WAF Grants applications are OPEN!

Deadline: Wed 30 October 2024, 12pm.

You must complete an Expression of Interest form before requesting a WAF Grants Surgery session or applying for a WAF Grant.

Grant Application Form

The WAF 2025 Grants  fund activities and events that will take place as part of  Wandsworth Arts Fringe from Fri  6 June - Sun 22 June 2025.

The WAF Grants are open to individual artists and organisations wishing to use their creativity to make a positive impact in Wandsworth working with our inspiring residents, communities, and places.

In 2025 WAF will be teaming up with Wandsworth Heritage Festival during the final week of WAF (Fri 13 – Sun 22 June), therefore we are keen to encourage applications with a heritage and culture focus to take place during these dates.

In 2025 we are especially interested in receiving applications from projects taking place across two key focus areas for the borough:

• Winstanley & York Road Estates (Battersea)
• Alton Estate (Roehampton)

The grants are funded directly by Wandsworth Council through Wandsworth Grant Fund and London Borough of Culture (LBOC) initiatives. All applications will be assessed by the WAF Assessment panel. The highest-ranking applications will then be recommended to the London Borough of Culture (2025) Local Champions Group.

Awards

Grants fund up to 70% of the total project cost. The maximum award is £2,000.

Who can apply?

Applications are open to organisations, partnerships and individuals that demonstrate how they meet the criteria of the grant, provided the proposed activity takes place or culminates during WAF and is fully budgeted. 

N.B. WAF Grants funding must represent no more that 70% of the overall budget.

The fund is unable to support:

• profit making ventures
• fund-raising activities
• capital costs
• core costs
• course fees

For the full list of items the Council is unable to fund, please refer to the WAF Grants Terms & Conditions.

Applicants do not have to be based in Wandsworth. However, the proposal must take place in the borough and benefit Wandsworth residents. We recommend that you include a carefully considered marketing and audience development plan in your application.

Applicants who were awarded a WAF grant in the past 3 years but failed to produce an evaluation report may not apply.

How do we select grantees?

Each year, the WAF Grant scheme awards up to £2000 (per project) to support the realisation of creative projects that engage meaningfully with Wandsworth communities and meet our strategic goals. This year, we're updating those goals to align with the strategic themes for Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture. 

Applications should demonstrate arts content and meet one or more of the following strategic priorities for our London Borough of Culture year:

The programme will focus on five key themes, harnessing the power of culture to:

CONNECT

Connect people to life-changing experiences – opening the doors to creative jobs, discovering heritage and meeting people where they are, so that we can fall in love with arts and culture.

UNITE

Unite, because we are better together, united by or aspiration to imagine a brighter future for people, communities, and our borough.

HEAL

Because building arts and culture into healthcare helps us thrive. By approaching wellbeing holistically, culture can support people body and soul, to live better.

NOURISH

Creating the conditions for young people to express their creativity and be part of their communities.

ACTIVATE

Inspiring people through culture to take real steps to reduce pollution and their carbon footprint; reconnecting people with sustainable living and the natural environment.

Assessment criteria

• Artistic quality: we are looking to develop bold work, engaged artistic practice or innovative working model
• Strategic fit: does your project address at least one of our strategic priorities?
• Deliverability: project timeframe, partners and collaborators
• Impact: who will benefit from your project and how so? How will you measure it? Is it value for money?

How To Apply

Complete the grant application form and budget worksheet by Wednesday 30 October 2024, 12pm. You must submit the budget via email to wafgrants@wandsworth.gov.uk once you've completed your application via Microsoft Forms.

If you would prefer to apply in another format for access reasons, including a word document, please email: cath.mattos@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk to discuss your requirements.

NOTE: WAF reserves the right to prioritise proposals that fill existing gaps in provision.

All applications must embrace equality of opportunity and professionalism. By professionalism we mean, for example, undertaking risk assessments, having a safeguarding policy in place and recognising the need for artists to be fairly paid for their work.

WAF Grant Surgeries

Book a 1-2-1 surgery with the WAF producers to ask questions about your WAF Grants application - email cath.mattos@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk to book your session on either:

• Tuesday 8 October, 5pm - 7pm on Zoom (NOW FULL)
• Tuesday 15 October, 3pm - 5pm on Zoom (NOW FULL)
• Wednesday 23 October, 3pm - 5pm on Zoom (NOW FULL)

Please note: You need to have completed an Expression of Interest before you can be offered a surgery slot.

Grants surgeries are in high demand, so each artist/organisation can benefit from one grant surgery only each year. We advise you have a go at filling out the application form and budget, as well as reading through the Terms and Conditions of the WAF Grants before your surgery to get the most out of your session. One-off questions can be emailed directly to WAF Producer Cath Mattos at any point after completing your EOI.

After you've applied - what happens next?

Once you've submitted your application, we will not be in touch until after the deadline has passed, unless we have specific questions about your application.

Please do not email the WAF Grants inbox with queries (the wafgrants@wandsworth.gov.uk email address is only for receiving application budgets.)

If you have a query about the WAF Grants application process please email  WAF Producer Cath Mattos and Programme and Partnerships Manager Lucy Murray up to Fri 27 September.

It will not be possible for the WAF Grants team to reply to application queries that come in after Fri 27 September.

You will be contacted on the outcome of your application no later than Fri 20 December – we will not be able to respond to follow-up enquiries until January 2025.

We aim to announce the successful projects to be supported by WAF Grants in March 2025. Award outcomes are embargoed until then.