dyer. Monthly mentoring sessions will be scheduled by the mentor and mentee pair, based on availability.
These monthly sessions will provide an opportunity to reflect on professional practice, build new networks and connections, and identify areas for growth and career progression supported by your mentor. Mentees will receive a fee for each session in recognition of the value of dedicating time to career development.
Mentors and mentees will be invited to attend performances at The Old Vic to provide further opportunities to stimulate creative conversation and enrich the process.
Writing West Midlands is once again teaming up with Birmingham Libraries to recruit the next two Poets Laureate for 2026-28:
The Birmingham Poet Laureate and Birmingham Young Poet Laureate are honorary posts appointed by Birmingham Libraries and Writing West Midlands.
The successful candidates should be residents of Birmingham, or work or study in the city, and will be able to show their commitment to writing and sharing their poetry. They should be comfortable with the idea of sharing with an audience and speaking about their work. They will be expected to be an ambassador for the city of Birmingham and its many communities and areas.
The Birmingham Poet Laureate and Birmingham Young Poet Laureate are asked to undertake a small number of honorary duties during their tenure, including writing poems to commemorate significant moments. They will be expected to share their work at events and to encourage an interest in poetry across the city. We are particularly keen that the Poets Laureate use their work to encourage people to engage with the city’s public libraries.
While the posts are honorary and the roles are voluntary, payments are sometimes made for work that is particularly time consuming. The adult Poet Laureate in particular will be supported by Writing West Midlands to develop their creative work.
The position of Birmingham Poet Laureate was the UK’s first ‘city laureate’, with the first appointment being made in 1998. In 2005, the position of Birmingham Young Poet Laureate was set up.
In-person interviews for both posts will take place on Saturday 19th September 2026 (Adult post in the morning, Young post in the afternoon). Interviews will take place in central Birmingham. An appointment event will take place on Sunday 11th October 2026.
Join us next Friday for Stories in Focus, a free creative workshop for South Asian Londoners aged 18-30, inspired by Blue Mist and facilitated by JMK Award-winning theatre director Adam Karim.
Created as part of the Blue Mist Young Producers Programme with Boundless Theatre, this workshop uses photographs as creative prompts alongside storytelling and performance, creating a space for South Asian young people to come together, connect, and explore their own stories through creative collaboration
Friday 10 July - Studio Wayne McGregor, Here East, London E15 2HB | 4:00–6:00pm
All participants will receive a free ticket to see Blue Mist that evening.
A UK-wide free training programme for ages 18–30
Dive into the world of theatre-making and shape the future of theatre with OV Theatre Makers, a free, six-month training programme.
With the support of director Joseph Hancock and leading professional theatre makers, you’ll explore contemporary theatre-making practices to provide you with a toolkit of skills to begin developing your own work and career. Developing a broad range of theatre making skills from writing and devising to directing and producing you will then have the chance to showcase your work in a Scratch Night at a professional theatre venue.
Travel to London will be required and we’re able to support with costs if needed.
The programme will include:
Actor-musicians are increasingly in-demand performers who combine first-rate acting ability with a high level of musicianship.
Mountview’s Actor Musicianship course develops these dual skills to the highest level, enabling graduates to combine them in their performance.
Whilst a high level of prior musical experience is a pre-requisite, it is not necessary to have achieved formal music qualifications before applying.
COURSE CONTENT AND DELIVERY
Study takes place over three 12-week terms a year for three years. It is an actor training programme with specialised music elements. Students work in small classes and receive over 25 hours of direct teaching time each week, including one-to-one singing and instrumental lessons.
The course is delivered through classes, projects, workshops and performance opportunities. During the course students engage in a range of performance projects, working on Shakespeare, contemporary plays, and musicals as well as devising original work. The first half of each term is devoted to skills classes whilst in the second half of each term these skills are applied to performance projects.
In the second year, skills are further explored in collaboration classes which include peer integration and team teaching to enhance your creativity and help you to make connections between subjects.
Additionally, there is time given to tailored ‘surgeries’ to focus on detail and help develop independence and confidence in each individual’s practice.
