Culture Together Grants Fund 2024 to 2025

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions asked by applicants will be added here during the application window. If you have a question, contact the Culture Team using the contact details below.

Why was this fund set-up?

Southwark is one of London’s most vibrant and innovative locations for arts and culture, with many long established and new arts and culture organisations offering high quality opportunities for local people to benefit from world-class culture on their doorstep.  This thriving sector was hit hard by COVID-19, and the council committed to supporting the borough’s arts and culture organisations through COVID-19 recovery towards a more inclusive and sustainable cultural sector and vibrant Southwark. 

Following a review of the council’s funding - Culture was a key recommendation that came out of the Southwark Stands Together programme - the first Culture Together Grants fund was piloted in 2022/23, aiming to provide more openness and transparency to the process of Culture funding.  The focus was on supporting the borough’s cultural sector to achieve better representation and equity. The application process was designed to be as open as possible and to welcome creative ideas that support organisations on their journey to achieving better representation and equality.

This is the third year of the Culture Together Grant.

What sort of thing can I apply for funding for?

Through this fund, we aim to support Southwark’s arts and culture organisations to continue to build a more sustainable and inclusive culture sector.  We are looking for activities that are ongoing rather than one-off events, and projects that celebrate equality and/or representation within an area of your organisation’s work, or demonstrate how you will achieve meaningful change towards inclusivity, in one of four focus areas – audiences, workforce, governance, or artistic content.  What this looks like in practice is open and we welcome your creative ideas!

For example, you could apply for support for a training course for staff, audience research and data analysis, a series of engagement workshops with the community, marketing and communications activity linked to an ‘amplifying’ programme of work, or the establishment of a paid Artist in Residence post for someone from a protected characteristic group.  These are a few ideas, but we are keen to hear from you what you think would best help address some of the challenges around equality and representation facing your organisation and the sector.

If my project is not eligible for this fund, what alternative sources are available?

Check our Grants and Funding pages for all current funding opportunities with Southwark Council. Funding sources across the arts and culture sector can be found in the Southwark Creates funding section.

Sign up to the Southwark Creates newsletter for the latest updates.

Do you need to supply supporting documentation or media with the application?

It is not essential to provide additional supporting documentation or media, although you may wish to do so, particularly where you have examples of previous work relevant to your application.

How can I add links to supporting documents and media?

In the ‘Supporting Information’ section of the application form, you can add links (URLs) to documents, images or video that are hosted elsewhere on the web. For example, you may have a video hosted on YouTube or photographs hosted on Flickr that you want to use to support your application.

Files of any type can be shared via a link from Google Drive by selecting the ‘anyone with the link’ option, (see instructions). The same can be done through WeTransfer using the ‘get a link’ option.

If you need assistance with this part of your application, please contact the Culture Team via email culture@southwark.gov.uk.

Can I access the form from outside the UK?

The Southwark Grants portal site currently only allows access to the forms from within the UK. However, if you have a fixed non-UK IP address please send details to culture@southwark.gov.uk and we should be able to make access available.

Can an organisation submit more than one application?

Organisations can submit only one application for the Culture Together Grants Fund 2024/25.

Could the grant be for an existing programme?

For amplifying grants, you can apply for funding to support an existing programme, especially if it helps you to extend or celebrate it more widely. For change-making grants you can apply for funding to support an existing programme as long as you are able to demonstrate that the funding will enable you to make positive change to what you are already doing, for example, by reaching a more representative range of participants or employing a greater diversity of artists.

What do you mean by 'ongoing' activities?

We will fund activities that take place between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 - for example this could be a series of workshops, an exhibition, a training programme, or a marketing campaign. The activity can be time-limited, for example, lasting for a few weeks or several months, but we will not fund one-off events (i.e., something which only takes place once, such as a concert or performance). One-off events may be better suited to other grant funding support, for example via the Neighbourhoods Fund or the Cultural Celebrations Fund.

My organisation receives a multiyear loan from Southwark Council, are we eligible to apply?

We want to ensure that council’s financial support for cultural organisations extends fairly and as far as possible, therefore organisations who have entered into council loan agreements are not eligible to apply.

Do partners for the project have to be based in Southwark?

Organisations must be based in Southwark to apply, but project partners may be based outside the borough. It is worth keeping in mind that more than 50% of people involved or benefitting from your activity must be Southwark residents and the council's priority for this fund is that it strengthens, supports and promotes the borough's cultural sector.

We encourage applicants to employ and collaborate with freelancers who live or work in the borough where possible. You may find somebody suitable using the Creatives Directory.

Will there be an opportunity for a one-to-one session with the Culture Team?

You can book a 15-minute, one-to-one advice session with a member of the Culture Team, where you will be able to discuss specific queries about your application (limited to one session per organisation). These will be available on the following dates:

Tuesday 16 January (in-person)

Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Monday 22 January (all online)

If you require a one-to-one session at another time please get in touch via culture@southwark.gov.uk and we will try to accommodate your request.

How do I sign up for the Southwark Stands Together pledges?

You can read the five Southwark Stands Together pledges here, and sign up by emailing SST@southwark.gov.uk. We are asking all organisations in receipt of a Culture Together grant to sign up and act on the pledges.

What are the Creative Green Tools from Julie's Bicycle that Big Grants recipients are required to use?

Julie's Bicycle has created free-to-access tools for arts and culture organisations to monitor their carbon footprint. We are asking all organisations in receipt of a Culture Together Grant to use the tools to help us monitor the impact of the work we fund on climate change. The tools can be accessed free by registering here.

What is the difference between the application process for big and small grants?

The application process is very similar but there is an increased word count to the answers for some of the questions if you're applying for a big grant.

What happens if we receive funding for a project but need to change it?

If you need to change your activity after having received a grant, you should speak to your Grant Monitoring Officer in the Culture team about your revised plans as soon as possible. Minor changes like dates, timescales, etc. will be acceptable, although the activity will still need to be completed before the end of March 2025. However, if you want to make more fundamental changes to your plans, such as what your activity is or who it will benefit, this may be more complicated for us to agree to. In the first instance, give your Grant Monitoring Officer as much information as you can about your revised plans and they will work through the options with you.

We like to respond to topical moments and political situations so it is difficult for us to plan activity; can the funding programme accommodate this?

We recognise that some details of any project cannot be confirmed until near the start time or that things evolve during a project. We understand that there may be things about your activity that you cannot know at the point of application, and it is fine to tell us in your application what details you do not know yet. You may like to say that you will deliver x number of workshops during a x month period, for example, with details to be confirmed a set amount of time in advance of each stage of the activity.

If the way your organisation works is naturally responsive and spontaneous, you may like to describe that in the application, along with what you do to mitigate any risks of working fluidly that ensure you can still deliver high quality cultural experiences.

Please note that council funding cannot be used to support political groups or activities promoting political beliefs.

Can I apply as an individual?

This fund is not open to individuals. Applicants should be organisations.

Is it possible to submit a video or audio recording of a representative of our organisation talking about our project instead of completing the form?

If you prefer to speak about your project instead of write about it, you can tell us in the application form that that is your preferred way of answering each question and use the weblinks for additional documentation at the end of the form to direct us to where we can view or listen to the video / audio files; for example via a password-protected YouTube link. Audio / video.  Entries should be of a similar duration to the length of time it would take somebody to read a written application form and should answer all of the questions asked on the form.

The charitable organisation I work for is based in a neighbouring borough, but the work I / we deliver or the activity for which we want to apply will be based in Southwark / benefit Southwark residents. Can I still apply?

This fund is intended to support Southwark-based arts and culture organisations. If your organisation is based outside the borough, you may like to consider working in partnership with a Southwark-based organisation who would be eligible to apply.

The activity I am seeking funding for contributes to two of the focus areas not one; is that acceptable or advantageous?

We recognise that the four focus areas are interlinked. We welcome applications for activity that contributes to more than one focus area but we ask you only to select the area which is the principal focus of your activity. We would prefer the funding to help you make a meaningful change in one area of activity than spread the funding too thinly across multiple focus areas, as this may be less likely to result in lasting change or amplification.

Our organisation runs an existing events programme – would doing an additional event count as amplification activity?

We would encourage you first to consider which area you want to focus on - audiences, artistic content, workforce, or governance. If you can demonstrate that the events programme you already run is representative of the Southwark population benchmarks in your focus area of choice (i.e., your artists or audiences are already representative of the Southwark population), you could apply for funding to support amplification activity of the programme.

Any applications seeking support for events, whether change-making or amplifying, would need to focus on activity across a whole programme of events over an extended period of time - for example by seeking to attract more diverse audiences to a season of performances through audience research, engagement and tailored promotional campaigns, or by appointing a guest artist or curator to lead one of your events seasons.

One-off events are not eligible for support through the Culture Together Grants Fund. You may like to consider applying to the Cultural Celebrations Fund for free outdoor community events or to the Neighbourhoods Fund instead for one-off event support. The Cultural Celebrations Fund will also open for applications in January 2024.

Will we be able to apply for the Cultural Celebrations Fund if we have applied to the Culture Together Fund?

Yes. There is no restriction on applying to both grant funds, including if you have been successful in your Culture Together application.

I feel uncomfortable about assessing or curating my artistic programme by demographic quota. Can I apply?

If you want to apply for the focus area of artistic content, we will ask you to tell us how representative or inclusive your programme is, as we want to encourage organisations to think about which artists are being given paid opportunities to facilitate, perform or create work. You might prefer to apply for a different focus area that asks you to think about how you could make changes to your work with audiences, the composition of your organisation’s workforce or the make-up of your board or management committee.

Does the activity have to last all year?

No, we understand that a grant is unlikely in many instances to support a full year’s worth of activity, although it is possible that it could cover the costs of a year-round artist residency or regular workshop programme, for example. Funded activity could take place any time between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 and could last for a few weeks or a few months, depending on the nature of the project.

We are considering whether it would be best to apply for the audiences focus area, as that is the area in which we are likely to be able to demonstrate benefit to the most number of people, as opposed to an application with a workforce focus that might only benefit a few people. Would you recommend we apply for the focus area where we can benefit the most number of people?

We want to support activity in all four-focus areas and we recognise that different kinds of activity will reach different numbers of people. We believe there is a value in supporting meaningful change in a focus area that might directly involve fewer people, especially if that helps address a challenge that has previously been hard to tackle (although we would welcome your thoughts on how any learning from your activity could be shared with the wider sector to increase the impact of the funding).

The number of people benefitting from or involved in your activity is only one of the factors the panel will be asked to consider, and in some cases, it may not be the most important factor.

We also recognise that making change, celebrating under-represented voices is a long-term journey, and that meaningful activity may be incremental.

Can we apply in any way other than the written form?   

Yes. If you are more comfortable recording a video or audio response to the questions listed on the application form you can do so. Please submit a link to it under ‘Supporting Information’ of the application form. Audio / video entries should be of a similar duration to the length of time it would take somebody to read a written application form and should answer all of the questions asked on the form.

Can we apply for both 'change-making' and 'amplifying' activity?

No, you must select either 'change-making' or 'amplifying'. Applicants will need to select one of four focus areas – audiences, workforce, governance or artistic content. If your organisation is not yet representative of the borough population in that chosen area then you should apply for 'change-making' activity. If your organisation is already representative in your chosen area then you should apply for 'amplifying' activity.

When applying for 'amplifying' activity, what do we need to show to demonstrate that we have already achieved 'change-making' targets?    

We would recommend that you look at the current demographics of the beneficiaries you currently reach in your selected focus area and compare this with the benchmarking data for the borough provided in the Application Guidance. In the application form, you are invited to tell us why you feel you are already representative of the borough's population in this area. We appreciate that there is some nuance to analysing these targets and that benchmarking data can be quite a broad-brush tool to use, so feel free to clarify your data with a descriptive account of your current and recent beneficiaries if appropriate.

If our activity will also support the Council’s recommendations for culture in the Youth Review or the Council’s climate change strategy should we state this alongside the chosen focus area?           

Yes. You can include this information in the 'Other information in support of your application' text box, or mention the details in the ‘Project Information’ section.

Can a small organisation apply for the 'Big Grants' or are they limited to the 'Small Grants'? 

The size of the grant is not related to the size of the organisation applying, or the number of years they have been operating. Organisations should apply for whichever grant they feel best fits the scale and ambition of their activities.

Will individual ward councillors be reviewing different applications or will it be a single councillor?

Individuals on the panel will include council officers, and representatives from the local community. Crucially, the panel will include representatives from inside and outside the sector with lived experience of inequalities to ensure diversity of perspective throughout the decision-making process. The panel's recommendations will then be made to the Cabinet Member with responsibility for culture who will make the final decision.

Can we apply for funding if we know we will need additional funding from elsewhere in order to deliver our proposal?       

Yes. There are no criteria for match funding but if you have some already secured then please let us know in your application. If you need to raise additional funds to deliver your activity, include as much detail about this as possible, including when you would expect those funds to be confirmed. We recommend that you make as strong a case as possible for how you will secure those funds, or offer an alternative scalable version of your activities, which you could deliver if you were unsuccessful in securing further funding.

Do our staff need to be reflective of the demographic of the community?             

You can apply regardless of whether you would describe your organisation's workforce as representative. The only time we would request data about the demographics of your staff in the main body of the application is if you select 'workforce' as your chosen focus area. If your staff are not representative of the borough's population and you are applying for activity in the workforce focus area then you should apply for a 'change-making' grant.

What age bracket is referred to by the term 'young people'?      

Southwark Council defines 'young people' as those aged 5 to 19 years old. We will use this age bracket for the purposes of the Culture Together Grants Fund.

When evaluating the applications, is any consideration given to the size and resources of the organisation applying?

The fund is open to arts and culture organisations of any size. Time has been built into the review process to ask applicants to clarify information in their application if required. We will be in touch with applicants to discuss anything which is not clear, or to ask for additional information which would help the panel to understand the application fully.

What do you define as an arts and culture organisation?

An organisation whose core objective is to deliver high quality arts and culture.  This could be in any art form or across a range of art forms, and is usually set out in your organisation's mission statement.

How do we calculate the number of people who will benefit from our project/activity? 

We would like you to count each attendance or engagement, rather than the unique number of people. For example if an individual attends several exhibitions or performances in a year, please count the total number of times they attend one person who attends four exhibitions and six performances in a year counts as ten.

Page last updated: 25 April 2024