Culture and Heritage Grants

About the grants

The Merton Culture and Heritage Grants programme will fund grassroots creatives to produce work encouraging new engagement with heritage sites and non-traditional display venues. This fund aims to support community-led heritage and cultural activity that animates local spaces, broadens participation, and fosters pride in place. Applicants can apply for grants of up to £10,000, and these are available to individuals, organisations, and collectives to deliver creative projects in spaces across the borough of Merton. It is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is being delivered via a Cultural Impact Award, part of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture programme. We are running two bidding rounds: one in 2025 and one in 2026. £30,000 funding will be available for each round. Follow the step-by-step guide below to read the guidance, requirements, and assessment criteria. An example of the bid form is also provided so you can familiarise yourself with the application before submitting. The bid window will open on 13 July 2026 at midday and close at 5pm on 9 October 2026. The following table sets out the timeline for the 2026 bidding round. Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. The Culture and Heritage Grants are made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to offer grants enabling individuals and collectives to celebrate local heritage through artwork and activities in the public realm.

Key milestones and dates

Who can apply

The Merton Culture and Heritage Grants Programme is open to organisations who can bid for grant funding, and:

• individual artists, creatives and grassroots organisations (including those early in their career)
• community groups and charities
• cultural, youth, and heritage organisations
• collaborative collectives or partnerships
• Merton Council employees and councillors can also apply. You are welcome to apply even if you have never applied for funding before.

Examples of projects we may fund

• New theatre, dance, or music performances
• Visual arts such as sculpture, murals, or exhibitions
• Film, digital, or multimedia installations
• Festivals or celebrations in public or heritage spaces
• Creative workshops or participatory projects with residents

These are only examples. Funding can support a wide range of cultural and heritage activity. Your project may span multiple locations, events or artforms.

How to apply

Step 1 – Read the requirements and assessment criteria

The eligibility criteria for all applications for the Merton Culture and Heritage Grants Programme are as follows:

• All event activity must be based in the borough.
• All event activities must be delivered between February 2027 and January 2028.
• Applicants must be over 18 (although the project itself can be delivered by young people)
• Applicants must demonstrate the legacy that their project could have, i.e. the positive impact it could have on participants, audiences and Merton residents’ civic pride beyond the project delivery date.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate their awareness and ability to report and evaluate their activity throughout the project, including monitoring information, sustainability reporting, participation reporting and for measuring the project’s inclusivity and accessibility. We are looking for applications that directly align with the below:
• Widen access to heritage and culture across all parts of Merton, particularly in the east of the borough.
• Activate heritage, public, and/or outdoor spaces to engage, educate and connect Merton residents through culture.
• Support grassroots organisations in Merton, as well as new and emerging creatives based and/or from Merton.
• Promote inclusivity, diversity, and cultural democracy.
• Encourage co-creation, local storytelling, and civic pride.
• Seed new creative practices and partnerships.
• Help develop future models for supporting community-led culture. We are particularly interested in applications that:
• Provide Merton with a diverse participatory, cultural and/or audience experience.
• Have ambition to create a long-lasting imprint on the participants, artists and local people of Merton.
• Are delivered by, but not limited to, persons that are living, studying or working in the borough.
• Are free or low-cost to attend.
• Reflect Merton’s heritage, diversity or contemporary identity.
• Include accessible and inclusive practices in planning and delivery.
• Celebrates Merton’s underrepresented communities (particularly focusing on African, South Asian, Polish, Korean, Tamil, Disabled and LGBTQ+ communities). We are unlikely to support bids that:
• Do not focus on promoting or generating heritage or cultural activities in Merton.
• Would only support private interests.
• Have little or no public benefit.
• Where the bidder has any legal or other disputes with the council. Please note, we are looking for applications that promote, educate or highlight Merton’s heritage through culture. Applications that detail cultural activities being hosted at Merton’s heritage sites need to demonstrate how the cultural activity taking place relates to Merton’s locational or personal heritage. For all projects, we strongly recommend that you also look at match funding options and include any other contributions you are expecting (other than external grants) as in-kind support. Examples include volunteer time and free venue usage. Evaluation and monitoring We aim for evaluation to be proportionate, meaningful, and not overly burdensome. All funded projects will:
• Collect basic data (e.g. number of participants, location, access needs)
• Submit a short impact form and provide one or more of the following:
  • photographs or short videos
  • audience feedback (quotes, surveys, vox pops)
  • a short blog, report, or case study
• If appropriate, take part in a sharing and learning session to celebrate and reflect. All projects must complete a Project Mid-Point Review and an End of Grant Report. Templates for these will be included with the confirmation of the grant for successful applicants and can also be submitted via video or audio format if this is more accessible for the grant holder. Assessment criteria

1. Bids must clearly (in terms of demonstrable outcomes) address the funding aims of widening access to culture and heritage across Merton, activating borough spaces for cultural and/or heritage activities, and supporting Merton’s creatives and residents.
2. The proposal must make appropriate use of the funds and should not have any unacceptable financial implications (either capital or ongoing revenue funding) on the council or any other body.
3. The proposal should be deliverable and capable of being delivered by January 2028. Check the timescales at the top of this page. Each bid will be assessed by considering how it performs against the above criteria overall, with the assessment recorded and used to inform the prioritisation process. If there is high demand for the funding and not all proposals can be funded, officers will prioritise the following projects for both funds:

• projects which add most value to the Merton community
• projects that engage audiences which haven’t connected with the council before or rarely heard audiences.

Step 2 – Check what information you’ll need to provide

To complete the application form, you’ll need to have the following information to hand. About the project you would like us to fund:

• Name of the project
• Short description of the project and how it will raise awareness / encourage engagement with local heritage (up to 500 words)
• Location of the project
• Bid amount
• Total cost of the project
• An itemised list of the project costs, including how much of each item would be funded by us and how much would be funded from other sources. The total of the itemised costs must be no more than the total cost of the project.
• Details of any potential and secured funding from other sources, this includes external grants and in-kind support such as volunteer time and free access to working space.
• Details of any funding received from the Council since January 2020
• Estimated project start and end dates
• Estimated dates when funding will be required (this may be split into stages with different dates)
• Ongoing maintenance costs or burdens
• Details of any additional permissions, consents or approvals that would be needed to proceed. You can submit your application before getting these agreements, but we may withhold payments until these agreements have been secured.
• A list using short bullet points of what specifically the project will deliver and the outcomes for Merton. If another organisation would be responsible for delivering the project:
• Name of delivery organisation (whoever will be directly delivering the project)
• The organisation’s website
• The organisation’s company number or charity number
• The registered address of the organisation
• Your relationship to the organisation
• If registered, the organisation’s VAT number
• Details of a contact person at the delivery organisation
• Details of the director or trustee of the organisation that has authorised this bid If you are applying on behalf of an organisation who would be delivering the proposal:
• Details of your relationship to the organisation
• Your contact at the Organisation and the director/ trustee of the Organisation that has authorised the bid (e.g. if you are a resident or a community group that has developed a project proposal, and you have identified a delivery partner who has authorised the bid). If Merton Council would be responsible for delivering the project:
• Name of the council officer and department that would be responsible for delivering the project
• Location of the project
• Level of authorisation secured by the council for the project. (Ask the council officer responsible for delivery of the project for this information, maximum 100 words.)
• Your address Note: you can still apply if you don’t know which organisation would deliver the project if the delivery partner has been confirmed by the time the council is assessing the projects (see “What happens next” below).

Step 3 – Ask questions

If you have any questions, we can help:

• 1:1 contact with our Cultural Impact Award team for specific questions related to your application and/or project. Please email culture@merton.gov.uk. Please note, we will be receiving a high volume of emails at this time so responses may not be immediate.

Step 4 – Gather information to accompany your bid

Please gather additional information to accompany your application. You will need to email this information to us after you submit your bid, and by the deadline of 9 October 2026, 5pm. We suggest 4-8 pages for additional information. Additional information to accompany your bid may include:

• Authorisations, support letters, costs, funding and programming information
• Maps, plans or other images to show what you propose to do and where
• Copies of quotes, estimates or other material from suppliers and contractors (existing or potential) that will help us to establish whether approving your bid would help the council achieve best value for its investment
• Evidence of other funding streams that have been pursued, evidence of secured funding from non-council sources in addition to the contribution requested from the council – the amount of council funding required for relevant existing projects will need to decrease over time.
• Separate external grants, details of any other contributions you are expecting. This might include volunteer time and free venue usage.
• Note: the evidence requested above could take the form of completed application forms, emails confirming receipt of funding applications, emails/official letters communicating the outcome of applications, emails confirming access to venue space etc.
• Any other information that you would have included on the form if you had more space
• If your proposal includes plans to work with local partners such as community organisations or schools, evidence of initial engagement with them to help us establish the feasibility of your proposal Please include a copy of your safeguarding policy with your application. This helps us ensure that all funded projects are committed to creating safe and inclusive environments for participants. If you don’t currently have a safeguarding policy, we recommend developing one before applying.

Step 5 – Satisfy yourself that the bid will meet our requirements

You may find it helpful to prepare a copy of your answers in a separate document, such as Microsoft Word, and save this for your records. Word and PDF versions of the form are available below for you to practice with before submitting (but don’t miss the deadline!)

• Practice application form (PDF version)
• Practice application form (Word version)
• Budget Proposal and Project Timeline Template (Excel spreadsheet)

Step 6 – Submit your application

All applications must be submitted via the online form. Applications sent via email may not be accepted. If you wish to apply in an alternative format that is more accessible for you (such as via audio or video), please email culture@merton.gov.uk to discuss this with the Culture Team. Submit your application before 9 October 2026, 5pm.

• Application form
• Budget Proposal and Project Timeline Template (Excel spreadsheet)

Step 7 – Submit additional information

Please email the additional information you gathered in step 4 above, to culture@merton.gov.uk. Do this by the bidding deadline, 18 December 2025, 5pm.

What happens after bidding closes

Stage 1 - Bid assessments (month 1 after application deadline)

Please ensure we can contact you using the contact details you provided, as we may ask you for further information at this time.

Stage 2 - Formal decision (month 1-2 after application deadline)

All applications will be considered and evaluated by a Culture Evaluation panel, including the Cultural Impact Award team and other cultural leaders in the Merton borough. All applications will meet the same criteria. After the decision is confirmed, we will email you to tell you whether your bid was successful.

Stage 3 - Grant agreements and delivery (month 2 onwards)

The award is formally confirmed once (and only if) due diligence is successfully completed, and the grant agreement is signed. The grant agreement will include payment schedules that will specify project milestones when grant payments are made. Grants will be paid in stages: 60% awarded on conformation, 20% of midway project progress report, 10% upon receipt of final evaluation and impact report.

Future bidding rounds

This is the last round available for this grant.