Cultural Pipeline Fund

The Cultural Pipeline Fund is now closed, and we have listed the awards for you. 

Awardees Round 1

• African Voices Platform £17,54
• Arts on the Run – £13,600
• Andro and Eve – £7,550
• Bloc – £10,900
• Carousel Print Studio – £13,413
• The Bare Project – £11,944
• Greentop – £8,630
• Hybrid 3 Studios – £10,000
• RivelinCo. – £5,000

Awardees Round 2

• Blanket Fort Club – £12,600
• Brigantes Orchestra – £8,500
• Concerteenies – £11,200
• Create Sheffield – £12,718
• Gut Level – £10,650
• Hive – £9,403
• Hype Dance – £6,450
• Lick of Paint – £6,000
• Manor and Castle Development Trust – £14,850
• National Videogames Museum – £11,155
• Opera on Location – £5,000
• Reach up Youth – £11,981
• SpringTank Studios – £10,000
• The Montgomery – £9,859
• Writers Workshop – £7,260
• Sadacca – £9,500

The organisations have worked on a wide range of exciting development projects. They've often had a transformative effect on their organisation:

• increasing funds raised
• finding new ways of working
• putting policies in place
• assessing feasibility of projects, plans and site developments

What the Cultural Pipeline Fund did

We offered grants to give support and advice to develop cultural organisations and projects in 2024 to 2025.

We aimed to:

• support new and innovative cultural organisations and projects to grow
• strengthen the early stages of cultural organisations to give them the best start and enable them to apply for other funds further down the line
• help a wide range of cultural sector organisations and initiatives, including those who have not had funding before

How much you could apply for

The total amount of money available across both rounds was £250,000. 

There were 2 funding rounds that you can apply for:

•  The first round had an allocation of £80,000 and is now closed
• The second had an allocation of £170,000

Grants could be between a minimum of £5,000 and maximum of £50,000. We expected to support 20 to 24 projects across both funding rounds.

Who was eligible

This fund was open and accessible to all eligible organisations working within the cultural sector in Sheffield, including newly established companies less than 12 months old.

There are a number of different criteria you needed to meet to apply. You must have:

• be legally constituted as a Registered Charity, a Community Interest Company or other not-for-profit organisation with a company bank account. If you are submitting from a collaborative project, such as working with one or more partner organisations, you must have a named accountable organisation that meets the above criteria
• your proposal must contribute to, or operate within, the cultural sector of Sheffield, eg literature/writing, music, film/screen-based media, visual arts, crafts, performance arts and cross-artform projects such as festivals
• provide a registered office address within the City of Sheffield city boundary
• be able to explain why you need this support and provide a budget listing expenditure (and income where applicable) where the budget balances, such as total expenditure and income are the same total
• have the appropriate rights, clearance and authority for your proposals, or are applying for support to do so

This fund was focussed on supporting smaller organisations, prioritising those serving diverse communities and those who have not joined Arts Council England's National Portfolio for 2023 to 2026 (also known as 'NPOs').

What kind of projects we supported

The funding is designed to help projects and organisations to lay a solid foundation, get started or develop.

We welcomed applications from all eligible Sheffield-based companies and organisations. For example:

• early-stage project or organisational development in all art forms including literature/writing, music, film/screen-based media, visual arts, performance arts and cross-artform projects
• proposals that benefit children and young people and new or emerging talent
• diverse, inclusive, and innovative projects that are community-led or community-focused
• applications from companies/projects who haven’t previously had any public funding (such as from Sheffield City Council, Arts Council England)

We couldn’t support the following:

• funding activity retrospectively, such as if your project is up and running or has already been delivered
• businesses that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made
• individuals
• purchase of equipment
• proposals that do not relate to the cultural sector of Sheffield