Grant details
Coventry City Council is launching Coventry Culture & Creative Capital Grants 2026 to 2027 to support local cultural and creative organisations to invest in small-scale capital works and/or assets in Coventry.
This funding is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority Culture and Creative Infrastructure Programme.
We want arts, culture and creativity to play a key role in the lives of Coventry’s residents. We also know that there are many ongoing challenges in the cultural sector, including limited access to capital funding. We therefore want to help our cultural organisations with capital expenditure, so that they can continue to deliver high quality services, spaces and programmes for the benefit of the city.
This funding primarily delivers against the Cultural Engagement & Opportunity outcome of the Coventry Cultural Strategy Delivery Plan 2026 to 2027: 'Coventry has the required spaces and places to support cultural & creative activity through good quality cultural infrastructure'.
In addition, some projects may also contribute to other outcomes as outlined in the plan:
- Economic Prosperity, including improving financial performance and innovation of cultural organisations or creative industries businesses
- Health and Wellbeing, where capital investment could support improvements to creative health delivery or improve spaces used for creative activities to support wellbeing of residents
- Environment and Social Justice, including adaptive reuse and works to improve environmental sustainability of buildings or activities, and/or cost savings
- Lifelong Learning and Skills, where capital investment or assets could improve delivery of skills development activities
- Cultural Engagement and Opportunity, where capital investment could broaden public access, improve the quality and resilience of cultural venues, and increase opportunities for everyone to participate in cultural life. This could also include arts and creative spaces contributing to culture-led regeneration and improved civic pride.
For further information, read more details about these objectives.
The grants will be distributed through an open application process and is aimed at arts, cultural or creative organisations based in the Coventry Local Authority area. This includes heritage organisations and creative industries businesses, where their primary function is to deliver artistic and creative activities. This could include:
- providing arts and creative engagement opportunities for residents
- arts and creative skills development programmes or projects
- creative health programmes
- arts and creative community projects
- provision of creative workspace
- events, festivals or other arts activities that promote the development of the sector, as well as Coventry as a cultural city
- creative industries businesses, where they contribute towards the Coventry Cultural Strategy Delivery Plan 2026 to 2027
Overall, the purpose of this capital grant is to support arts, cultural and creative organisations in Coventry to make sustainable improvements to their physical spaces and infrastructure. These investments should enhance long‑term resilience, improve environmental performance, and unlock new opportunities for cultural participation, production and growth.
How much can I apply for?
The total budget for the funding is £247,000 and we are inviting applications between £20,000 and £50,000. We are looking to fund between 5 to 10 projects in total and expect there to be a high demand for this fund. This might mean that we are not able to fund all projects.
Can I use a grant for match funding?
If you are successful with a grant, you can use it as match funding for other funding applications, where the project aligns with the outcomes of this grant programme. However, if the additional funding is not yet secured, you will need to ensure that you can still complete works relating to this grant even though you would not be successful with any other applications. All the activities relating to this grant must be completed by 30 September 2027.
Timeline – Key Dates
- Applications open: Monday 18 May 2026
- Applications closing date: Monday 22 June 2026
- Applicant notification of outcomes: Week beginning 29 June 2026
- Delivery period: All activity and evaluation delivered by 30 September 2027
*Dates subject to change