Arts Fund: why we’re not open to new applications this year

When the Arts Fund relaunched last year, we sought to create a fund which could support emerging practice at the intersections of art and social change. By this, we mean the Arts Fund seeks to explore how arts practice can help centre intersectionality, redistribute power, and engage with complexity across issues relating both to the cultural sector (e.g. artist development, organisational sustainability) and wider society (e.g. the climate crisis, poverty, racism, migration and freedom of expression). 

The relaunch was the first step towards redefining our role within the cultural sector and it was borne out of the recognition that, as a private foundation with a historic commitment to social justice, we had an opportunity and a responsibility to support voices and practice on the margins of the cultural mainstream and to develop a grant making model fit for this purpose.

Over the past two years, we’ve been trialling a grant making model based on a single annual round of applications. During this time, we reviewed just over 800 applications which represents a 280% increase in applications compared to 2024–25. Across the two rounds, we received funding requests totalling £166 million, while our budget for this period was £13 million. Despite the quality of many applications, only 7% of organisations were successful – a rate that has more than halved over the past four years.

Two things have become very clear. First, there is extraordinary work being created, and we’ve learned a great deal from taking time to listen and engage with applicants. Second, the demand for funding is immense. Inevitably, it can feel disheartening, for applicants and for us, when so much energy is invested in applications that we are unable to fund.

That’s why we’ve decided not to open to new applications for the time being. Instead, we will focus on the exceptionally large pool of applicants we already have. We believe this will help manage expectations and capacity, and allow us to explore other ways of supporting the sector more effectively.

We know that across the third sector we see more organisations turning to private funds as statutory funding hasn’t kept pace with increasing costs. This is why it is important to emphasise that we aren’t reducing our funding for this upcoming year and expect to award a similar number of grants. 

In our new application process, we have held 88 meetings with shortlisted organisations – nearly all in person and in their own spaces. Because we’ve visited and spent time with applicants we’ve also been able to reflect more on the dynamics of grant making and think more critically about our role. 

For example, how do our own lived experiences inform how we assess anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice? How do we distinguish between systems-changing work and work within the existing paradigm, without becoming binary in our thinking? Can we establish enough trust in a two-hour meeting to ask direct and challenging questions? To what extent are we neutral observers or active participants? 

Each organisation we’ve met has shared valuable insight into their work, often identifying ambitions or experiences that, from our vantage point, resonate across the sector. These connections have highlighted a potential role for us – not just as a funder, but as a connector and convenor.

This realisation is prompting us to reflect on the skills and capabilities we need as a team to fulfil this role effectively. We’re now exploring how we can add value to the field by strengthening our evaluation, communication, and convening functions.

Our first step will be to carry out an in-depth analysis of our current portfolio to inform our grant making priorities. We will then review previous applications and active grants that are due to end in the next financial year to identify organisations that align with these priorities. 

Over the past two years, 55% of applicants to us were engaging with Paul Hamlyn Foundation for the first time, and a further 25% had applied previously without success. This means that we will be revisiting a substantial pool of organisations with whom we have no prior funding relationship.

We don’t yet know what our funding process will look like in the future, but we are committed to finding ways to resource the sector that respect the time and energy of applicants whilst not losing the vital breadth of practice we see through the open funding process.

Since the launch of the Arts Fund, we have remained committed to sharing our learning and progress and we will continue to do so. We are excited to share our reflections on the second round of funding which has recently concluded and to explore the practice of the organisations we are supporting in the future.