The Idlewild Trust – Early-Stage Professionals in the Arts

The Idlewild Trust – Early-Stage Professionals in the Arts is sponsored by The Idlewild Trust. Offers grants to UK registered charities for programmes that nurture early-stage professionals in the arts, including dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.

Apply for a grant | Idlewild Trust Deadlines for our Arts and Conservation funds: We support two grant programmes - each offering a maximum grant of £8,000: Arts: Nurturing Early-Stage Professionals - our grants support training opportunities for emerging professionals, working creatively and backstage, within the performing and visual arts, post-training, and at an early stage in their career.

Conservation: Objects and Works of Art - our grants support the conservation of cultural heritage of recognized national and international importance in museums, libraries, galleries, historic buildings, or landscapes accessible to the public. Priority will be given to applications that include a knowledge sharing element as an outcome of the project.

We are committed to sharing the knowledge and experience of conservators to a wider audience, so depending on the size and resources available within the project we will be looking for knowledge sharing with professional colleagues, for example a webinar, lecture, or published article. A public engagement activity that helps to improve the public understanding of conservation practice is encouraged.

Applications must include a treatment proposal from an accredited conservator. Deadline for applications Friday 4 September 2026 at midday Deadline for applications Friday 12 February 2027 at midday For reference, please download Funding Guidelines We know that it can be helpful to see the questions in advance of starting an application.

We have made the Eligibility Quiz and application questions available via a word document to help you prepare. If you have any accessibility requirements, please contact us and we will try to assist.

Arts: Nurturing Early-Stage Professionals application questions for reference Conservation: Objects and Works of Art application questions for reference We can only fund projects from organisations that are UK Registered Charities or UK Publicly Exempt Charities. Full information on the types of charitable status is in the Funding Guidelines along with other eligibility requirements.

We can only offer grants to support: Arts: Nurturing Early-Stage Professionals OR Conservation: Objects and Works of Art.

Only online applications are accepted, please apply using the appropriate form below: Link to Arts: Nurturing Early-Stage Professionals grant application portal Link to Conservation: Objects and Works of Art grant application portal We are limited in our ability to offer advice before you apply, but we have put together some Frequently Asked Questions to help in the first instance.

If you have any other queries, not addressed by our FAQs, let us know by emailing info@idlewildtrust. org. uk