Please note from November 2026 the eligibility and exclusions have been updated. Please read through these before completing your application as your eligibility may have changed.
General Eligibility
- applications must be on behalf of a UK Charity, Not-For-Profit, or Exempt organisation
- applications must be for a specific project and not for a general appeal, or endowment fund
- applicants must be based in the UK
- bursaries and other support fees will normally be paid to the training organisation
General Exclusions
The Trust is now receiving many more applications than we are able to fund. For this reason, we are not able to accept applications in the following cases:
- no applications which exceed our grant limit of £7,500 for Heritage & Crafts, and £5,000 for Music
- no retrospective grants – if your project start date is prior to the trustees meeting, it will not be considered
- no general appeals or endowment funds
- save in exceptional circumstances, we cannot consider your application unless you have a minimum of 2 years of accounts
- we can only accept applications up to a maximum of two consecutive years. If you have previously received a grant in 2 consecutive years from us, you will need to take a one-year break from the end of your funding before re-applying. Please see FAQs for more information. However you can apply for three years’ worth of funding for bursaries and internships under the category of Bursaries & Education.
- we do not accept applications from individuals, only from organisations
- we are not currently awarding multi-year grants except under exceptional circumstances
Heritage & Crafts Scheme specific eligibility and exclusions
The Heritage & Crafts scheme does not support:
- capital costs
- core costs
- projects that are solely or primarily about nature, landscapes, gardens, land management or environmental conservation
- projects that are primarily social or therapeutic in nature
- projects that are solely or primarily for equipment or materials
- applications from mainstream schools
- conceptual art
- conference fees or associated costs
NB Church of England Churches: we do not accept applications directly from Church of England Churches. Grants for the conservation of historic furnishings and artworks in Church of England Churches in England can only be made through the Church Buildings Council which receives a block grant from the Trust. Applications from any other denominations should be made directly to The Radcliffe Trust.
Applications are considered under the following headings
- Bursaries & Educational
- Conservation
- Craft
- Heritage
- Performance
How can I increase my chances of receiving a grant?
We are currently receiving four times the number of applications than we did 3 years ago, meaning the success rate has dropped significantly. In this context, we suggest a few ways of improving your chances of success:
- Please provide information about additional sources of funding. The Trustees expect to see that you are making efforts to raise funds from elsewhere and appreciate organisations who have found, or are actively looking for, other sources of funding. We would not generally expect to be the sole funder of a project.
- Let us know what you would do if you only received a contribution towards your request. Could the project still go ahead?
- Please don’t wait until the final week to submit your application. Due to the high volume of applications which come in at the last minute, we need a full week before the deadline to reply to any queries you might have.
- We don’t have capacity to comment on full applications before you submit, nor can we comment on which of your projects are most likely to be funded.
Please read our FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS on our H&C Scheme page if you have any further questions before applying.
Download the Word version of our application questions here: APPLICATION QUESTIONS
To submit an application, please CLICK HERE.