Frequently Asked Questions

If you have trained or worked in the UK within ballet, contemporary, or musical theatre dance (dancer, dance teacher, choreographer) you should be eligible for support. All other dance forms including South Asian, ballroom and street dance will also be considered. Overseas work may be considered as a part of your overall dance employment. For specific requirements, please see the individual grant guidelines.

Each case is assessed on the applicants' individual needs, based on what they have included in the application 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 application form. The form gives us a better understanding of your individual circumstances, particularly your financial situation and how we can help you to improve things.

We need to see your CV so we can confirm your professional career as this fund is for dance professionals. You will also need to supply a recent bank statement together with any savings accounts; but we are not interested in where you shop! We use the bank statement to verify your identity, and it should show key information such as outgoings (including rent, bills etc) and income, (including any benefits received). All documentation will be deleted in line with our retention policy.

Applicants may 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. It may be the case that state benefits will not be enough to pay all your outgoings or you may not be eligible. In both instances, we may be able to pay you an amount to make up the shortfall until you are able to support yourself again.

If there is a deadline date for a particular grant we will make this information available on our website, so it is best to check when applying.

We aim to let you know the outcome of your request within a maximum of 2 months from applying. Decisions are made on the day by an applications committee; you will be informed as soon as possible via email thereafter.

We hope that if you have applied to us we will be able to provide you with what you need. We do advise that you read through the guidelines thoroughly before applying. If you then supply the information in the guidelines it is more likely that your request will be successful. If you are unsuccessful and you would like feedback on your application, you are welcome to 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 an applications committee consisting of some of the Fund's Trustees. Your personal information is taken off the application so they will not know your identity.

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 need to submit a summary of all professional engagements i.e. paid dance work. This may include performances on stage, screen, or in other settings. Promotional work like appearance in adverts can be included if you have been contracted to perform as a dancer or are the choreographer. You must provide specific dates of each professional engagement.

You can teach in private dance schools, community dance settings or vocational dance colleges.

Steady teaching work for example three days a week of daily classes would constitute regular employment. We can also accept teaching work that is delivered via online platforms so long as it is paid employment.

A recognised qualification from a Dance Awarding Organisation e.g. ISTD, RAD, BBO or IDTA will be required. We may alternatively accept other extensive experience for example ownership of a dance school with name of school and dates of operation.

For participatory dance artists we need evidence of facilitating dance within a community setting e.g. what company/organisation and when.

I am retired – what evidence do I need to include to show my dance career?

It doesn’t matter how long ago you stopped working in dance, but we do need evidence of your career in dance including any dance related qualifications you have.

For dancers, please submit your dance CV showing your performance history.

For dance teachers, we would need your CV and/or evidence of running your own dance school and during what time frame.

We require you to complete an application form that will ask you for the documentation we need including a budget. This will include details of the course you are undertaking. We will need to see details of how you will support yourself while you are training, e.g. any amounts that you are receiving to support your studies, including Student Loans.

We require you to complete an application form if you require medical costs that will ask you for the documentation we need. This will include a medical recommendation as well as a treatment plan, with costs, from the practitioner carrying out your treatment.

When you initially approach us, we will try and help you resolve your situation in full. Once our support for you has ended you can reapply, but we would need to know what steps you have taken to improve the situation since your last contact with us. Reapplication requests may take into account any previous funding from us.

We are not able to fund either the production, touring or development of dance work.

We are sorry but our charitable objects do not cover supporting dance students.