Lottery support for the arts
By September 2004, the lottery had injected almost £2 billion into the arts, supporting thousands of projects, both large and small.
Thanks to the Lottery, audiences around the country enjoy new and improved arts venues, and an increasing range of arts activities.
Who distributes lottery money to the arts?
Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England. It is the main body responsible for distributing public money from Government and the lottery to artists and arts organisations.
The Arts Council has opened up lottery funding to more, and smaller, arts organisations by making it easier to apply, setting low minimum grants and broadening the scope of what the funding can be used for.
The Arts Council also gives lottery money to three organisations who act as 'delegate distributors':
Capital Programme
The Arts Council's Capital Programme provides National Lottery grants of between £100,000 and £5million for a range of projects, including new buildings for the arts, improvements to existing arts buildings, buying new equipment, technology and training etc.
The deadline for applications for 2006/2007 programme of capital investment is now closed.
Find out more about the Lottery Capital Programme.
More opportunities for lottery funding
- The Heritage Lottery Fund supports arts projects that increase access to, understanding of, or participation in heritage.
- Awards for All provides small grants of between £500 and £5000 for small groups involved in arts, sports, heritage and charity activities.
- The National Lottery Act 1998 established NESTA – the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts - with aims to "support and promote talent, innovation and creativity" in those fields.
