Grants database

Bardsley Youth Project offers support and activities for young people aged 16–25 based in Coventry city centre. They provide individual holistic support, group activities, and welfare support for young people who are homeless, vulnerably housed, or at threat of homelessness. This grant provides core support to aid the organisation in dealing with the challenges posed by Covid-19.

Based in Hulme, Z‑arts is an arts and theatre venue, offering activities, shows and events for children and families. This grant supports Z‑arts to partner with One Tenth Human theatre company to deliver Toni and the Time Machine, a project to develop a digital-based approach to engaging children in learning about science. Working with 20 schools over three years, learning from the project will contribute to the development of a creative curriculum across schools in Manchester.

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is the leading national museum of art and design, promoting knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the designed world. This grant supports the V&A to bring together designers and children and young people attending SEND settings in Tower Hamlets to collaborate on real-world design challenges. Research and development from the programme will inform the ethos of Young V&A as part of an ambition to create national museum dedicated to young people, from early years to teens.

Traverse Theatre is Scotland’s new writing theatre, a centre for performance, experience and discovery. They enable people across society to access and engage with theatre through a year-round programme of live performances, commissions, and festivals. This grant supports Traverse Theatre to expand their drama and creative writing focused programme Class Act, touring secondary schools across Scotland. They will work in partnership with 24 schools, local authority curriculum leads and arts partners in five regions in Scotland to co-construct a responsive programme to support students’ development and learning in English and Drama.

Theatre Royal Plymouth is an established regional theatre presenting large-scale, subsidised and early career work. They deliver an embedded engagement and learning programme which provides opportunities for children and young people from Plymouth of all ages and backgrounds to learn and participate in theatre. This grant supports Theatre Royal to test and explore how drama, storytelling and song can improve Early Years children’s oracy, language and social skills. Working with four schools, creative practitioners and arts organisations, the project will embed arts-based learning and move support learning behaviour recovery for young learners.

The Voices Foundation aims help schools, academies, Music Education Hubs and other partners across the UK to establish sustainable and effective music education in their settings. This grant provides core support to The Voices Foundation to improve, research and scale their teacher-facing Singing Schools programmes in partnership with schools and academies across England.

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a world leading orchestra who work with artists to nurture the next generation of musicians. They deliver a national education and outreach programme aimed at reaching people with least access to the arts. This grant supports OAE to partner with schools in London and Ipswich, one mainstream secondary school and one SEND school in each location. They will co-create programmes that support transferable skills building for students, while modelling music-based practice for teachers and wider staff.

MED Theatre is a community theatre focusing on rural participation and widening access to high-quality arts. They take inspiration from rural Devon to create original performances with professional artists, young people and multigenerational communities. This grant supports MED Theatre to co-construct a programme in primary and secondary school settings to address the learning needs of students in rurally isolated Dartmoor. Teachers will take part in bespoke professional development. Secondary students will build technical, organisational and creative skills for work readiness, and Year 6 pupils will be matched with mentors from their prospective secondary school to build creative skills and confidence.

Diverse Voices is a leading provider of creative approaches to education. They empower young people through performing arts; helping build creativity, improve life skills and explore important issues. This grant supports Diverse Voices to work with clusters of primary schools and alternative provision settings in Waltham Forest, Hackney, Camden and Islington, to support schools to deliver the new Relationships and Sex Education curriculum in upper Key Stage 2. The programme will use drama- and theatre-based approaches, and will be delivered through a blend of digital and in-person practices.

Devon Arts in Schools Initiative (DAISI) creates and promotes inspiring artistic and cultural experiences which enable more children and young people to access the arts in schools and communities across Devon and Torbay. This grant supports DAISI to bring together a cluster of nine schools with a group of local arts partners to co-construct a drama-based programme which will support Torbay children’s oracy and develop teachers’ practice.

Claybody Theatre creates relevant, dynamic and accessible theatre inspired by the people and heritage of Stoke-on-Trent. This grant supports Claybody Theatre to work with Year 5 pupils in three primary schools in the Potteries area to create, script, perform, edit and broadcast an audiodrama for the whole school community.

Act On It is a social enterprise using drama to raise achievement with groups experiencing disadvantage. This grant supports Act On It to work with students in Pupil Referral Units and schools for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties in East Sussex and Buckinghamshire. They will re-engage young people in learning through drama and improve their oracy, communication skills and confidence. They will also support teachers to develop and sustain drama-based practice in non-mainstream educational settings.