The Culture Recovery Fund: Grants Second Round application window is now closed

If you have applied for the Culture Recovery Fund: Grants Second round, decisions are made by Arts Council England. All applicants will be notified of Arts Council England’s decision by the end of March 2021 as the decision will be based on the information you provided in your application and any further information that may have been requested.

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The aim of this Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme is to support cultural organisations as they transition back to a viable and sustainable operating model during April-June 2021. The criteria for the Culture Recovery Fund were designed by DCMS, and the Arts Council administering, awarding and monitoring it on their behalf.

The budget for Culture Recovery Fund: Grants second round delivered by the Arts Council is up to £250 million – it comes directly from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and is part of the £1.57 billion package they announced to protect the UK’s culture and heritage sectors from the economic impacts of Covid-19.

Generally, the minimum amount that can be applied for is £25,000 and the maximum is £3million however there are certain restrictions:

  • If you are a not for profit organisation who received a grant from the first Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme, the maximum you can apply for across both rounds is £3million
  • If you are a for profit organisation, the maximum you can apply to this programme for is £1million
  • If you are a for profit organisation who received a grant from the first Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme, the maximum you can apply for across both rounds is £1million
  • If you are a Local Authority or University, the maximum you can apply for across rounds is £3million.

If you received a grant from the first Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme, then you should use the total amount awarded when working out the maximum amount you can apply for.

If your application for a grant takes you over these limits, then you should consider making an application to Culture Recovery Fund: Repayable Finance Round Two.

Decisions are made by Arts Council England. We will make our decision based on the information you provide in your application. In exceptional circumstances, we may also take into account any further information that we may have requested.

Who is it for:

You can apply for this fund if you are a cultural organisation (both profit and not for profit) based in England or can demonstrate that the majority of your work takes place in England.

You also need to be properly constituted and registered with one of these three bodies

  • Companies House
  • Charity Commission
  • Financial Conduct Authority

The lead organisation must also be able to provide at least two year’s independently certified or audited financial statements.

How to apply:

The portal for applications is now open from 12pm (midday) on Wednesday 6 January 2021 and close at 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 26 January 2021. 

Please ensure that you have an applicant profile registered and validated on the system by 21 January. If you do not have a profile validated by this point, it may not be possible to make an application.

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