Musicians Benevolent Fund

Guidelines for Applicants

The Musicians Benevolent Fund makes awards to organisations which provide specialist training and performance opportunities for outstanding young musicians in any genre of music. Applications are only accepted from organisations which can demonstrate the promotion of exceptional musical talent.

Awards are usually made for:

• Core funding for organisations with national profile
• Bursary funds for summer schools and short courses
• organisations which promote series featuring outstanding young musicians

Special projects which do not fall into the above categories may also be considered and enquiries should be made in the first instance direct to the Director of Education, Susan Dolton, on 020 7299 8342.

Your organisation must promote exceptional musical talent and be based in the UK or Ireland.

If you are applying for bursary funding, the bursary recipients must be under the age of 30 and those who are not British or Irish must have lived in the UK for at least three years.

The amount of funding offered depends on the particular needs of each organisation. An average annual award would be in the region of £2,000 and the current maximum award is £20,000.

If an award is offered to your organisation, it is likely to be for one year in the first instance, although ongoing awards are often made for a three-year period.

Please note that we are currently unable to consider support for projects in individual schools or for groups that work with beginner musicians or applications from individuals.

How and When to Apply

If your organisation meets the criteria in Guidelines for Applicants, please send us a letter
(2 sides of A4 maximum) which should give brief details of:

• your organisation and its aims
• the project for which you are applying for funding
• the amount of funding you require
• a budget for the project including income and expenditure

We will also require a copy of your latest annual report and audited accounts.

Applications may be submitted at any time and there is no closing date. The MBF Education Committee meets to consider applications four times a year in February, June, September and November.
Details of organisations currently supported by the MBF are available here.