Elmley Foundation

The Foundation supports a wide range of arts and cultural activity in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Grants are available for core costs, project delivery and training, giving organisations and individuals flexibility in how they use the funding. Specific priorities include backing festivals, societies and companies in their promotions and developments, and providing start-up finance for mounting arts events. The Foundation also commissions art or craft works for particular locations or performances, and it helps talented young people get the training they need to progress in their artistic careers. In addition, it sponsors lectures, seminars and conferences designed to develop thinking and practice in the arts and their presentation to the public. All funded work must take place within Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and the Foundation's focus is exclusively on arts and culture.

Applications are welcome from registered charities, community groups, unincorporated associations and individuals, as well as companies limited by guarantee. The Foundation is open to both organisations and individuals working in the arts in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Beneficiaries include the general public and young people, and the Foundation particularly values projects that offer public access and creative development. There is no religious restriction on applying. To be eligible, the work must be rooted in the two counties and focus on arts and culture.

The Foundation does not support work that takes place outside Herefordshire and Worcestershire, nor activity that falls outside the arts and culture sector. Because its remit is exclusively regional and cultural, proposals for other causes or for work delivered beyond the two counties will not be considered.

The Foundation's funding style is flexible and responsive. It provides grants for core costs, project delivery and training, enabling recipients to apply support where it is most needed. It also offers start-up finance for new arts events, commissions art and craft works for specific locations or performances, and sponsors lectures, seminars and conferences that advance artistic practice and public engagement. Funding is directed entirely within Herefordshire and Worcestershire, reflecting the Foundation's local focus.