Grants and awards, usually equivalent to £1,500, are available to not-for-profit organisations, including schools, for projects that bring music into communities across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The charity Music For All is dedicated to changing lives across the UK by improving access to music making, enabling disadvantaged music makers experience the joys and far-reaching benefits of making music.
Music For All offers small grants and awards for not-for-profit organisations and schools in the UK and Ireland for projects that require financial support to develop sustainable music programmes.
Small Community Project grants and awards of equipment generally tend to be up to the value of £1,500. Music for All generally has a limited grants project, so eligible organisations that are unable to secure other financial contributions to their project are likely to be prioritised.
Music For All usually changes its funding priorities for each grant round. In the current round of funding, it is seeking to support community projects that focus on the following areas:
- Choral Groups – grants of up to £2,000 are available for community-based groups providing choral singing opportunities. Applications are welcomed from groups operating in caring, community and formal educational settings. Applicants should be able to demonstrate ways in which they nurture underprivileged individuals through their choral singing work.
- Groups working with those facing financial hardships – grants of up to £2,000 are available for community-based groups providing music-making opportunities to those facing financial hardship of any age group and background. Applications from traditionally underrepresented groups are encouraged. Financial hardship is defined as significant difficulty or inability to meet cost of living payment from disposable income.
- Learning and cognitive challenges – grants of up to £2,000 are available for community-based groups providing opportunities to make music to those with learning and cognitive challenges. These include but are not limited to autism, aphasia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, attention deficit and memory loss.
Applications from groups operating in caring and educational settings are welcomed. The funders will be looking for applications which demonstrate ways in which the individuals the groups are working with will be engaging with music-making, as opposed to experiencing others’ performances.
- Physical mobility or accessibility need – grants of up to £2,000 are available for community-based groups providing music-making opportunities to those with physical mobility, coordination and/or accessibility needs, and
- Working with children in early years age group 0–4 – grants of up to £2,000 are available for community-based groups providing music-making opportunities to young-people aged between 0-4. Applications are welcomed from groups operating in caring as well as more formal educational settings. Applicants should be able to demonstrate ways in which they nurture underprivileged young talent through their work.
The main aspects that the trustees look for in an application are:
- The number of new musicians the project will create and support.
- The sustainability of the project (to ensure that people are able to continue their musical journeys).
- Whether there are any other organisations supporting the project that can help with funding, or if funding applications have been made to other charities. (Music for All likes to help as many applicants as it can, so often works with other organisations to enable projects to gain the full support required.)
Further information, guidance and an online application for is available on the Music For All website.
The deadline for applications to Round 4 of the Fund is Monday 13 January 2025 at 23:59.
Applicants that do not meet the eligibility criteria for Music For All funding or find the grants on offer in this round unsuitable for their needs, can use the ‘Funding Wizard’ resource on the Help Musicians website to find other funding opportunities.