National Lottery Project Grants Open for Northern Ireland Arts Projects

Arts Council of Northern Ireland has opened its National Lottery Project Funding round for 2026/27 to support organisations delivering arts projects that contribute to community arts activity and engage new and existing audiences.

The support is intended for work that benefits people in Northern Ireland or helps arts organisations meet their aims, while reflecting Northern Ireland's social and cultural diversity. The Arts Council has indicated it wishes to support work involving children and young people, older people or people with disabilities, alongside proposals delivering high quality programming in rural areas. It also encourages work focusing on Minority Ethnic artists, D/deaf, neurodiverse and disabled artists, emerging artists, working-class artists and LGBTQIA artists, as well as innovative and original work across art forms.

Grants of between £10,001 and £75,000 are available. Awards can cover salary costs directly related to the project, including recruitment, employer national insurance contributions, pension and expenses. Applicants may also claim overheads attributable to the supported work and include accessibility costs within the budget.

Applications are invited from legally constituted organisations including registered charities and other non-profit-distributing bodies, partnerships of organisations, public sector agencies operating outside their statutory remit and commercial organisations where the activity is primarily for public benefit. Local authorities can apply but are considered a low priority.

Projects must take place between 1 August 2026 and 31 July 2027 and can last up to one year.

The deadline for applications is 1 June 2026 (noon). For more information, please visit National Lottery Project Funding 2026-2027 | Arts Council NI