The goal of Scops Arts Trust is to help people to understand, participate in and enjoy the arts, particularly the performing arts. We are keen to find projects which widen access and have a lasting cultural impact on the community.
The Trustees have again reviewed our grant-making policy and in a continued effort to ensure that we only receive good quality applications which fit closely with our grant-making priorities, we have added some further specification to each focussed round for 2026. 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 we have previously done in previous years.
In 2026, these will be as follows:
Round 1: Opens 13 January for decisions by 31 March
Music festivals (children’s performances excluded as are festivals where music is not the focus)
We are particularly interested in festivals that are designed to support cultural provision in areas where this may otherwise lack. As an arts funder, we are interested in supporting performers and performance aspects of your music festival rather than overall festival production costs and overheads. We will also consider the artistic quality of the proposed music programme and performers involved in our decision making.
Round 2: Opens 12 May for decisions by 28 July
Early-career artists performance programmes focussing on performance opportunities
We are looking for high quality programmes offering early career artists opportunities to advance their training and development towards performance. We will consider applications for Dance, Drama and Music. We 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: Opens 1 September for decisions by 17 November
Children’s and young people’s music education (choirs are excluded)
We are interested in programmes which give children and young people opportunities to Learn, Create, Experience and Progress. We have a particular interest in applications which concentrate on teaching instrumental playing.
Pointers that apply to All Rounds
If your project does not fall within our focus for each round, 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.
Please note we do not support individuals.
Please note we do not support schools.
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.
Please read our Grant Guidelines and FAQ’s carefully before applying.