GrantRadar

John Feeney Charitable Trust

John Feeney Charitable Trust Grants and Commissions

A long-established Birmingham grant-making trust for arts, heritage and public open spaces. Heritage, open spaces and arts projects can apply for up to £5,000; arts commissions for up to £10,000. One round a year, opening 1 January and closing 5pm on 31 March, decided by trustees in May. The trust separately runs the Feeney Fellowship for individual artists and practitioners living in Birmingham (up to £5,000, applications 1 July to 5pm on 30 September) — individuals should apply there, not here.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Up to £10,000
Deadline
164 days left
31 March
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Organisations with charitable or not-for-profit purposes, holding a formal constitution or governing document and recent financial accounts
  • Sole traders and profit-distributing companies are not eligible, and nor are individuals, who are directed to the Fellowships programme
  • The activity must take place in Birmingham, or demonstrate substantial engagement of, or direct benefits to, the people of Birmingham
  • Organisations that received a grant in each of the two previous years must sit a round out under the cooling-off rule introduced in January 2026
  • For the Fellowship instead: individuals living in Birmingham who work or practise in the arts, heritage or open spaces sectors with at least three years' professional experience outside formal education, primarily freelancers, though salaried employees may apply after consulting the trust first

What it funds

Initiatives that improve or celebrate Birmingham through:

  • The arts (both projects and commissions)
  • Heritage
  • Public open spaces
  • For heritage, the trust's interest is in securing aspects of Birmingham's story, environment and cultural assets for the future, prioritising projects that deepen public understanding and widen public engagement, and especially welcoming cultural heritage projects documenting and celebrating marginalised communities and unsung histories
  • For open spaces, enrichment and environmental sustainability

Priority goes to culturally diverse work, experimentation, transformational impact, and projects unlikely to proceed without this support.

Management and overhead costs are capped at 20% of project cost, and are not funded at all within an arts commission.

What it will not fund

  • Projects that do not benefit the people of Birmingham
  • Activities outside Birmingham without demonstrated substantial engagement of, or direct benefit to, Birmingham people
  • Organisations without a formal constitution or governing document
  • Organisations without recent financial accounts
  • Sole traders
  • Profit-distributing companies
  • Applications from organisations that have political objectives, where the application activity seeks to promote those objectives
  • Denominational organisations promoting religious objectives — though non-sectarian activity may be considered
  • Projects that have already started or been completed before the 31 May decision date
  • Applications arriving after the 31 March deadline
  • Organisations funded in the two previous consecutive years — a cooling-off period applies from January 2026
  • Individuals — who should apply to the Feeney Fellowship instead

How to apply

  1. Wait for the round to open at 10am on 1 January
  2. Download and complete the Contact Information Form (Word template)
  3. Complete the Application Form (Word template)
  4. Complete the Budget Template (Excel), showing income and expenditure
  5. Gather your latest annual accounts, and for a commission, information about the artist
  6. Email all the documents together to applications@feeneytrust.org.uk before 5pm on 31 March

you receive an automated confirmation of receipt, and an acknowledgement by 3 April

the Feeney Fellowship for individuals is a separate route — application form (or a video or audio recording of up to 10 minutes), budget template, contact form and work samples by weblink or WeTransfer, to the same address, between 1 July and 5pm on 30 September

Have ready

  • Contact Information Form (Word template)
  • Application Form (Word template)
  • Budget Template (Excel), showing income and expenditure
  • Latest annual accounts
  • Artist information — arts commissions only

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