Success stories from around the UK
Rite To Freedom
Total raised: £220,000
Fund: Reaching Communities
Location: DARTMOOR
A three year programme of wellbeing support for the recovery community focused on creative writing, nature connection and mentoring.
Dyslexia London
Total raised: £50,000
Fund: Awards For All
Location: LONDON
Multi-year funding for a helpline, online forum and a series of wellbeing workshops to support the dyslexic community in London.
Victoria Park
Total raised: £30,000
Fund: Children In Need
Location: BUCKFASTLEIGH
A three year programme of summer holiday activities for young people in a deprived rural area, run in conjunction with the local Town Council.
Embercombe
Total raised: £25,000
Fund: Bannister Trust
Location: DEVON
Creation of a herbal medicine garden and community orchard by local volunteers, with additional Lottery funding for rewilding initiatives.
Olivia Fern
Total raised: £16,000
Fund: Arts Council (Project Grant)
Location: CUMBRIA
A multi-faceted project bringing women together to sing, including a nationwide tour and singing circles in local communities.
Liz Ikamba
Total raised: £17,500
Fund: Arts Council (DYCP)
Location: BRIGHTON
Study of Congolese music, vocal improvisation techniques and racial equity work. With additional funds raised from an Indiegogo crowdfund.
MIDI
Total raised: £90,000
Fund: Youth Music
Location: EXETER
Multi-year funding from Youth Music and National Lottery to provide tuition, rehearsal space and performance opportunities for young people.
Singing Mamas
Total raised: £10,000
Fund: Awards For All
Location: FOREST ROW
Weekly singing groups for new mothers in a rural area aimed at building community, alleviating post-natal depression and improving wellbeing.
Oak Circus Centre
Total raised: £40,000
Fund: Sport England
Location: NORWICH
Circus activities for children with special educational needs, in an accessible city centre venue. Plus additional Lottery funding for adult circus workshops.
Others I’ve Worked With
Treesisters | Circlewise | Dying With Grace | The Living Projects | Jubilation Choirs | Bristol Yoga Roots | Wildwise | Roots and Wings | Stress Management Society | Drum Nation | Source Point | Ensemble | Shumba Arts | Fiorentini Foundation | Grapes Hill Garden | Stand Easy | Glastonbury Mothers Collective | Hapstead Farm | New Futures Academy | Indigo Brave | Farmshare | Kith and Kin | Stories For Change | Moor Barton Wilding | Lost In Translation Circus | Norwich Men's Shed | Pollen Tribe | Clip Sound and Music | Puppet Tree | Sacred Death Centre | Roots and Shoots | Shiatsu For Change … and many more.
My most popular bids
National Lottery Applications
Image: Norwich Farmshare, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
A great place to start for funding. I have written and advised on many Lottery applications over the last twelve years and raised over one million pounds for local communities. I firmly believe that all ideas, big or small, mainstream or niche, can get funded by the Lottery if the application is written in the right way. Groups can immediately apply for an Awards For All grant (£20K) to fund a project in a local area.
Arts Council Applications
Image: Liz Ikamba, funded by Arts Council England (DYCP).
I help artists of all ages, disciplines and genres to apply for funding from Arts Council England to support their career. You need to be a practicing artist with at least one year experience of engaging with audiences and evidence of professional work. I am also a registered Access Support worker and help artists with neurodiversity and mental/physical health challenges to make applications for Arts Council grants.
Trusts and Foundations
Image: Circlewise, funded by the Northbrook Community Trust.
There are hundreds of trusts and foundations that offer grant funding in the UK. It is important to target those that clearly match your group’s ambitions and that fund in your area. Some require an open letter, others have specific application forms. Long-term clients hire me to write/review proposals to charitable trusts and family foundations that we have identified as a good match to their work.
– Anne Francis, Chair, Norwich Healthy Living
"An effortless process! James seemed to intuitively understand what I needed and let me feel that I was in charge whilst adding useful and intelligent contributions to make the bid more viable. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone seeking help with bid writing."
Successful fundraising for all kinds of Projects
Children and Young People
Funding for: Post-natal support groups · Home education · Forest school initiatives · Summer playschemes · After-school clubs · Expeditions and and camps · Rites of passage · Youth clubs · Creative activities for neurodiverse children
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Funding for: Mindfulness events · Listening circles · Way of Council · Grief tending · Recovery choirs · Stress management classes · Death cafés · Women’s support groups · Men’s networks · Support helplines and forums
Land, Food and Stewardship
Funding for: Community gardens · Local food growing projects · Rewilding · Biodiversity surveying · Medicine gardens · Nature connection activities · CSAs and city farms · Care farming · Guided walks · Foraging and cookery workshops
Community Music and Arts
Funding for: African dance · Singing workshops · Autobiographical theatre · Vocal improvisation · Community circus · DJ courses · Black history choirs · Samba bands · Creative writing workshops · Family dance events
Complementary Health
Funding for: Community acupuncture clinics · Yoga for people in recovery · Reflexology treatments for the elderly · PTSD clinics · Home health visits · Refugee health clinics · Diet and nutrition workshops · Shiatsu treatments for women
Personal Artistic Practice
Funding for: National tours and workshops · Poetry and writing retreats · Study of vocal improvisation · African drumming circles · Overseas study trips · Devising new shows for circus and dance · Building skills in musicianship · Community arts practice
Interested in working with me?
Complete a short enquiry form to tell me about your project. We can then arrange an introductory call to see I can support you.