APPLYING TO THE CATHEDRAL MUSIC SUPPORT PROGRAMME
Cathedral Music Trust invites applications from eligible organisations to our Cathedral Music Support Programme.
Organisations can apply for up to £30,000 to be spent within two years.
Introduction
Through the Cathedral Music Support Programme, we want to help address key challenges across the sector by working alongside music departments to support excellence, broaden participation and develop sustainability. We will focus our support on work that can demonstrate significant impact and has the best chance of achieving long-term success, for example, by working in partnership with others. We will accept applications for up to two years of support for ongoing work, as well as new activities that make a strong case for long term sustainability.
We aim to offer more than just financial support. We intend to keep in contact with recipients of our funds, offering help at key points along the way, for example, with planning or monitoring and evaluation. Our involvement will be ‘light touch’. In most cases it will take the form of a listening ear, our aim being to help recipients make the best use of our funding.
There is a two-stage application process for our support. Stage one involves the completion of an online application form. Stage two (for applicants successful at stage one) comprises a friendly online discussion.
Key Dates
Monday 8 December 2025
Application window opens
Tuesday 9 December 2025 at 12:00pm
Webinar on applying to the Cathedral Music Support Programme
Monday 9 February 2026, 11.59pm
Stage one application deadline
April 2026
Stage two discussions
June 2026
Decisions communicated
Join Our Webinar
Date: Tuesday 9 December
Time: 12.00pm
This webinar will offer guidance on how to apply to the Cathedral Music Support Programme and tips to help make your application stand out. Sign up from 11 November.
Who can apply?
An organisation can apply for support if:
- It is a place of Christian worship of a recognised denomination from the UK, a UK Crown Dependency or the Republic of Ireland (e.g. cathedral, collegiate chapel, church)
- It promotes the performance of cathedral-style choral repertoire
- It sings a regular pattern of choral services most weeks during term time (e.g. Evensong, Vespers, Matins, Eucharist)
- It did not receive an award from Cathedral Music Trust in 2025
We will accept applications from cathedrals and royal peculiar foundations irrespective of the number of weekly services they sing. Cathedrals and royal peculiar foundations will not be eligible to apply to the Church Choir Award, even if they sing fewer than three choral services per week.
We will accept applications from churches and other places of worship that sing three or more choral services most weeks during term time. Churches that sing fewer than three choral services each week are invited to apply to the Church Choir Award.
You can use our eligibility checker to see if you are eligible to apply for support. To get an accurate response, you must answer every question. You are welcome to talk to us if you would like to discuss your eligibility for support.
How much can I apply for?
You may apply for up to £30,000 to spend over two years. Successful applicants in 2026 will not be eligible to apply again until 2028.
You may apply for up to 90% of the total budget cost. Applicants are expected to supply a minimum of 10% (or more) from their own resources or alternative sources of funding. This means that, if the total cost of your activity is £20,000, you can apply to us for £18,000 and you will need to find the additional £2,000 from other sources of income. You should demonstrate in your budget that you either already have these funds in place or that you have a robust plan to raise them.
The majority of the costs you apply for should be project or revenue funding (i.e. for activities and their associated costs or for staff). Up to 20% may be for capital costs connected to your activity (such as the purchase of music). There is no requirement for the work you apply for to be new or additional to your current activity; we are willing to consider applications for the continuation of high-quality work.
If your application is successful, we will withhold 5% of the grant until we have received a satisfactorily completed final monitoring report. Multi-year grants will be paid in instalments.
What can I apply for?
The programme has three priority areas (Pathways to Music, Training and Development and Supporting the Workforce). We will only accept applications for work that addresses these priorities. Your activity may address more than one of these areas; applications which do, however, will not be prioritised over those which meet just one. You are welcome to talk to us in advance of submitting an application if you need guidance about which priority areas to apply for.
We are keen to support activities which, where feasible, work with other partners (such as local music hubs and arts organisations), particularly if these partnerships will enable the work to continue beyond the term of our support. We would expect you to have spoken with your partners in advance of making an application and ask that you identify your partners and what they will bring to the work in the application form. Ideally, your partners will be in a position to contribute matched funding or support in-kind.
If your application is successful, you will be required to start the work as soon as is practicable, but no later than September 2027.
Preparing Your Application
Typically, a good application will:
- Identify achievable outcomes, showing how the work will benefit participants and/or the department as a whole, what success will look like and how this will be measured
- Demonstrate the steps that can be taken to sustain the work beyond the duration of our support
- Have a clear timeline and delivery plan
- Include a detailed, itemised budget
- Include a contribution of 10% or more of the total cost from other sources. In addition to contributions from third parties, we are keen to see a financial commitment from the lead organisation (the applicant)
We are looking to help music departments deliver activities that can make a real, measurable and lasting difference. If you have an idea that can do just that, we would like to hear from you.
You may find it helpful to refer to these definitions when completing your application:
-
Through this priority area of our Cathedral Music Support Programme, we want to help choral foundations widen participation in cathedral music, both in terms of numbers and diversity.
Examples are activities which:
- address barriers to participation for under-represented groups
- increase the number of choristers
- set up or develop additional choirs (e.g. a children’s choir or a youth choir)
- establish, expand or improve school engagement programmes
- increase opportunities for teenagers, students or early career musicians to participate (e.g. through choral and organ scholarships)
A good application will demonstrate that your project addresses a specific need to widen participation in cathedral music. Your application should demonstrate how the work benefits the music-making at the place of worship, for example by increasing the number of scholars or junior scholars.
-
Through this priority area of our Cathedral Music Support Programme, we want to help choral foundations deliver excellence across the many facets of their work by supporting the development of the individuals who contribute to music-making.
We wish to work alongside music departments which have a vision for developing the quality of their work by giving their musicians (both children and adults) access to the best possible training and support.
Examples could include:
- vocal coaching for a choir
- singing, instrumental or theory lessons for choristers and/or scholars (particularly to help young people experiencing socio-economic deprivation to access tuition where it is not readily available elsewhere, e.g. at school)
- training in choral leadership or musical pedagogy for early career musicians
A good application will identify and address a specific need for training, showing how it will benefit the department as a whole.
-
Through this priority area of our Cathedral Music Support Programme, we want to help choral foundations increase the impact and sustainability of their work by supporting new and existing professional roles.
We will consider applications for posts which maintain the ‘status quo’, and those which allow a choral foundation to enhance or expand its current provision, either through a new, sustainable post, or by increasing the hours of an existing post. We will also consider applications for staff time and/or costs of professional services to set up or increase the funds in a music endowment.
Examples include:
- support for professional members of the back row
- administration support for music departments
- support for providing chorister chaperones to fulfil safeguarding responsibilities
- support for a musician to work on community engagement projects, an Assistant Director of Music or Assistant Organist
- support for staff time and/or costs of professional services to set up or increase the funds in a music endowment
Please note, we will not support applications for the salaries of Directors of Music.
A good application will demonstrate why the post is needed, showing how the role will benefit the department as a whole. Your application should include a short job description for the role, including details of hours and remuneration.
We recognise that work on endowments may not always require a new, permanent staff member. If your work involves a temporary contract or consultant, we will expect to see justification for this decision.
How is my application assessed?
At stage one, your application will be assessed by our Grants Assessment Panel. The Panel will rank the applications according to their potential for impact. The Panel takes into account the activity’s alignment with our mission (transforming lives through cathedral music), our objectives of excellence, participation and sustainability and the breadth and depth of the anticipated outcomes and impact. The Panel will also consider the current financial position of the applicants, as evidenced by the headline figures requested in the application form. Applications which rank highly in this assessment will be invited to stage two.
Stage two comprises a friendly, online discussion with Cathedral Music Trust staff and representatives of the Grants Assessment Panel. We will discuss the evidence of the need for your activity and how the work outlined in your application will meet this need. We will look at your delivery plan, discuss the contributions (financial or in-kind) of any proposed partners and explore your plans for monitoring and evaluation. We ask that a member of your finance team attends this meeting, along with the staff most closely involved in the management and/or delivery of the activity. We may make suggestions as to how your plans may be refined or adjusted to make the best use of our support.
At this stage we will ask for some supporting documentation, which is likely to include your most recent audited accounts, your most recent internal management accounts, and your organisation’s and music department’s budgets for the next financial year, as well as undertaking a more detailed assessment of the applicant’s financial position.
Reports from the stage two meetings will be considered by our Grants Assessment Panel and Trustees before final decisions are made.
It should be noted that we expect to receive more applications that rank highly in our assessment than we will be able to fund, including some applications that progress to stage two. This means that there are likely to be many good applications we are unable to support, and that we may not be able to award all successful applicants the full amount requested.
Please note that the ranking and deliberation of the Panel will not be made public but we do aim to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
The process step-by-step
Application
You prepare an application and submit it to us (by the deadline) via the online form. The application form requests details about your work, including measurable outputs, outcomes and impact, and an itemised budget.
Assessment
Our Grants Assessment Panel assesses the applications. We invite applicants whose applications rank highly in the assessment to progress to stage two. At this point, we will also inform the applicants we will not be taking to stage two.
Supporting Information
At stage two, we will ask applicants to provide some additional information, which is likely to include the following:
- Your most recent audited accounts
- Your most recent available internal management accounts
- Your organisation’s and music department’s budgets for 2026
- Information about any music foundations, endowments or other sources of funds for music
We will ask Catholic cathedrals to supply recent financial returns to the Diocese. We may also request other documents related to your application.
Meeting
We will meet with applicants who have progressed to stage two so that, together, we can discuss your objectives, timeline, delivery plan and measures of success. Please note that there is no guarantee that all stage two applicants will be offered financial support.
Decision
If your application is successful, we will contribute funds (up to an agreed maximum) to enable you to carry out your work.
If your application is unsuccessful, we will provide written feedback to help you understand our decision.
Payment
Once you have formally agreed to the terms and conditions, we will pay the first instalment of your grant.
Publicity and Acknowledgement
We will announce the awards soon after the decision and ask that you work with us to publicise your financial award and its outcomes.
Programme Begins
You begin the work as soon as is practicable, but no later than September 2027.
During the project we will require you to share photographs of and feedback from your work.
We may visit your place of worship to see the work we are supporting in action.
Shared Learning
We will host two online events each year for all recipients to facilitate peer support, networking and the sharing of good practice.
Reporting
We will offer support to help you monitor and evaluate your work, so that you are able to demonstrate its impact.
Evaluation
You submit an evaluation at the end of the term of our support, showing to what extent the work has met your stated outputs, outcomes and impact, and what you have learned from the work for the future. We encourage you to be as honest as possible about any challenges, as understanding these helps us improve our support for the sector.
If your programme’s duration is two years, we will ask for an interim report at the end of the first year.
Apply online
The 2026 Cathedral Music Support Programme will open for applications on 8 December 2025. The deadline for submissions is 9 February 2026.
When you submit your application, you will receive an automated acknowledgement by email, including a pdf version of your application form. If you do not receive this acknowledgment within one hour of submitting the form, please contact us without delay.
If you have any questions about our grants or would like to discuss your application with us in advance of submission, please do get in touch by email: [email protected], or telephone: 020 3151 6096. We process your data in accordance with our Grant Applicants and Recipients Privacy Notice.