Frequently Asked Questions

If you have worked for three years since completing your dance training within ballet or contemporary dance (dancer, dance teacher, choreographer) you should be eligible for support. Dance forms including South Asian, ballroom and street dance will also be considered.

Each case is assessed on the applicants' individual needs, based on what they have included in the Assessment of Needs form. Each grant section will normally give a maximum amount that can be applied for, so it is best to check when applying.

In order to help you most effectively, we need to assess your requirements accurately. The best way for us to do this is to ask you to fill in an Assessment of Needs form. The form gives us a better understanding of your individual circumstances, and how we can help you to improve them.

As well as details of your income and expenditure on the form, we need to see your CV so we can confirm your professional career, together with any supporting documentation we ask for. You will also need to supply a recent bank statement together with any savings accounts; we are not interested in where you shop! We use the bank statement to verify your identity, as well as key information such as benefits received. We will then delete it in line with UKGDPR as we will no longer require it.

It may be the case that state benefits will not be enough to pay all your outgoings. In these instances, we will be able to pay you an amount to make up the shortfall until you are able to support yourself again. Some applicants may not be eligible for Universal Credit, and in that case we need to see evidence that you have applied/checked via one of the online benefits calculators.

Each grant section will normally give a deadline date, so it is best to check when applying.

We aim to let you know the outcome of your request within 2 weeks of the deadline date. Decisions are made on the day of the applications committee meeting; you will be informed as soon as possible via email thereafter.

If you have read through the guidelines thoroughly before applying it is likely that your request will be successful. If you are unsuccessful and you want to know why, you can contact us.

If you are awarded a grant it may be paid into your bank account usually in one or more payments. Exclusions might be where we pay the provider directly, for instance an overdue utility bill. If you have requested help with Medical Costs, such as a course of physiotherapy, then we will pay the third party on your behalf.

All eligible requests are collated and forwarded for approval by the applications committee each month. Your personal information is taken off the application so they will not know your identity. The committee membership is several of the Fund’s trustees.

You can apply for funding for another person if they are unable to complete an application form themselves, but not without their knowledge and consent. If you do apply on behalf of someone else, they must sign and date the declaration form.

You do need to have worked for three years in the UK, adding all your professional engagements i.e. paid dance work. For instance, live performance, stage, dance on film. Promotional work, e.g. appearance in adverts, can be included if you have been contracted to perform as a dancer or are the choreographer.

Steady teaching work, either in your own school or in someone else’s dance business. We would consider three days a week of daily classes as being in regular employment. We can also accept teaching work that is delivered via online platforms so long as it is paid employment.

It doesn’t matter how long ago you gave up working in dance, but we would need evidence of your dance career. This would normally be your dance CV. For dance teachers, we would need evidence if for instance you ran your own dance school. We are most likely to give you a one off grant, for things that you cannot afford yourself out of your retirement income. This might include items such as replacement of household goods. So we would need to see evidence of the likely cost from a reputable supplier, or we can help you source the item if you wish.

We do require you to complete an Assessment of Needs form if you are retraining, as well as details of the course you are undertaking. We understand that in many cases there will not be the possibility to apply for state benefits. What we need to see is details of how you will support yourself while you are training, including details of any amounts that you are receiving to support your studies, including Student Loans.

We do require you to complete an Assessment of Needs form if you require medical costs. What we also need to see is a medical recommendation as well as a treatment plan, with costs, from the person carrying out your treatment.

For Living Costs assistance, Crisis support and Medical Costs grants, when you approach us for the first time, we will try and help you resolve your situation in full. You can reapply to us at a later stage, if it becomes necessary but we would need to know what steps you have taken to improve the situation since our award. Reapplication requests will take into account any previous funding from us.

Our support is given to dance professionals in personal need. We are not able to fund either the production or touring of dance work.

Our charitable objects do not allow for the provision of supporting those who have yet to commence a career in dance. We cannot help dance students. If you are looking for help CDET will be able to give you more advice.