THE FENTON ARTS TRUST
– Small grants, generally for under £5,000, are available to UK registered charities and charitable organisations for projects which advance the creative arts in the United Kingdom, particularly those which support artists at the start of their professional career. Individuals are also regularly awarded a grant.
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o Application deadline: applications received after MONDAY 30th JUNE 2025 are unlikely to be funded this financial year (i.e. by Tuesday 31st March 2026).
o Funder: The Fenton Arts Trust (founded 1986. Charity number 294629. Total value of all grants awarded during the year ended 31st March 2024: £148,088 (2023: £178,639; 2022: £180,254)).
o Who can apply: UK registered charities and charitable organisations. Individuals can also be awarded a grant.
o Key words: Creative Arts, Public Education in the Arts, Early Career Development, Architecture, Dance, Drama, Music, Painting, Poetry, Sculpture, United Kingdom.
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The Fenton Arts Trust was founded in 1986 by Shu-Yao Fenton in memory of her husband Colin, a collector of antiques and pictures and a dedicated supporter of the arts. Following Shu-Yao’s death in 2000 the substantial part of her estate passed to the Trust. Further significant bequests were received from Alastair Graham-Bryce in 2012 and Patricia Thompson in 2019. The Trust’s overall aim is to give encouragement and financial support to those actively contributing to the creative arts in the UK, particularly for artists at the beginning of their career, at the expressed desire of the Trust’s founder.
The principal objectives of the charity are:
o The advancement of public education more particularly in the Arts, and
o The provision of grants, scholarships and bursaries to charitable bodies and to individuals or organisations which will support work or performance by those early in their career.
Grants are available to support individual works, activities, performances or prizes in the fields of (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
o Architecture.
o Dance.
o Drama.
o Music.
o Painting.
o Poetry, and
o Sculpture.
During the year ended 31st March 2024, the Trust awarded 31 grants totalling £148,000 (2023: 45 grants totalling £178,639; 2022: 44 grants totalling 180,254)).
Grants were generally for £5,000 or less with the occasional higher award.
A list of all grants made over the last two years can be found on pages 12 and 13 of the Trust’s annual accounts.
The Trust states on its website that it receives between 300 and 400 applications of some kind each year. 6 out of 10 fail immediately because the applicant has not provided sufficient information for the Trustees to make an informed decision, or because the proposal is outside the limited scope of the Trust’s work. Half of the complete applications also fail, often because they are neither well considered nor clearly expressed. The remaining 20%, equating to some 60-80 applications per year, are considered in detail by the Trustees.
Trustees meet three times a year to consider applications, in Spring, Summer and Autumn. The deadline for the receipt of applications is approximately three weeks before each meeting, although this is never advertised in order to encourage applicants to forward plan.
Under normal circumstances a minimum of 6 months can elapse before the Trust makes a decision and has sufficient funds in its budget. In most financial years (1st April – 31st March), almost all current year funds are committed by the Summer meeting. Applicants are therefore advised to think at least 6 months ahead when applying. In general, applications received after the end of June are unlikely to be funded within the Trust’s current financial year.
Applications should be received by Monday 30th June 2025 to be considered in the 2025/26 financial year.
Further information, guidance and an online application form can be found on the Trust’s website.
Contact details for the Trust are:
Ms C Bisatt
Trust Manager
The Fenton Arts Trust
PO Box 68825
London