Person doing star jump in a theatre production wearing a white wig and native costume with five people behind wearing native costumes in front of an audience

Culture Inspire Fund


A new £300,000 fund has been launched in Greater Manchester to support freelancers and smaller organisations working in music and the arts.

Photography, literature, heritage projects and visual arts are some of the cultural groups who could benefit from individual grants of between £500 and £2,000.

Following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports have shown the level of investment and support for freelancers, independent creatives, artists, musicians and performers across the arts could be improved, with many freelance artists leaving the sector.

The investment, funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) will be administered by Salford CVS (Community and Voluntary Services) and allow freelancers and small organisations to apply for funding over the next three years.

Applications are encouraged from independent artists, musicians and small creative arts organisations from across Greater Manchester. 

The fund aims to support freelancers, independent creatives, artists, musicians, and performers across the arts. See the video with Dominic and People With Grit Studios to see an example of the work the fund supports:

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This fund is now closed and will reopen on 30 September.

CLOSED - Round 1

Round 1 closed at 12:00PM, Friday 1 March 2024. Below you can see a list of those funded broken up into our three main categories - creative organisation, independent organisation, freelance. 

Creative Organisation

Organisation/Individual  Location Category
Bolton Contemporary  Bolton Visual Art
ROJAK Salford Music
Sour Grapes Records Manchester Music
Hidden Altrincham Festival T/A Inch Arts  Trafford Mixed/Music
Ashton-under-Lyne Photographic Society 
Tameside Photography
Explosive Entertainments 
Greater Manchester  Music
Kathleen Studios
Salford  Music


Independent Organisation

Organisation/Individual Location Category
Angus Riddell Manchester  Woodwork
Harley Bainbridge Greater Manchester  Photography
Kintsuku Manchester  Music
Crafty Clay - Saddleworth Oldham, Tameside  Pottery
Laynah Juma Wigan Music
Dan Lovatt Salford Film/Theatre
Ula Fung Wigan Painting
Ms Man Wai Tse Trafford Crochet/Painting
Pui Ka Cheng Greater Manchester Puppetry 
Jim Parris Greater Manchester Music
Safety Catch Studios Trafford Live Performance/Audio


Freelance 

Organisation/Individual  Location Category
Emma Black - Music in Health Greater Manchester (Except Wigan) Music
Loose Articles Greater Manchester Music
Boy Oh Boy Designs Manchester Graphic Design 
Hart Creative Manchester  Photography 
Richard Babington Trafford, Salford, Manchester, Oldham   SFX/Outdoor Arts 
Martin Purdy  Greater Manchester Music
Becky McGillivray  Greater Manchester Muralism
Rebecca Taylor Sharman  Greater Manchester Music
Cheryl Blake  Greater Manchester  Mixed
Caroline Daly Manchester, Trafford Puppetry
Caroline Channing Stained Glass Stockport  Stained Glass
Magdalena Kij aka Maggie Stick & DJ Try  Greater Manchester Music
Freya Wysocki Manchester, Salford  Textiles
Sonia Bird Salford  Visual Art/Photography 


CLOSED - Round 2 - Coming soon