There has been an unavoidable delay in the approval process for the King's Coronation Youth Fund. We apologise for any inconvenience. We expect decisions to be confirmed by mid-September 2025. We appreciate that this delay may affect the timing of some planned activities and we will be able to discuss this with you once decisions have been agreed.
This is a major new investment in youth services, inspired by the King's lifelong commitment to young people.
Through the King Charles III Coronation Youth Fund, the council and local organisations will work together to expand access to arts, music, drama and sport for children and young people in H&F.
The initiative will mark a record amount of council funding to youth services in H&F and comes despite a 54 per cent cut in Government funding to council services over the last 10 years.
The Coronation Youth Fund reflects HM The King's lifelong dedication through The Prince's Trust to improving the lives of disadvantaged young people. It also supports our commitment to community safety by giving young people opportunities in life, a sense of pride and purpose and helping prevent them becoming victims of gang crime and exploitation.
Cllr Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said:
His Majesty King Charles III has long advocated for the nation's youth, and especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is only fitting that, in honour of his coronation, we should come together to celebrate this momentous occasion by launching a new youth fund."
The Coronation Youth Fund will support youth-focused investment across H&F, with funding split evenly between arts and culture projects and improvements to sports and leisure facilities. It will back inspiring events and activities, enhance local spaces, and help more young people access opportunities in arts, music, drama and sport.
The fund is designed to create lasting benefits for both people and places. H&F also hopes to attract additional support from third parties to grow the fund over time.
Funding overview
- The King's Coronation Youth Fund offers up to £800,000 in grants to support cultural and sporting activities for young people aged 0–25 across Hammersmith & Fulham.
- Organisations can apply for grants between £10,000 and £50,000, with most awards expected to be at the lower end of the scale.
- Cultural projects will have one funding round, for which the closing date is 16 June 2025. Sports projects will have two funding rounds, for which the first round closing date is 23 June 2025.
- Cultural projects must include a public-facing element taking place between March and September 2026.
- Applications are open to not-for-profit organisations based in the borough.
- Organisations must have a year's track record, appropriate governance, safeguarding and insurance in place.
- At least 10% of the total project cost must come from other sources, with a minimum of half provided in cash.
- Projects should be co-designed with local residents and offer clear progression routes for young people to develop their interests or skills.
- All activities must be delivered by suitably qualified professionals.
- Cultural projects must be artist-led.
- Sport projects must be led by local clubs with strong community links.
- Projects should include formal recognition of achievement for participants, such as Arts Awards, Sports Awards, or digital badges.
Roadshows
- Culture funding roadshow #1 - Wednesday 21 May, 1pm, Fulham Library (this event has now passed)
- Culture funding roadshow #2 - Thursday 22 May, 2pm, Hammersmith Library (this event has now passed)
- Sports funding roadshow #1 - Thursday 5 June 12pm, Linford Christie Stadium (this event has now passed)
- Sports funding roadshow #2 - Friday 6 June 11am, Linford Christie Stadium (this event has now passed)
Apply
Arts and culture funding applications closed on 16 June 2025.
Sports and activities funding applications closed on 23 June 2025. (There will be another round of funding for sports and physical activity only in the Autumn, with updated criteria.)
New applicants must attend a one-to-one advice session before applying, this is a mandatory step to help strengthen proposals and ensure eligibility.
Guide to applying for the King Charles Coronation Youth Fund
Further information and full details can be found in the Guide to applying for the King Charles III Coronation Youth Fund.
Frequently asked questions for arts and culture funding
The following questions were asked at the KCYF Culture Roadshows. If you have further questions, please contact us at KCYF@lbhf.gov.uk
What do you mean by culture and the arts?
We use the term 'culture' broadly, to incorporate the arts, our local culture, our heritage and our creative and cultural sector. All projects must be artist-led.
- The arts: includes all forms of artistic and creative expression - performing arts, visual arts, craft and media in all their contemporary and traditional forms.
- Local culture: comprises of activities, events, and traditions significant to our community, cultural events and activities that are important to local people, businesses and communities.
- Our heritage: encapsulates our shared history, knowledge, and experiences as well as in our landscapes and historic buildings and places, archives, libraries and museum collections, cultural practices, local knowledge and lived experiences.
- Our creative & cultural sector: captures the artists, arts organisations, libraries, creative businesses and related partners engaged in supporting, developing, presenting and promoting cultural and creative activities.
Does a co-designed project need to come directly from children and young people?
The important thing is that those who you hope to benefit play some part in designing the activity. For some organisations, they will already have an extensive youth board or youth voice programme, for others, it will mean building into the process some elements where the participants can shape it.
How do you define a showcasing opportunity / public facing outcome?
A public facing outcome is a product that can be experienced by the public, not just the participants and an invited (closed) audience. The showcasing opportunity does not need to be a finished / polished performance. It could be a sharing of work, a film documenting the work, an exhibition, performance or even a book. We want to recognise and celebrate the work that has been done with children and young people and for the wider Hammersmith & Fulham community to be able to appreciate the value of the arts to the young people participating. Our partners are keen to be part of the summer programme in 2026 and KCYF can provide support in helping to find venues and promote the outputs developed.
Where does the 10% funding contribution need to come from?
Any funding that is secured or likely to be secured can be used to form the 10% but half of the requirement must be from cash sources. The cash can be from other grants, ticket sales, your reserves, a fundraising activity as part of the project, sponsorship etc.
Can the grant be used for an event or festival that will be happening next year that still needs further funding?
Funding is for a time limited project taking place before the end of the 2026 calendar year. Provided the proposed activity fits the grant requirements and offers opportunity for children and young people to take part and has not already happened, it could take place as part of a larger initiative.
Can you apply for both funds- sports and culture? Can you apply for more than one project?
KCYF has limited funding available and want to ensure the benefits of the funds are available to as many excellent applications as possible. We would not normally expect to fund an organisation more than once as part of the grant cycle and encourage you to consider what project may be a priority for funding for your organisation.
In the event that you are acting as a 'partner' organisation, rather than the applicant, there is scope for taking part in more than one application.
Can you apply if you are currently in receipt of a H&F grant?
You can still apply but you will not be a priority, as we have limited resources and try to broaden the impact and benefit of our funds. We expect to receive many high-quality applications and will also need to consider a balance of geography, ages, types of participants and artforms.
If you have an application out for review for another fund that has not been awarded, you can still apply as long as you tell us in the application what other sources of funding you are currently seeking/in receipt of so that we can discuss it with our colleagues.
You cannot apply for funding for a project you are already in receipt of funding from H&F or have an application under review for.
If you have another application out for review with Council does preclude you from applying?
No- you are can still apply. However, all previous grants must have been delivered successfully, and all monitoring and evaluation been completed.
How many participants/ attendees are you expecting to see as part of the project?
We leave this for you to decide. This should be based on the artform, delivery method and length of project. Consider the depth and breadth of engagement. Every project is unique. It is more important when we assess a project that the numbers you hope to involve are realistic and align with the other information in your application. The monitoring form that you complete with your intended outputs should reflect the resources and plans you have for recruiting young people.
Can our project be intergenerational?
A project can involve people outside the 0-25 age group where this enables the project aims but the focus of the project must be on children and young people as creators, participants, audiences and/or leaders and the prime beneficiaries must be young people.
Can cultural heritage be explored as part of the project?
Yes, cultural heritage can be explored as long as the mechanism for exploring this is through an artist-led project, where children and young people are actively taking part in arts activities, leading to an artistic output.
The showcasing outcome needs to take place between 1 March-30 Sept. What happens if wanted to run your project to complete before then or to end after the 30th September? This would still fall within the delivery guidelines of July 2025-Dec 2026.
We are keen to showcase the great work happening across the Borough during a seven month period (1 Mar-30 Sept 2026). For projects that will continue past September, it is still possible to create a showcasing opportunity of works in progress to fulfil this requirement. For projects that will be completed before 1 March 2026, they would still be eligible but would not be a priority and you might like to consider how the outcome of the project could still be shared with the public.
What do you mean by ‘a process of recognition’? Does it need to be a formally accredited recognition?
Recognition needs to be appropriate to your activity, the scale and type of their project. Recognition comes in many forms and might include a digital badge (transferable record of your achievement), an Arts Award, a certificate of achievement. It does not need to be a fully moderated formal qualification. It is the principle of acknowledging the young person's develop and what they have achieved. For some young people it can also be an important way to create a portfolio for their progression.
How will you safeguard children and young people during these projects?
Every organisation will need a clear safeguarding policy. Further guidance can be found here: Safeguarding and child protection | Arts Council England and Safeguarding in the performing arts | NSPCC Learning.
Should you be interested in learning more about safeguarding in arts projects, do let us know and we will arrange an online session to support this.
Can we use AI to help write our application?
Yes, you can but do so with care. We understand the benefits of Ai to help in writing applications and encourage you to ensure that the unique aspects of your project are not lost. Often the individuality of application can be diluted when run through AI. As a reminder, many free AI tools retain data inputted, so be sure not to share confidential information. And lastly, please consider the environmental impact of using AI due to its contribution to energy consumption and impact on the climate.
