A group of young theatre trainees posing for photo

Performing arts grants

At the Leche Trust we believe that the arts – and artists – make the world a better place. A healthy and dynamic society is reflected in a vibrant arts ecology: we want to support work that is original, to nurture artists and their creativity.

Funding Guidelines

Our priorities are:

  • the development, production and/or performance of new works in music, theatre, dance and performance across all genres
  • to support artists’ professional development through programmes that address a clear need or gap in development.  These programmes can be aimed at early or mid-career artists but they need to reflect current context and practices.

Our performing arts grants are typically around £4,000 – sometimes smaller and rarely larger. We prefer to give grants to smaller projects, or specific elements of projects, where our contribution can have a greater impact.

We are keen to ensure our grant-making is spread throughout the UK, particularly encouraging applications from outside London and South East England.

Our preference is to support organisations whose turnover is less than £1.5 million per annum i.e. smaller and younger set-ups rather than established institutions.

Organisations that have received a grant are asked not to re-apply until two years have elapsed from the month of the meeting at which the grant was agreed.

We do not normally fund:

  • projects that will commence less than six weeks from the published date of the trustees’ meeting concerned;
  • amateur/non-professional performances or the training of amateur/non-professional artists;
  • artist training and development projects aimed at under 18 year-olds;
  • artist training and development bursaries or scholarships at higher education institutions, such as music conservatoires or theatre/ballet schools;
  • artist training and development projects aimed at a single recipient or fixed-term funding of a creative traineeship, such as Assistant Director or Designer for the production of a new work; 
  • general arts programmes or appeals submitted without specific details about the new works or training that they will include; 
  • projects in which the primary purpose is health, therapy or social welfare;
  • visual arts projects;
  • capital developments at arts venues or purchase of equipment.

Payment of grants

If you are offered a grant we ask you to agree to our grant conditions after which we will arrange payment of the grant by bank transfer.

Conditions of grant

If organisations are offered a grant we ask them to confirm that they agree to our grant conditions:

  • The grant is solely for the project described in the application. Any changes must be notified to us in advance and approved by us.
  • Any part of the grant that is not required for the approved project must be refunded to the Trust.
  • The Leche Trust must be acknowledged in any publicity material connected to the project.
  • The grantee will provide an impact report within twelve months of the conclusion of the project.

If any of the conditions are not complied with, we reserve the right to cancel the offer of grant, or to claim repayment of the grant if already paid.

Invitations

The Leche trustees are always pleased to be invited to attend performing arts events which they have supported but it is their policy not to accept invitations in other circumstances.

Apply now

To see a copy of the questions on the performing arts application form in advance click here.

The Benefactor Cloud database opens for applications 10-12 weeks before the Trustees' meeting when decisions will be made (see timetable for 2024-25 on What We Fund page). At other times the database is 'locked'.  

Note that you must click on 'submit' when you have completed your form in order for it to become a live application.