The Wolfson Foundation Grants for Performing Arts Organisations

The Wolfson Foundation is one of the UK’s major independent grant-making charities,  having awarded grants totalling more than £1 billion since it was established in 1955.

The Foundation has just opened a number of its programmes to applications with a deadline of Sunday 5th January 2025 including:

• Hospices and palliative care
  
• Libraries and archives.
  
• Performing arts.
  
• Places, and
  
• Working with older people.

This article covers the Foundation’s Grants for Performing Arts programme. We’ll be featuring the Foundation’s other grant programmes over the next few weeks.

The Foundation’s Performing Arts programme provides capital funding for performing arts organisations to improve their training and education facilities. It generally award grants towards the building or refurbishment of these facilities, and occasionally towards the purchase of related specialist equipment. 

Applying organisations should:

• Be operated by a registered charity or a local authority.
  
• Be focussed on professional performance and the performing arts should constitute the vast majority, if not the sole focus, of its activities, and
  
• Be able to make a case for the significance of its education work within the sector. For applicants that operate a venue, the significance of its artistic programme will also be taken into account. 

Project proposals should be focussed on improving the quality of training and education facilities and represent a strategic priority for the organisation. Proposals can also have one or more of the following additional aims:

• Better engagement with audiences.
  
• Increased numbers of participants.
  
• Improved future sustainability of the organisation, and/or
  
• Conservation of architectural heritage.