Grants of up to £30,000 (although awards are usually for less than £10,000) are available to small to medium sized UK charitable organisations, including social enterprises, for Adult Music Education and Children’s Music Education projects across the UK.
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.
During 2023, the Trust reviewed its grant-making and has recently posted the following message on its website:
Now that Scops Arts Trust has been established for several years and we have experience of a wide variety of organisations and projects applying for funding, we are finding that a significant number of Stage 1 applications are not what we are seeking to support. This is not the best use of time for applicants or the Trust. Having undertaken a review of our grant-making policy and in an effort to ensure that we only receive applications which fit closely with our grant-making priorities, we have decided to focus each of the three grant rounds per year on a different area within the performing arts.
In 2024, these will be as follows:
Round 1: (closed on 23 January 2024 with a focus on music performances at local arts festivals plus children’s music education).
Round 2: Opened 14 May with an application deadline of Tuesday 28 May 2024 at 5pm for decisions by 7 August 2024 - focus on adult music education projects plus children’s music education.
Round 3: Opens 27 August for decisions by 30 November 2024 - focus on instrumental and choral music groups plus children’s music education.
Applications for children’s music education projects will be considered at every round.
If your project does not fall within our focus, it will not be considered. If your answers to the eligibility questions are not accurate, your application will be rejected.
Please note we do not support projects or organisations where the main focus is health, therapy or social welfare; nor do we contribute towards the costs of construction, fit-out or repairs of arts venues.
We are particularly keen to help small-to-medium-sized organisations, although large charities are not excluded from applying. Most of our current grants support projects run by registered charities, but in exceptional circumstances, we will consider applications from established community groups as long as they have clear charitable aims. We award one-off grants and also consider multi-year funding. The majority of grants we award are in support of projects, but contributions towards specific and restricted core costs of smaller organisations where a grant from Scops Arts Trust could make an impact, will be considered”.
Grants can be for up to £30,000. However, most grant awards are for much lower amounts and usually for less than £10,000.
The application process is as follows:
Potential applicants should take 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.
Further information and guidance is available on the Trust's website.