Person doing star jump in a theatre production wearing a white wig and native costume with five people behind wearing native costumes in front of an audience

Inspire fund


A new £300,000 fund has been launched in Greater Manchester to support freelancers and smaller organisations working in music and the arts.

Photography, literature, heritage projects and visual arts are some of the cultural groups who could benefit from individual grants of between £500 and £2,000.

Following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports have shown the level of investment and support for freelancers, independent creatives, artists, musicians and performers across the arts could be improved, with many freelance artists leaving the sector.

The investment, funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) will be administered by Salford CVS (Community and Voluntary Services) and allow freelancers and small organisations to apply for funding over the next three years.

Applications are encouraged from independent artists, musicians and small creative arts organisations from across Greater Manchester. 

The fund aims to support freelancers, independent creatives, artists, musicians, and performers across the arts. See the video with Dominic and People With Grit Studios to see an example of the work the fund supports:

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Round 4 is open 28 March - 28 April 2025 (external link)

CLOSED - Round 1

Round 1 closed at 12:00PM, Friday 1 March 2024. Below you can see a list of those funded broken up into our three main categories - creative organisation, independent organisation, freelance. 

Creative Organisation

Organisation/Individual  Location Category
Bolton Contemporary  Bolton Visual Art
ROJAK Salford Music
Sour Grapes Records Manchester Music
Hidden Altrincham Festival T/A Inch Arts  Trafford Mixed/Music
Ashton-under-Lyne Photographic Society 
Tameside Photography
Explosive Entertainments 
Greater Manchester  Music
Kathleen Studios
Salford  Music


Independent Organisation

Organisation/Individual Location Category
Angus Riddell Manchester  Woodwork
Harley Bainbridge Greater Manchester  Photography
Kintsuku Manchester  Music
Crafty Clay - Saddleworth Oldham, Tameside  Pottery
Laynah Juma Wigan Music
Dan Lovatt Salford Film/Theatre
Ula Fung Wigan Painting
Ms Man Wai Tse Trafford Crochet/Painting
Pui Ka Cheng Greater Manchester Puppetry 
Jim Parris Greater Manchester Music
Safety Catch Studios Trafford Live Performance/Audio


Freelance 

Organisation/Individual  Location Category
Emma Black - Music in Health Greater Manchester (Except Wigan) Music
Loose Articles Greater Manchester Music
Boy Oh Boy Designs Manchester Graphic Design 
Hart Creative Manchester  Photography 
Richard Babington Trafford, Salford, Manchester, Oldham   SFX/Outdoor Arts 
Martin Purdy  Greater Manchester Music
Becky McGillivray  Greater Manchester Muralism
Rebecca Taylor Sharman  Greater Manchester Music
Cheryl Blake  Greater Manchester  Mixed
Caroline Daly Manchester, Trafford Puppetry
Caroline Channing Stained Glass Stockport  Stained Glass
Magdalena Kij aka Maggie Stick & DJ Try  Greater Manchester Music
Freya Wysocki Manchester, Salford  Textiles
Sonia Bird Salford  Visual Art/Photography 


CLOSED - Round 2

Below you can see a list of those funded.

Organisation/Individual Location Category
Theatre Dance Academy
Ltd
Oldham Dance/Movement
Krystan Sharpe-Young Manchester, Salford Visual art, Drawing, Painting
Arvinda Gray Manchester, Salford
Stockport, Tameside,
Trafford, Wigan
Visual art
Raise The Bar MCR Manchester Music
Matilda Glen Stockport Visual art
Michelle Collier Trafford Visual art, writing
Neil Jacob Greater Manchester
wide
Circus
Mogan Manchester Music
Tom Orchison Manchester Music
Jude Jagger Trafford Music
Acid Rain Productions
LTD
Bury, Manchester,
Salford
Music, Writing
Annie Keki Manchester, Oldham Crafting
Manchester History Club Manchester Writing
Jack Hughes Bury, Manchester Music
AdamTrela.Com Stockport Visual art
Peter Walker Bolton, Bury, Oldham Painting, Sculpture
Holly Moeller Rochdale Visual art, Drawing, Painting
Tom Hardman Salford Theatre, Dance/Movement
Jaydev Mistry Greater Manchester
wide
Guitar building
Lewis David Oldham Greater Manchester wide  Visual art
1922 North Manchester
Ltd
Manchester Visual art, Photography
Elisa Morais Salford Digital art, Cinema/Video,
Drawing
Sleepy parrot studios Stockport Crafting, Painting, Drawing,
Sculpture, Video
Melanie Howells Trafford, Greater
Manchester wide
Painting
Tori Davies Greater Manchester
wide
Dance/Movement
The McGoldrick Sisters Greater Manchester
wide
Music
Evita Evelina Ziemele Manchester Painting
MADE Manchester Visual art, Theatre
Abigail Ward Manchester, Salford,
Stockport, Trafford
Music
Leeway Creative
Production LLP
Greater Manchester
wide
Live event production
JAKE MOLLOY Stockport Music
Sarah Unwin Manchester, Salford Music
Ruby Unsworth Bolton, Manchester Visual art
Make Build Grow C.I.C. Stockport Pottery, Painting
Fay Farah Greater Manchester
wide
Music, Dance/Movement
Circus Diaspora Trafford Street Theatre
Chanje Kunda Manchester

Theatre, Performance art

 

CLOSED - Round 3

Below you can see a list of those funded.

Organisation/Individual Location Category
Bloom Music Community
CIC
Rochdale Music
Dirty Freud Bury, Salford Music
Holly Eliza Temple Manchester Design and self publishing
Rhys Jiang Manchester Music
Eve Piper Bolton, Bury,
Manchester,
Oldham, Salford,
Stockport, Trafford
Music, writing
Maddie Wakeling All GM Theatre
The Yard Atelier CIC Manchester Crafting
MURMUR Manchester,
Salford, Stockport
Music, visual art, theatre,
writing, dance/movement
Naomi Harwin Manchester, Salford Visual art
TRIIIP All GM Music
Philip Harland Bolton, Manchester,
Salford, Trafford
Theatre
Jo Clement Salford Music
Hannah Tolson Stockport Visual art
Gabriel Mackenzie Oldham Fashion design
MAD Sustainable Design Manchester,
Trafford
Sculpture, crafting
Nicola Shaw Salford, Wigan Print making
Emily Thomas Ceramics
(ETC)
Manchester,
Stockport
Pottery, ceramic conservation
Terri Jade Donovan Stockport Theatre, writing
Northern Heart Films Wigan Cinema/video
Sandwith.studio Manchester, Stockport Crafting
Sascha Gilmou All GM Theatre
Sixth House Salford Theatre
Ruby-Ann Patterson Manchester Music, visual art, theatre,
writing
FNTSYWRLD Manchester Visual art, painting
Nicholas Jones All GM Cinema/vide
Littleborough Brass Bands
Association
Rochdale Music
Melanie Wilson Manchester Music
Tania Camara Manchester, Salford Music, theatre,
dance/movement
Anita Ezeh All GM Visual art, cinema/vide
Northern Light Film CIC Manchester Cinema/video
NOTS Manchester Crafting
Steph Clarke All GM Music, Theatre