On Thursday 13th February 2025, we played host to a free and informative event at Building 41, Cowes, exploring the application process for Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants. The session offered creative professionals a comprehensive overview of ACE’s open access funding scheme and the Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) programme, along with practical guidance and networking opportunities.
Led by Senior Relationship Manager Ginny Graham and new ACE Relationship Manager for the Isle of Wight, Abigail McQuater, the presentation covered what the grants fund, how to apply, and the subsequent process. This was followed by engaging case studies: Joe Plumb, Founder of Horse Box Theatre, detailed how ACE funding enabled his team to develop six new plays for 2025, while visual artist Trudie Wilson explained how her DYCP project, which explored the geology of the Isle of Wight, culminated in her first solo exhibition at Quay Arts.
ACE have provided a range of useful links on guidance documents, FAQs, and application instructions – all available in the National Lottery Project Grants Guidance Library. Please see links below:
National Lottery Project Grants:
How to Apply
Application Guidance: £30,000 and less*
Application Guidance: over £30,000*
Buying equipment and assets*
Projects for Children, Young People and Learning*
How to use their application portal: Grantium
*Accessible versions of these are available in National Lottery Project Grants Guidance Library
This event not only demystified the funding process but also underscored the importance of strategic creative practice in driving local cultural and economic growth. A special thanks to everyone who attended and to our brilliant presenters for making the event such a success!
Downloads:
To download Joe’s slides, please click here. To download Trudie’s slides, please click here.
Follow Joe on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/theatreman_/ and here: https://www.instagram.com/horseboxtheatre/
Follow Trudie on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/trudie_art/
Other useful information:
The uncultured have downloadable versions of ACE’s National Lottery Project Grants and DYCP applications as a template to help you make an ACE application.
Go to the uncultured website and you can download for FREE:
- full application template – Word doc
- numbers workbook for budget and timeline – Google Sheets workbook
- final report template – Word doc
The uncultured is made up of “Ashleigh Bowmott and Laura Sweeney – independent artists working collaboratively to produce, curate, facilitate and advocate. They primarily work with performance and live artists, although they see disciplinary boundaries as porous and unfixed. They work with artists whose identity, voice, and political status challenges cultural “norms”. These artists push boundaries, creating genre-breaking, world-shifting arts practices.”
Find out more about the uncultured here.
The White Pube (a little pun on the contemporary art gallery – The White Cube!) run a very useful Successful Funding Application Library which includes successful funding applications made by creatives working in various disciplines to Arts Council England’s Project Grants and DYCP grants.
The White Pube is the collaborative identity of Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad under which they write about art, video games, books, food, life and even the weather.
