Scops Arts Trust was established in March 2019 with an endowment from the late Tony Wingate. Throughout his life, Tony enjoyed a love of the arts, particularly music, and as an inspirational English teacher, his other passion was education.
Scops Arts Trust is currently inviting Stage 1 applications for our Round 2 of 2026 focussed on Early-career artists performance programmes.
We are looking for high-quality structured programmes that support early-career artists in Dance, Drama and Music to develop towards sustained professional live performance practice. The focus of this round is on programmes leading to substantive public-facing performance outcomes and clear professional progression.
Grant awards generally start at a few hundred pounds.
The Trust has previously awarded multi-year grants of up to £30,000 per annum, however applicants are advised that the majority of grants awarded are considerably less than this.
The Trust only awards a small number of grants each year.
Who Can Apply
The Trust mostly supports registered charities.
Applications will also be considered from social enterprises, community groups, and other third sector organisations, as long as they are formally constituted and have clear charitable purposes.
Priority will be given to small and medium sized organisations.
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Projects with the primary purpose of health, therapy or social welfare.
- Capital campaigns (construction of and fitting out of buildings).
- Individuals.
- Sponsorship of fundraising events.
- Contributions to general appeals.
- Religious activity which is not for wider public benefit.
- Public bodies to carry out their statutory obligations.
- Retrospective costs.
- Grant-making by other organisations.
- Privately owned and profit-distributing companies.
If organisations are unsuccessful at either Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the application process, they should leave at least 12 months before applying again. Organisations that were successful with their application for a multi-year grant, should leave a minimum of two years before applying for further funding.
Eligible Expenditure
Funding is for projects in a particular area of the performing arts in each grant round:
- Round 1 – Music festivals (children’s performances are excluded)
- Round 2 – Early career artists’ performance programmes focusing on performance opportunities
- Round 3 – Children and young people’s music education (choirs are excluded)
Music education and engagement projects for children will be considered at every grants round
Most grants will be awarded for specific projects, but the Trust will also contributions towards the core costs of smaller organisations where a grant could make an impact.
How To Apply
In 2026, the Trust will once again focus each of their three grant rounds on a different category of music projects.
The application periods for 2026 are as follows:
- Round 1 – Music festivals (children’s performances are excluded) – 13 January 202 to 27 January.
- Round 2 – Early-career artists’ performance programmes focusing on performance opportunities – 12 May to 26 May.
- Round 3 – Children and young people’s music education (choirs are excluded) – 1 September to 15 September.
The application process is as follows:
- To start the application process, organisations should first take complete the eligibility checks which can be accessed on the Scops Arts Trust website.
- Organisations that fulfill the criteria will be invited to make a Stage 1 online application.
- A Stage 2 shortlist will then be drawn up and the selected applicants will be invited to complete a Stage 2 online application form.
Contact Scops Arts Trust for further information.
Link – Open for Applications – Scops Arts Trust
Contacts
For further information on how to obtain this fund, please contact the following:
- Enquiries
Scops Arts Trust
Email: in**@****************rg.uk
