Racial injustice means unfair differences in people’s experiences, opportunities or outcomes because of their race or ethnicity. It can arise through discrimination, prejudice, unequal access to resources and opportunities, or systems and practices that disadvantage some racial or ethnic groups.

Facing racial inequality may experience barriers such as:

• Unequal access to arts, education, employment or funding opportunities.
• Limited representation in decision-making or creative spaces.
• Poorer outcomes linked to structural or institutional racism.

There are many different terms used to describe the communities who experience racism and racial injustice. These include BAME, Global Majority, people of colour, Black and Brown communities, ethnic minorities, minoritised communities; and those who have been racialised as ethnic minorities.

The following communities may therefore apply to the fund:

• Black / African / Caribbean communities 
• Any mixed or multiple ethnic background
• Asian communities
• Arab communities 
• Indigenous communities
• Latin American communities
• Jewish communities 
• Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

In referencing these communities, we will sometimes use the term "Black and Global Majority". This was the most favoured option in our consultations. 

Many are uncomfortable with grouping communities by race or ethnicity because of the harm these labels can cause. We recognise that this term is therefore imperfect and not everyone will identify with it. We know that no single term feels right for everyone, because individuals have different identities and experiences of racism. In your application, please use whatever language feels right to you.

Black and Global Majority creatives make significant cultural and economic contributions. Yet have faced historic and systemic barriers within the creative ecosystems they’ve helped to shape. The fund aims to redress this inequality by supporting the development, resilience and wellbeing of those organisations through long term and core funding.

Read more about the insights that have shaped this fund.

The fund is targeted at organisations who are “led by and for” communities experiencing racial injustice. Analysis of Youth Music’s funding data from the last two years has shown that Black and Global Majority-led organisations are much more likely to reach children and young people from those communities. On average, 72% of their participant pool was young people from Black and Global Majority communities, compared with 31% for other organisations.

In our Born into Music research, young people from the Global Majority were less likely to see themselves represented in leadership positions; and 44% cited ‘lack of role models’ as a barrier. So, by targeting Black and Global Majority led organisations, we are ultimately supporting young people from these communities.

Our definition states:

• You work with a majority of people from these communities. 
• Decision-making and influence sit mainly with people from these communities.

Led by: We'd typically expect at least 51% of trustees, senior leaders, staff, or key decision-makers to be from these communities. However, we know that numbers don't always capture the full story. For example, you have a board of two people and no paid staff, the 51% rule doesn’t work. 

We understand that organisations operate in different ways and there is no single model of being "led by and for"; and that numbers alone are not a true reflection. There is space in your proposal to tell us how and why you think you meet these criteria, in addition to the information we ask about in relation to the make-up of your workforce. 

Led for: When it comes to participants, we’d expect the majority (51% or more) to be from these communities. 

In general, we will consider how organisations engage with and serve their communities, and how those communities are meaningfully represented in leadership and decision-making. This includes leadership informed by lived experience, work with young people facing barriers, and accountability to the community through approaches such as co-design with children and young people.

This is aligned to the requirements of our current funding agreement with Arts Council England. 

No. the fund is focused on the organisational development and capacity-building of individual Black and Global Majority-led organisations, helping them strengthen their long-term resilience and sustainability. Applications must therefore be submitted by one eligible organisation and cannot be made jointly as a collaboration or partnership. 

Organisations may work with partners as part of their plans, but the funding must primarily support the development of the applicant organisation.

Yes. You can apply as a CIC, registered charity, CIO, limited company, social enterprise or unincorporated group. This includes Companies, Community Benefit Societies, Co-operatives, and voluntary groups with a constitution and management committee. 

You need to meet these conditions:

• Be legally constituted. If you are registered with Companies House or the Charity Commission, your registration must be in place. Sole traders and individuals can't apply.
• Have been delivering activity for at least one year before December 2026.
• If you are a voluntary group not registered with Companies House or the Charity Commission, you will need a constitution and a management committee.

Individuals and sole traders cannot apply, nor can groups without a constitution or other governing document.

Unfortunately, no. As this funding originates from The National Lottery via Arts Council England, it can only be used for work that benefits young people in England. 

The turnover should be from your last financial year end. If your income was more than £500,000 in that year, then you are ineligible. 

We will review your organisation set up date and then to check that you have been delivering activity for one year. Delivering activity for at least a year is about your organisation having a track record working with the communities we want to reach. To assess this, we’ll look at things like the track record example you submit with your application, your online presence, and financial activity within your accounts. 

We are not accepting fiscal hosts - the organisation must have its own bank account and be a legal entity. 

Please send us your financial records from the last year. This could be in the form of a spreadsheet or the financial records that have been presented to your board or management committee. We want to see a record of income and expenditure; and any assets, savings, debts or other financial commitments you have.  

You can apply if you have Arts Council NPO and other core funding. In general, we are trying to prioritise organisations with little or no access to other core funding, and we could class NPO as core funding. However we are also aware that the Arts Council National Portfolio is changing soon, so having it now is no guarantee for the future. 

Yes, contingency costs need to be budgeted within the £120,000 total.

No, these can be on top of the £120,000. So, if your grant request is £120,000, you can also apply for an additional £12,000 (10% of grant request) in personal access costs.

There is space in the budget section of the application form to request personal access costs. We'll ask you whether you want to request them, and if so, you can enter the costs separately from the main grant request. They can cover leaders, freelancers and employees.

The minimum you can request is £40,000. Asking for the full amount does not hurt your chances. We encourage applicants to request the amount they genuinely need to deliver their proposed organisational development plans.

Requesting the maximum available amount will not disadvantage an applicant. We are more interested in whether costs are realistic and proportionate. Please do not artificially decrease your costs in the hope that you will have a higher chance of success. This will not increase your chance of success, and you will be left out of pocket. 

Yes, the grant can pay for existing roles and it can also replace lost funding.

The grant can be used to pay founders and Directors, so long as they are doing work or providing a service.

Charity Trustees can only be paid if it meets the Charity Commission's CC11 guidance on paying a Trustee or connected person.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. We recognise that for many historically underfunded organisations, building a reasonable level of unrestricted reserves may be an essential part of becoming financially resilient and sustainable.

Funding should primarily support organisational development and resilience. Where building reserves forms part of a broader strategy for long-term sustainability, applicants should explain:

• Why reserves are needed.
• What level of reserves is considered appropriate.
• How reserves will contribute to organisational stability and future impact.

We are interested in proportionate approaches rather than the accumulation of excessive reserves.

Yes, this is paid for. We expect that there will be quarterly online meetings so recommend you budget for at least half a day of staff time per quarter. Timings are to be confirmed, as the sessions will be planned with the successful applicants.

This fund is financed with National Lottery funding, which we receive through Arts Council England. It is Youth Music's third fund to work across all artforms (i.e. not just music), in line with our current funding agreement which changes in 2027.

We took an equitable approach to designing all three funds. This addresses known disparities and builds what we learn into our other funds. For this third fund, we chose to focus on communities facing racial injustice, informed by our own research and wider sector evidence. 

We don't have the resources to run it again. We have been clear about this from the start so that applicants can plan their proposals around it.

Yes. We want the application process to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, so a range of support resources will be available.

We will offer Zoom Q&A sessions and one-to-one calls with a member of our team, in addition to an application support workshop delivered by our learning partner and a range of resources in our resource hubs.

If you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent or have a long-term health condition and need support to make a funding application to Youth Music, you can apply to our application access fund. This provides funding to cover any additional access costs that might be required for you to make an application to one of Youth Music’s main grant funds. For example, you might want to pay a support worker to help you write your application or help submit it via our online grant’s portal. Visit the access support page on our website to find out more about what we cover and how to apply. 

The focus of your budget and/or activities is likely to be unique to your own organisation and might be affected by your size, age, governance, current financial situation and other matters. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. If you want to discuss your ideas, you can book a 1:1 with a member of our team. 

The application guidance contains further information on the areas we review as part of our decision-making. This includes:

• Eligibility – whether you meet the criteria to be eligible to apply.
• Ethos and practice – of your organisation, linked to the eligibility criteria.
• Track record and engagement – including your history of delivering creative activities with children and young people who experience racial injustice.
• Need and impact – the likely impact the funding will have for your organisation long-term.
• Strategy and systems – this includes policies and practices around things like IDEA, safeguarding, governance and finance, in addition to your strategy (which may be in its infancy if you are a relatively new organisation).

All applicants will be notified by end of March 2027.

We know that things are likely to change but we would like to understand your long-term vision for this funding. If you are successful, there will be flexibility and opportunity to make changes in your plans. 

We want the funding to help organisations strengthen their long-term future by providing funding that supports organisational development and resilience. This will look different in different organisations. 

Your budget should reflect the actual cost of delivering your plans over the full grant period.

You should consider:

• Staff salaries and on-costs.
• Cost of living and inflationary increases.
• Freelance and consultancy fees.
• Training and professional development.
• Governance and leadership costs.
• Monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Equipment, technology and software (up to 20% Capital costs).
• Rent, utilities and other core organisational costs.

Budgets should be realistic, evidence-based and aligned to your organisational development objectives as well as other funding you have access to.

Geography and opportunity look different in different places. We do not disadvantage organisations that reach fewer participants or work in areas with less developed infrastructure. However, we do require you to have some kind of track record in reaching children and young people who experience racial injustice. 

When we do the ‘portfolio balancing,’ we review where the work is taking place, to ensure that we are distributing fairly across all regions of the country. The geography of where the work takes place is important to us.

In the application form we ask you to tell us about:

• Your current financial position, including your free reserves, in your own words. 
• How your financial position has changed since you finalised your financial records.
• The systems and processes you have in place to help you monitor your position and adapt in response to changing financial circumstances.

This provides us with information in addition to what’s in your financial records. We want to say upfront that we know we’re operating in a very challenging financial environment. At our last survey, 37% of the organisations we spoke to were at risk of closure. What we want to see during these challenging times is that organisations have good financial management processes in place, so they can be responsive to changing circumstances.

We recognise that maintaining and/or building appropriate reserves is an important aspect of organisational resilience, and that many small organisations have no or low reserves. 

We will consider reserves alongside other factors including organisational size, financial commitments, future plans and the level of financial risk faced by the organisation.

Applications will be assessed against criteria for the fund and programme priorities. There is further information in section 5 of the guidance notes. 

We know we won't be able to meet demand for this funding. Sadly, we'll have to turn down good proposals we'd genuinely like to support.

Demand for the fund will be significantly greater than the amount available. This means we may not be able to fund every eligible application. This is a one-off fund, so you will be unable to re-apply. However, if you meet the criteria, you may be able to apply to one of Youth Music’s other funds. 

However, we will be offering some spaces on workshops for unsuccessful applicants, to help you reflect and think through next steps.

This fund has been designed to be as flexible as possible to allow organisations to build their resilience for the future. Development opportunities will also be offered through the wider learning programme.  Whilst we won’t be able to fund recipients on an ongoing basis, we hope that after the four years, they are in a better position to increase and diversify their income outside of Youth Music.

We’ll work with funded organisations to understand their progress, challenges and support needs. We will also share how this evidence shapes our funding priorities, processes and future funds.

Our aim is for Recharge Fund to leave organisations stronger, more confident, resilient, and better able to secure a diverse mix of future income, without encouraging commitments that depend on the grant continuing indefinitely. 

Once the grant is awarded, our flexible funding policy enables funded partners to adapt plans in response to learning throughout the grant period.

Throughout the grant, proportionate reporting and regular conversations will help us understand progress, risks, and changing support needs. Funded partners will receive proportionate support, including dedicated learning sessions with our learning partner through a co-designed programme. This should build confidence and track record to apply to other funders in the future, including Youth Music where appropriate.

Successful applicants must demonstrate how grant funds have been used and the progress made against your project plan. The reporting structure will be communicated once the funding agreement has been issued but is likely to include formal annual reporting against budget, activities and reach. You are required to keep financial and other important records for seven years after the grant has closed.