Inspire provides grants of £500 to £1,500 for one off cultural projects and activities in Leeds. This is a rolling project of small, agile and easily accessible grants.

Funding can be for new, one-off, non-profit cultural projects including: original not-for-profit artistic activities in Circus, Combined Arts, Crafts, Dance, Design, Digital Media, Festival / Carnival, Film, Literature / Poetry / Spoken Word, Live Art, Music, Photography, Theatre, Visual Art or any combination of these art forms.

Projects should build on the legacies of LEEDS2023, support new activity (this can be as part of a reoccurring event – e.g., an annual festival) and aim to support you to develop a new creative idea or to enable development of your own practice if you are working professionally in the cultural sector.

Inspire is particularly keen to support activities that reflect the creative and cultural diversity of Leeds, including activities by, with or for those with protected characteristics and those living in the most disadvantaged areas of the city.

Who can apply

• Individuals
• Cultural and creative organisations
• Community or voluntary groups to run a discreet non-profit cultural project
• Commercial (for-profit) organisations to run a discreet non-profit free to access cultural project
• Groups of organisations or individuals working in partnership. One organisation or individual will need to take the lead and have the responsibility for managing the application and being accountable for any grant given. We expect that a form of partnership agreement will be in place if your application is successful

Deadline for applications in 2024 are:

Monday 4 March @ 12pm
Monday 3 June @ 12pm
Monday 2 September @ 12pm
Monday 2 December @ 12pm

Inspire Advice Session

You can book an Inspire advice session and have a conversation with a member of the Culture Programmes team where you can discuss your eligibility before you make an application to the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme.

The advice session can take place via Teams or Telephone. You do not need to have an advice session in order to apply for this grant.  For details go to: Inspire | Culture Programmes (leedscultureprogrammes.org.uk.

Inspire grants are part of the funding available through the Leeds Cultural Programme. There are five funding streams designed to enable creative and cultural activity in Leeds to flourish for the benefit of all who live, work, study and visit the city. These funding streams are Inspire, Grow: Project, Grow: Revenue, Thrive and Cultural Anchors.  Only Inspire and Grow Project and Grow Revenue are open at the moment.  Details about all 5 programmes and how to apply are here: Apply to the Leeds Cultural Investment Programme | Culture Programmes (leedscultureprogrammes.org.uk)

Voluntary Action Leeds