The Culture Fund Application Form 2026/27
Education, Leisure and Housing
Culture Service
IMAGE: The Orkney Islands Council crest and logo appear at the top of the form.
Please read the guidance for applicants carefully before completing this application form.
Please complete all the questions and include the required documentation. There is a checklist at the end of the form to aid you.
Section 1 – Organisation details
| Organisation name. | |
| Organisation address. | |
| Organisation email. | |
| Organisation telephone. | |
| Organisation website. | |
| Contact person. | |
| Contact details if different from above. | |
| Do you have any special communication needs? |
Type of organisation (please tick all that apply and include company/charity number if applicable)
| Company limited by guarantee. | |
| Company limited by shares. | |
| Registered charity. | |
| Trust. | |
| Unincorporated club or association. | |
| Public body. | |
| Other (please specify). |
First time applicants – please enclose a copy of your constitution with your application form.
| Is your organisation registered for VAT? Please tick the relevant box and include your VAT number if applicable. | Yes. | No. |
|---|---|---|
Please use the box below to detail the aims and objectives of your organisation.
Section 2 – Project Details
Please complete this section only if you are applying for funding towards a project. Continue to Section 3 if you are applying for general running costs of your organisation.
| Name of the project. |
|---|
| Date/s of the project. (Please note that funding can only be approved for projects taking place 1 April and 31st March of the financial year applied for) | |
| Where is the project to be held? | |
| Have you run this project previously? |
- In the box below, please give us a brief description of your project including:
- What types of events or activities are to be included?
- Who will participate in the project and how will they benefit?
If your project is a festival or has events, please include in your application a copy of your full programme, or a draft programme.
Does your organisation have experience of delivering projects of a similar nature or scale previously? Please describe your experience briefly in the box below.
| If you are applying for funding to run an event, and you have run this event before, please let us know your attendance figures for the previous event. | |
|---|---|
| What are your projected attendance figures for this event? |
Section 3 – Organisational Running Costs
Please continue to Section 4 if you are not applying for funding towards your organisation’s general running costs.
| Are you applying for assistance towards your organisation’s general running costs? Please tick the appropriate box. If yes, please detail below the types of activities our funding will support. | Yes. | No. |
|---|---|---|
Section 4 – Council Priorities
Your application must support delivery of at least one of the Council’s priorities or values, as outlined in the Guidance. Please explain in the table below which of the values and priorities your project supports and how your project will help the Council to deliver on its priorities and values.
| Values | Priorities |
|---|---|
| The Council’s current values are: • People • Unity • Trust • Ownership • Creativity | The Council’s current key priorities are: • Growing Our Economy • Strengthening Our Communities • Developing our Infrastructure |
Section 5 – Financial information
Income
| If applying for funding towards a specific project, what is the total cost of your project? | |
| If you are applying for funding towards your general running costs, what is your annual budget? | |
| How much are you applying to The Culture Fund for? | |
| Will your project still go ahead if your application to the Culture Fund is unsuccessful, or you are awarded less than the amount applied for? (Yes/No?). |
| Who else have you applied to for assistance? | Amount confirmed. | Not yet confirmed. | When will it be confirmed? |
|---|---|---|---|
Other income
| Other income | Cash | In-kind |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket sales. | ||
| Sponsorship. | ||
| Own resources. | ||
| In-kind support. | ||
| Other (please describe). |
Please detail your projected expenditure below, in the applicable boxes.
Please leave blank any boxes not relevant to your application, and please ensure that your total expenditure matches your total income.
Expenditure
| Expenditure | Cash | In-kind |
|---|---|---|
| Administration (including expenses, e.g. stationery). | ||
| Running costs (if applicable, including heating, lighting, etc). | ||
| Staff costs, artistic/professional fees. | ||
| Venue/equipment hire. | ||
| Travel/accommodation/subsistence. | ||
| Advertising. | ||
| Design/printing. | ||
| Other costs (please describe). | ||
| Total expenditure. |
Please enclose with your application a copy of your most recent audited or certified accounts.
If your application is successful, you must inform us as soon as possible if other grant applications or sources of funding you rely on are not successful.
Section 6 - Other information
Please provide us with a brief explanation of how you plan to market your project or organisation’s activities in the box below.
Please provide us with a brief explanation of how you plan to monitor and evaluate your project or organisation’s activities.
Please provide us with a brief explanation of how your project or organisation’s activities address equalities and break down barriers to inclusion. The Council’s Equality and Diversity Strategy can be found at: www.orkney.gov.uk/your-council/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/
Please indicate which of these apply to your organisation. First time applicants –please include a copy with this application.
- Child protection policy.
- Protection of vulnerable adults’ policy.
- Data protection policy.
- Equalities policy.
- Health and safety policy.
- Fair work policy.
- Public Liability Insurance certificate.
I declare that the information provided in this application form is accurate, to the best of my knowledge. Please note an electronic signature is acceptable.
| Signature. | Print name. | Date. |
|---|---|---|
Checklist
Have you included the following with your application?
| Document types for Inclusion. | Tick Relevant. |
|---|---|
| Constitution e.g. Memorandum and Articles of Association / Trust Deed. | |
| Draft or confirmed programme. | |
| Most recent signed audited or certified accounts. | |
| Policies, if a new Organisation, otherwise a list of policies held (see above). |
All applications must be received no later than 17:00 on Friday 31st October 2025
Please send your completed form and other details to:
Emma Gee (Arts Officer).
By email: emma.gee@orkney.gov.uk
Privacy Notice
We need the information on this form in order to assess your application to the Culture Fund. The lawful basis for processing this information is to allow us to provide this public service. The information may be shared within the local authority.
The information relating to successful applicants will be retained by Orkney Islands Council a period of 7 years. Information relating to unsuccessful applicants will be retained for a period of 2 years. For more information about how we process information, please contact us or visit www.orkney.gov.uk/privacy. Paper copies are available from the Council or the information can be accessed via the QR Code below.
IMAGE: A QR code is provided to access information about how Orkney Islands Council processes information.