Apply Now: Individual Grants for Arts and Culture Professionals

The Culture Helps Solidarity Individual Grant provides up to €1,200 to arts, culture, and community-based cultural professionals from Ukraine for personal mental health and wellbeing support. Eligible applicants aged 18 or older can use the one-time grant for activities such as psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative care, art therapy, and other justified wellbeing services.

What Is the Culture Helps Solidarity Individual Grant?

The Individual Grant is part of the Culture Helps Solidarity programme, a multi-year initiative supporting Ukrainian arts and culture professionals affected by war, displacement, and difficult working conditions.

The grant focuses specifically on personal mental health, emotional wellbeing, and resilience. It is intended to help artists and cultural professionals maintain their creative practice and continue contributing to their communities.

The wider programme combines individual support with thematic and collaboration grants, mentoring, learning opportunities, and peer exchange through 2028.

Key Grant Details

• Grant amount: Up to €1,200 per individual
• Type of support: One-time contribution
• Purpose: Personal mental health and wellbeing
• Eligible applicants: Individuals aged 18 and above
• Geographic eligibility: Ukraine and Creative Europe countries
• Application languages: Ukrainian or English
• Grant payment: One-off contribution, including applicable taxes
• Focus: Mental health, wellbeing, resilience, and continuation of creative and cultural work

What Does the Grant Support?

The Individual Grant can support wellbeing activities that directly contribute to an applicant’s personal resilience and ability to continue their cultural or creative work.

Eligible activities may include:

• Psychotherapy
• Trauma-informed coaching
• Emotional support sessions
• Restorative care or rehabilitation stays
• Visits to cultural institutions and cultural events
• Art therapy workshops
• Other justified mental health and wellbeing services

The proposed activity should have a clear connection to the applicant’s personal wellbeing and resilience.

What Expenses Are Not Eligible?

The €1,200 grant is restricted to personal mental health and wellbeing support. It cannot be used for:

• Medication
• Medical devices
• Material assets
• Rent
• Tuition fees
• Invasive medical interventions
• Streaming subscriptions
• Alternative medical consultations
• General humanitarian assistance
• General cost-of-living expenses

Applicants should therefore ensure that their proposed expenses directly relate to the purpose of the grant.

Who Is Eligible?

The grant is intended for individual arts, culture, and community-based cultural professionals from Ukraine.

Applicants must:

• Be 18 years of age or older.
• Reside in Ukraine or have fled Ukraine to a Creative Europe country.
• Be actively engaged in arts, culture, or community-based cultural activities.
• Demonstrate involvement in work supporting displaced Ukrainians, veterans, or vulnerable groups.
• Submit the application in Ukrainian or English.

The programme is designed for individuals whose cultural work and personal circumstances have been affected by the consequences of the war.

Who Can Benefit From the Grant?

Potential beneficiaries include:

• Artists
• Cultural managers
• Cultural professionals
• Community-based cultural practitioners
• Professionals supporting displaced Ukrainians
• Cultural workers supporting veterans
• Practitioners working with vulnerable communities

The key requirement is that applicants are engaged in relevant arts, cultural, or community-based activities and require support for their personal wellbeing.

Why Does This Grant Matter?

The war in Ukraine has created significant challenges for artists and cultural professionals, including displacement, trauma, uncertainty, and demanding working conditions.

The Individual Grant addresses the personal wellbeing dimension of cultural resilience. Rather than funding a cultural production or institutional project, it allows individuals to access appropriate support that can help them maintain their emotional health and continue their professional activities.

This approach recognises that sustainable cultural work depends not only on financial resources for projects but also on the wellbeing of the people creating and delivering them.

How the Individual Grant Works

Applicants should ensure that their proposed support is directly connected to personal wellbeing and resilience.

Step 1: Confirm Your Eligibility

Check that you:

• Are at least 18 years old.
• Are Ukrainian or have fled Ukraine.
• Currently reside in Ukraine or a Creative Europe country.
• Work in arts, culture, or community-based cultural activities.
• Have a relevant connection to displaced Ukrainians, veterans, or vulnerable groups.

Step 2: Define Your Wellbeing Need

Clearly identify the type of support you need and explain how it relates to your personal mental health, emotional wellbeing, or resilience.

Step 3: Select an Eligible Activity

Choose a suitable wellbeing activity, such as psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, emotional support, or art therapy.

Step 4: Prepare Your Application

Provide the required information and explain:

• Your professional or cultural activities
• Your current circumstances
• The wellbeing support you are requesting
• Why the proposed activity is relevant
• How the support will strengthen your resilience and ability to continue your work

Step 5: Submit the Application

Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian or English according to the programme’s application requirements.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Applicants should avoid proposing expenses that fall outside the purpose of the grant.

Common issues to watch for include:

• Requesting more than €1,200.
• Including rent or general living expenses.
• Requesting funding for medication or medical devices.
• Treating the grant as project or production funding.
• Requesting tuition fees or educational expenses.
• Proposing activities without a clear wellbeing purpose.
• Providing insufficient explanation of how the activity supports personal resilience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much funding is available through the Individual Grant?

Each eligible individual can receive up to €1,200, including applicable taxes. The support is provided as a one-time contribution.

Who can apply for the grant?

Individuals aged 18 or older who are engaged in arts, culture, or community-based cultural activities and who reside in Ukraine or have fled Ukraine to a Creative Europe country may apply, subject to the programme’s eligibility requirements.

Can the grant be used for psychotherapy?

Yes. Psychotherapy is specifically identified as an eligible type of personal mental health and wellbeing support.

Can the grant pay for rent or living expenses?

No. The Individual Grant cannot be used for rent, general cost-of-living expenses, or strictly humanitarian needs.

Can the grant be used for medication?

No. Medication and medical devices are excluded from eligible expenses.

What language can be used for the application?

Applications can be submitted in Ukrainian or English.

Can the grant support art therapy?

Yes. Participation in art therapy workshops is among the activities that may be supported when relevant to the applicant’s personal wellbeing.

Conclusion

The Culture Helps Solidarity Individual Grant offers targeted financial assistance of up to €1,200 to Ukrainian arts and culture professionals seeking personal mental health and wellbeing support. By funding activities such as psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, emotional support, restorative care, and art therapy, the programme aims to strengthen individual resilience and help cultural professionals continue their creative and community work during and after the war.