Arts Council England is making £20 million available to individuals working in the cultural sector, including artists, creative practitioners and freelancers.

Artists and creative practitioners will be able to apply for grants of up to £2,500 if they have a track record in publicly funded culture.

We understand the impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on all parts of the cultural workforce, so we’re looking to provide £4 million from this £20 million budget for grants to benevolent funds targeted at other cultural workers. More information on this will be shared soon.

Who is eligible to apply for this fund?
Creative practitioners whose main work is focused on these artforms and disciplines:

Music
Theatre
Dance
Visual Arts
Literature
Combined Arts
Museums practice
This work includes: choreographers, writers, translators, producers, editors, freelance educators in the disciplines and artforms we support, composers, directors, designers, artists, craft makers and curators.

Magicians and comedians can apply to this fund, as long as they have a track record of receiving public funding for their work.

We are also exploring reasonable adjustments that will ensure applicants with access requirements have an equal chance of benefiting from this fund. This would include anyone ill due to Covid-19

Full application details will follow soon.

When do applications open?
We will publish guidance for applicants including the detailed timetable for this fund on 30 March. Potential applicants will need to register on our application portal Grantium by Friday 3 April. There will be support for people to do this.