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I need funding
Apply for a Youth Music grant
About Youth Music
We're a national charity supporting young people's lives in music. Equity, diversity and inclusion drive our vision and mission. We want to equalise access to music: we focus on those who would otherwise miss out because of who they are, where they live, or what they're going through.
About Youth Music funding
Through our funding programmes we invest in music programmes for children and young people, and work that helps organisations to diversify and be more inclusive. Programmes funded by Youth Music work with children and young people of all ages, from babies and their families through to young adults up to the age of 25, using the power of music to support musical, personal and social development.
We support around 300 projects each year, reaching more than 80,000 children and young people and 4,000 people in the workforce.
Youth Music is funded thanks to the National Lottery via Arts Council England, players of People's Postcode Lottery, and support from donors, partners and fundraisers.
Access Fund
If you identify as Disabled and need further support to make an application to Youth Music, you can apply to our Access Fund. This provides funding to cover any additional access costs that might be required for you to make an application to one of Youth Music’s main grant funds.
You should apply for this fund before you start making your application.
Click here for more information on the Access Fund.
Fund A
Grants of between £2,000 and £30,000 for high-quality projects that will help to achieve a musically inclusive England.
Projects should last for 6-24 months and it's a one-stage online application process with deadlines three times a year.
Click here for more information on Fund A.
Fund B
Grants of £30,001 to £150,000 (or up to £200,000 in rare circumstances and with permission from the Youth Music team) are available and the fund is designed to support:
- Music-making and music-making related activities for children and young people (aged 0-25) facing barriers,
and/or
- Workforce and organisational development to promote a relevant, diverse, and inclusive music offer for all children and young people.
Projects should last between 18 and 48 months and it is a two-stage online application process with three deadlines a year.
Click here for more information on Fund B.
Fund C
Fund C awards larger grants of up to £160,000 per year for projects with a dual role of delivery and strategic work; expanding and embedding high quality, inclusive music-making.
Currently closed to applications, information about the next funding round will be released in 2021.
Click here for more information on Fund C.
Music Education Hub (MEH) Development Fund
Grants of up to £50,000 are available to partnerships of at least three Music Education Hub lead organisations. Round two of the fund is an opportunity to respond to the life-shaping events of 2020 by encouraging Hubs to work together to adapt their practice and put inclusion front and centre of current and future planning. The fund is only available to Music Education Hub Lead Organisations.
Click here for more information on the Music Education Hub Development Fund.
Incubator Fund
Grants of £5,000 to £30,000 are available to businesses, collectives, and not-for-profits working in the music industries. The fund is designed to help open up access to sustainable careers in music for people aged 18-25, particularly those who are underrepresented; and to support creative employers to innovate and incubate new and diverse talent. Our next Round 3 will open in late July 2021.
NextGen Fund
The Youth Music NextGen Fund offers young creatives grants of up to £2,500 to make their ideas happen. We’ve launched the NextGen Fund to help emerging musicians and behind the scenes creatives take a step forward in participating and changing the music industries.
Built for creatives with a stack of ideas but a lack of finance, the fund is open to 18–25-year-olds (and under-30s who identify as Disabled). Successful applicants will use the money to launch a creative project, idea or business.
We want to support the future of the music industries. Singers, Rappers, Songwriters, Producers, DJs, A&Rs, Managers and Agents, right through to roles that have yet to be defined.
We would especially like to hear from people who have never applied for funding before.
More information on NextGen Fund.
Emergency Fund
The Emergency Fund offered grants available of up to £10,000 for music-making organisations who were in immediate need due to the Coronavirus pandemic. You can find out more about our findings as a result of running this fund in this article written by Research and Evaluation Officer Remi Fairweather Stride.
When are Youth Music's next funding application deadlines?
To stay up to date make sure you are signed up to our Youth Music Network newsletter.
The Grants Portal opens for applications 1 month before the application deadline.
Fund A
Round 21
Application deadline: Thursday 01 April 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 02 July 2021
Round 22
Application deadline: Friday 30 July 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 29 October 2021
Round 23
Application deadline: Friday 03 December 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 04 March 2022
Fund B
Fund B is a 2-stage process, an Expression of Interest form followed by a full application.
Round 14
Expression of Interest deadline: Friday 07 May 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 11 June 2021
Full application deadline: Monday 12 July 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 01 October 2021
Round 15
Expression of Interest deadline: Friday 01 October 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 05 November 2021
Full application deadline: Monday 06 December 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 18 February 2022
Music Education Hub (MEH) Development Fund
Currently closed for applications
Incubator Fund
Round 3
Application deadline: Friday 20 August 2021
Notification of decision: Friday 12 November 2021
Q&A for Incubator Fund prospective applicants in Wales - watch back webinar
Q&A for Incubator Fund prospective applicants in Scotland - watch back webinar
NextGen Fund
Round 1
Application deadline: Friday 09 July 2021
Notification of decision: September 2021
What are Youth Music's current funding priorities?
We have 6 priority areas as listed in our guidance. These are Early Years, Youth Justice Settings, Young People Facing Barriers, Disabled Young People, Young Adults, Organisations and The Workforce. We welcome applications from all these priority areas and from all regions of England.
Currently (June 2021) we would like to increase our investment in the following areas:
Priority Areas: Early Years, Disabled Young People, Youth Justice Settings.
Regions: East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire.
We particularly welcome applications from these priority areas and regions. But we want to reiterate that we are open to applications from all areas of the country and from across our priority areas, and will continue to award funding across all these areas.
Resources
We have published a series of resources that you may find helpful when preparring your application. Suggested reading:
Musical Inclusion Resource Hub
Where to apply
We recommend you read the applicant guidance document for the fund you want to apply to before starting your application. Once you've planned your application and read our guidance you can then apply via Youth Music's online grants portal.
You will need to register on the grants portal - please note that this is a separate site from the Youth Music Network.