Creative Foundations Fund

For too long arts and cultural organisations haven’t had the backing they need to thrive. This investment is turning that tide, fixing the foundations of beloved local venues up and down the country by giving them the cash injection they need to upgrade and grow.

The Creative Foundations Fund is an open-access capital fund that supports creative and cultural organisations in England in revitalising, restoring, retrofitting, or renewing cultural assets, including urgent work which prevents organisations from effectively delivering work for the public.

Organisations must demonstrate that the investment in buildings and equipment is business-critical to delivering creative or cultural activity, minimising the risk of asset failure and increasing the economic sustainability of the creative and cultural sectors. 

The fund is split into two strands with separate Guidance for Applicants for each strand:

• Strand 1 – Grants from £100,000 to £1 million (Guidance – Strand 1)
• Strand 2 – Grants above £1 million to £10 million (Guidance – Strand 2)

What can it fund?

The fund can only support expenditure that will be capitalised on your balance sheet. Arts Council England will support the following broad categories of projects:

• Equipment projects - movable furniture, equipment, and vehicles that are not permanently fixed to a building (Strand 1 only)
• Building projects - building work to existing cultural buildings or expanded cultural facilities within an existing site where you can demonstrate you meet additional eligibility requirements for building projects in this guidance. (Strand 1 and 2) or;
• Building and equipment projects in one application, where you can demonstrate you meet additional eligibility requirements for building projects in this guidance. (Strand 1 and 2)

All projects must demonstrate:

• a contribution to the aims and outcomes of the fund.
• your organisation is valued by its community, that the project actively meets the diverse needs of local communities, and that it has been informed by users’ and stakeholders’ input and feedback.
• financial viability because the Arts Council England cannot provide additional capital or revenue funding if the project costs increase or running costs are higher than anticipated.  
• your organisation will continue to deliver creative or cultural activity once the project is complete.

Strand 2 closes 17 July 2026 (12:00)

Strand 1 opens 13 July 2026 - 7 August 2026 (12:00)