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Catalyser Fund

Published on 28 April 2022

Authored by Anonymous

The Youth Music Catalyser Fund offers grants between £30,001 and £300,000 to organisations in England who want to sustain work, scale-up delivery, or create change in sector practice. Catalyser programmes must support children and young people who face barriers to make, learn or earn in music, and aim to make music activity more inclusive so everyone can access it.

Your work must meet one of our themes:

Early years
Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people
Youth justice system
Young people facing barriers
Young adults
Organisations and the workforce.

Catalyser Fund Round 5
Expression of Interest Deadline: 2 May 2025
Notification: 20 June 2025
Full Application Deadline: 01 August 2025
Notification: 24 October 2025
For programmes starting between: December 2025 and February 2026

All deadlines are 5pm. Apply here via our Grants Portal.

Want to talk to us about your Expression of Interest? Book a Zoom call with one of the team.

Update: These slots have now all filled up, but you can still email us at grants@youthmusic.org.uk if there's anything you'd like to discuss before the deadline.

Last year we paused the Catalyser Fund to make some small but important improvements.

We have updated our eligibility and budget guidance and engaged a wider range of external advisors (including young people) to inform funding decisions. All changes are highlighted in the refreshed guidance.

Applicant Guidance (PDF) Applicant Guidance (Word) Expression of interest application questions Application form questions Apply Here

A Catalyser programme will be sustaining work, scaling up-work or creating change in sector practice (or all three!). A Catalyser programme could be:

An experienced youth charity sustaining its successful youth-led music provision over four years.
A CIC who, following the successful delivery of a pilot project, wants to scale-up their programme to reach more young people and work across a wider geographic area.
An established music charity wanting to develop an Early Years network. They will up-skill practitioners, and influence sector practice so that more people are delivering child-centred music practice.

read this blog for examples of catalyser fund projects read the frequently asked questions

Resources

Access fund: support for Disabled applicants

If you identify as Disabled and need further support to make an application to Youth Music, you can apply to our 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 funds.

Safeguarding hub

Find out what safeguarding means and what Youth Music expects from funded partners.

IDEA hub

We believe that music should be Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, and Accessible. We call these principles 'IDEA' for short. Want to improve inclusion, diversity, equity and access in your organisation? Check out our self assessment survey to help you think through what you’re doing well, and what could be improved. We've also compiled additional resources to inspire and shape your IDEA journey.