Youth Music Catalyser Fund (United Kingdom)

Deadline: 10-May-24
The National Foundation for Youth Music announces the Youth Music Catalyser Fund for organisations in England who want to sustain work, scale-up delivery, or create change in sector practice.

Catalyser programmes must support children and young people who face barriers to make, learn or earn in music, and aim to make music activity more inclusive so everyone can access it.

Youth Music is a national charity funded financed with National Lottery funding, which they receive through Arts Council England.

Funding Themes 

• Your work must meet one or more of their themes:
  • Early years
    • For children aged 0–5 who face barriers to accessing music-making because of their circumstances or where they live. They encourage programmes that promote:
      • Access to quality, creative musical experiences that support children’s developmental needs.
      • Shared learning between early years specialists, music specialists and parents, so that all become skilled, confident, and engaged in encouraging young children’s musicality.
      • Workforce diversification.
  • Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people
    • They encourage programmes for young people (aged 0–25) that:
      • Ensure that they have equitable access to progress in music in a way that meets their needs and aspirations.
      • Provide routes for Disabled young people into the workforce (where appropriate).
  • Young adults
    • For young adults aged 16-25 who want to take their music further, or for whom music can support wider personal and social outcomes. They encourage programmes that:
      • Improve young people’s confidence, skills, social networks, and emotional wellbeing as well as providing specific mentoring, networking, and industry opportunities.
      • Increase and enhance engagement with employment, education, and training.
  • Youth justice system 
    • For children and young people (aged 0-25) who are, have been, or are at risk of being involved with the youth justice system. They encourage programmes that:
      • Are youth-led and offer culturally relevant and engaging music programmes that promote personal and social outcomes alongside musical development.
      • Work in partnership with other organisations and agencies to support safeguarding and progression and ensure that young people’s needs are met.
  • Young people facing barriers 
    • For children and young people (aged 0–25) who face barriers to music-making due to their characteristics or life circumstances, or because of where they live. They encourage programmes that:
      • Are youth-led and offer culturally relevant and engaging music programmes that promote personal and social outcomes alongside musical development.
      • Work in partnership with other organisations and agencies to reach young people facing barriers and ensure that their needs are met.
  • Organisations and the workforce 
    • Work that benefits the people and organisations who provide inclusive musicmaking opportunities for children and young people (aged 0-25). They encourage programmes that support and encourage:
      • Organisations to be innovative, resilient, and inclusive.
      • A diverse workforce that is networked, and skilled in inclusive practice with children and young people.

Funding Information

• Grant sizes are between £30,001 and £300,000.
• Duration
  • Programmes last between 24 and 48 months. Your programme must start within 3 months of notification.

Target Organisations 

• Organisations looking to sustain their delivery over multiple years.
• Organisations who are working to influence and change sector practice.
• Those who want to scale-up delivery to reach more children and young people, more of the workforce or extend their geographical reach.
• Those with a track record supporting children and young people facing barriers to make, learn or earn in music.

Who can apply?

• You are a constituted UK based organisation
  • Sole traders, and individuals, can’t apply to this fund.
  • If you are a voluntary group not registered with Companies House or the Charity Commission, you must have a constitution and management committee.
  • You must be legally constituted and providing activity for at least one year before you apply to this fund.
• You are not a school or academy
  • Schools and academies can’t apply to this fund. This includes primary, secondary, PRUs and special schools.
• You have a bank account in the name of the organisation
  • They can only pay grants into the bank account of the organisation that submitted the application. You’ll need to give evidence of this if you’re offered a grant.
• You have a set of recent accounts and a recent set of management accounts
  • They expect to see accounts that:
    • Show your total income and expenditure for the last financial year (often called a profit and loss or a statement of financial activities); and
    • A summary of your assets and liabilities at the end of the year (often called a balance sheet).
    • These should be less than 18 months old.
    • You’ll need to upload these if you’re invited to submit a full application.
  • They expect to see management accounts:
    • These must be for the current financial year.
    • This is so they can assess your current financial position.
    • You’ll need to upload these if you’re invited to submit a full application.
• You have the correct insurance in place and comply with all relevant statutory legislation 
  • Correct insurance includes employers’ and public liability as a minimum. Copies of your insurance must be available on request.
  • Statutory legislation includes things such as company and charity law, the Data Protection Act and the Equality Act.
• Safeguarding is an essential part of your culture and ways of working, and you meet their minimum safeguarding standards.
  • Safeguarding practices are well understood, always developing and they inform your ethos and behaviours.
  • You’ll need to evidence that you meet their minimum safeguarding standards:
    • A safeguarding policy in the name of your organisation, updated in the last 3 years.
    • A person with overall responsibility for safeguarding (your designated safeguarding lead).
      • Their name and contact details are in your safeguarding policy.
    • Safer recruitment practices including DBS checks for those working with children and young people (at the highest level permitted, rechecked at least every three years).
    • A procedure for reporting concerns, incidents or allegations (including those against staff/volunteers) that says who to inform and how to contact them.
    • Regular safeguarding training for staff and volunteers who work with children and young people (this can include in-house sessions) and induction into safeguarding for new starters.
• You are committed to improving inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) in your organisation (this includes youth voice and participation). 
  • They don’t expect organisations to have got it ‘all sorted,’ but they want to fund those who are committed to reflecting and making change. That’s why they ask you about IDEA in their application and monitoring forms.
  • You should have an IDEA policy or action plan (or equivalent) that is reflected on and updated regularly. If you don’t have one in place, then they’ll expect you to develop one over the course of your grant.
  • They expect all organisations to pay the real Living Wage.
• You are keen to develop your organisation 
  • They want to fund organisations that are open to developing. This means evaluating and reflecting on what you do, engaging with Youth Music, and being collaborative. They try to be honest with themselve about what is and isn’t working. And they want the organisations they fund to be the same!

For more information, visit National Foundation for Youth Music.