Grants of up to £15,000 have been made available to support local organisations and individuals deliver cultural and creative projects across Aberdeen.
Catalyst Funding is a new opportunity within the Cultural Investment Programme, designed to support not-for-profit organisations and community groups based in Aberdeen to deliver high quality creative and cultural activity. This funding is intended for activity taking place from April 2026 onwards.
Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesperson said: “Cultural activity is vital for the wellbeing of all communities across the city.
“The Catalyst Fund is a welcome opportunity to support and enable creative projects that are able to reflect the rich diversity of our city. Art can bring people together and Catalyst is an important initiative to promote inclusion and friendship. I hope that as many as possible will apply.”
Grants of up to £15,000 will be available to support eligible activities in Aberdeen and can support:
- New, one-off, large-scale ambitions non-profit cultural projects;
- Testing new activity, including as part of recurring events such as annual festivals;
- Encouraging and retaining local artists, producers, promoters and creative partners to deliver ambitious programmes;
- Piloting new projects and collaborations, and;
- Activities that reflect Aberdeen’s creative and cultural diversity, including work by, with, or for people with protected characteristics or those living in disadvantaged areas.
The Cultural Investment Programme supports a wide range of cultural activities, from day-to-day operations of major cultural organisations and venues to small-scale projects from local individual artists.
Since its launch, the Culture Investment Programme has awarded over £1.4million in funding to support 24 organisations and 9 individual artists.
Applications can be made online: Culture Investment Programme 2025 | Aberdeen City Council. The deadline for applications is Thursday 6 November 2025 at 12noon.
Anyone interested in Catalyst Funding is invited to attend an online information session on Thursday 25 September at 5:30pm. To book a space visit: Catalyst Funding Information Session Tickets, Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM | Eventbrite
Individual support sessions can also be arranged by emailing creativefunding@aberdeencity.gov.uk.