A limited number of grants of up to £15,000 (although awards are usually for less than £10,000) are available to small to medium sized UK charitable organisations, including social enterprises, for local music festivals.
Edinburgh-based, the Scops Arts Trust aims to widen access to the arts across the UK, particularly in the area of performing arts projects which will benefit all ages and sectors of the community. Project proposals should have a lasting cultural impact on the community.
The Trust’s 3 grant rounds in 2026 will each have a separate theme. These are:
Round 1 - Local music festivals (children's performances are excluded) - now closed.
Round 2 - Early career musicians focusing on performance opportunities - opens Tuesday 12 May with a deadline of Tuesday 26 May. Decisions will be announced in August 2026.
They are looking for high quality programmes offering early career artists opportunities to advance their training and development towards performance. They will consider applications for Dance, Drama and Music. They define early career as those at the early stages of a professional art-related career, who have already demonstrated a clear commitment to pursuing their practice beyond an amateur or hobby level.
Round 3 - Children and young people's instrumental music education (choirs are excluded) - opens Tuesday 1 September with a deadline of Tuesday 15 September 2026. Decisions will be announced in December 2026.
The Trust is particularly keen to help small-to-medium-sized organisations, although large charities are not excluded from applying. Most of its grants support projects run by registered charities, but in exceptional circumstances it will consider applications from established community groups so long as they have clear charitable aims. The Trust awards one-off grants and also considers multi-year funding. The majority of grants awarded are in support of projects, but contributions towards specific and restricted core costs of smaller organisations where a grant from the Scops Arts Trust could make an impact, will also be considered.
Grants can be for up to £15,000. However, most grant awards are for much lower amounts and usually for less than £10,000. Occasionally multi-year grants are made by the Trust.
A significant change made in 2025 and continued for 2026 is that children’s music projects will not be considered at every grants round as was the case in previous years.
The application process is as follows:
- Applicants should complete the Eligibility Quiz on the Scops Arts Trust website.
- Eligible organisations that meet the criteria can then make a Stage 1 application.
- A selected number of Stage 1 applicants will be invited to complete a Stage 2 Full Application online.