Arts Council England Opens Creative Foundations Capital Grants Round
Arts Council England is accepting applications for Round 2 of the Creative Foundations Fund, offering capital grants to not-for-profit creative and cultural organisations in England to revitalise, restore, retrofit or renew cultural assets, including urgent works required to maintain public-facing delivery.
A total of £76.8 million is available for 2026/27 through two strands aimed at improving the economic sustainability of cultural and creative organisations. The focus is on capital investment in existing cultural buildings and equipment, including expanded cultural or creative facilities within an existing site. The support does not cover the development of new cultural buildings or the adaptive reuse of existing buildings for cultural purposes.
Strand 1 has a budget of up to £25 million and offers grants between £100,000 and £1 million for building projects, equipment purchases such as moveable furniture, equipment or vehicles, or a combination of both.
Strand 2 has a budget of up to £51.8 million and offers grants above £1 million up to and including £10 million for building projects, or combined building and equipment work, but not equipment-only proposals.
Eligible applicants are not-for-profit cultural organisations based and registered in England, including charities, CIOs, charitable companies, CICs, limited companies that do not distribute profit, statutory bodies and certain community benefit societies. Applicants must show cultural aims within Arts Council England’s remit and evidence of cultural activity delivered in the last 12 months. Most organisations may submit one Expression of Interest (EoI) to either Strand 1 or Strand 2.
EoIs for Strand 2 must be submitted by the deadline of 17 July 2026 (12:00). EoIs for Strand for Strand 1 will be accepted between 13 July 2026 and 7 August 2026 (12:00).
