There are four types of Awards in this Round:
Just R&D It – £3000 x 2 awards
Test It R&D – £5000 x 2 awards
Playing Out – £15,000 x 3 awards
Your Idea, Your Way – £10,000 x 2 awards
We understand there is a lot of information here, please make sure you read all the information related to the grant you are applying to and the Further Info section at the bottom of the page. You can also download all the information as a PDF here.
If you need any help completing your application for access or any other reason, or if you have any questions, you can contact us at hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk and we’ll get it sorted.
✔ At least one of the creative team has a strong connection to Bradford
✔ The project will happen in and/or be performed in Bradford
✔ It is about live arts and performance
✔ It relates to a new work that has not been performed previously
✔ Your idea is clear and achievable
Just R&D It: you have an idea you want to research
Test It R&D: you have an audience, group or community you want to involve
Focus On: Playing Out: your idea can be created during social distancing or be ready to go quickly
Your Idea, Your Way: your idea would make a big difference to your creative development
BPH want to encourage ‘true’ R&D projects: Projects that are purely about research and/or development of a new idea, with no public output expected.
BPH want to support ‘true’ R&D projects: Projects that are about research and/or development of a new idea.
There is a lack of opportunity and funding available to the sector, which leads to artists being pushed into applying for R&D funds in order to realise full, audience facing productions. These projects won’t be audience facing and might only reach the artists involved.
We want to give people time to play, test, research and develop your ideas. You might not even need to get into a rehearsal room, or you may need to be in a rehearsal room for the whole time.
These R&Ds should happen in Bradford.
All projects should involve at least one key creative with a strong connection to Bradford.
All R&Ds have a simple, 1-stage application process:
What’s the Big Idea (*big ideas can also be small and intimate)
This if for you to tell us all about the project you want to research and develop, what you hope to found out, and how you’ll know whether it’s been successful.
Successful applicants will have a kick-off meeting with the team to:
• Talk through their project in detail
• Raise any questions, issues or suggestions identified during the application review process
• Discuss and agree Wrap-Around Support
• Define appropriate check-in points and evaluation processes.
• Agree a fair payment schedule based on agreed evaluation processes and individual cashflow
This meeting will form an essential part of the final contract and agreement with the artist.The BPH team will then put in place all agreed support, monitoring and processes and the project will go into delivery.
For full information, see How to Apply, or download the PDF.
BPH want to encourage ‘true’ R&D projects: Projects that are purely about research and/or development of a new idea, with no public output expected.
Some R&Ds need an audience or engagement element. The Test It R&Ds are about trying something out and will have an outward facing moment or moments for artists to try out ideas.
We want to support people to engage communities, work with focus groups, test work in front of invited audiences, and most importantly – get feedback.
These R&Ds may happen elsewhere, but the outward facing element should happen in Bradford.
All projects should involve at least one key creative with a strong connection to Bradford.
All R&Ds have a simple, 1-stage application process:
What’s the Big Idea (*big ideas can also be small and intimate)
This if for you to tell us all about the project you want to research and develop, what you hope to found out, and how you’ll know whether it’s been successful.
Successful applicants will have a kick-off meeting with the team to:
• Talk through their project in detail
• Raise any questions, issues or suggestions identified during the application review process
• Discuss and agree Wrap-Around Support
• Define appropriate check-in points and evaluation processes.
• Agree a fair payment schedule based on agreed evaluation processes and individual cashflow
This meeting will form an essential part of the final contract and agreement with the artist.The BPH team will then put in place all agreed support, monitoring and processes and the project will go into delivery.
For full information, see How to Apply, or download the PDF.
These grants are all about readiness, part of Bradford’s recovery from Covid-19. What work can you create now in social distancing conditions, that is flexible in its approach and could be ready to go quickly when this situation eases? To be presented in existing Bradford cultural venues (indoor or outdoor).
“This too shall pass”- Playing Out is part of Bradford’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic: Celebrating all that is live, loving, lasting, resilient and healing in Bradford and the power of social proximity.
Playing Out commissions will be part of an essential boost for the cultural, economic and social life of Bradford.
These grants are all about readiness: What work can you prepare now, that is flexible in its approach and could be ready to go quickly when venues can safely open again or could even happen safely while they are still closed.
Playing Out aims to give vital support, inspiration and creative challenge to artists, and encourages you to find new ways of creating and collaborating remotely or via social distancing.
Regardless of the Pandemic, we have always aimed
to fund work that can be delivered in a variety of ways – this can include projects that could respond to Social Distancing or other rules that may come and go, and projects that just have to wait until audiences can (and want to) get in a room together again. We’re not looking to fund work about Covid-19 (unless of course that is what you want to make).
We are looking to fund ideas that are one or many of these themes:
Successful applicants will have a kick-off meeting with the team to:
• Talk through their project in detail
• Raise any questions, issues or suggestions identified during the application review process
• Discuss and agree Wrap-Around Support
• Define appropriate check-in points and evaluation processes.
• Agree a fair payment schedule based on agreed evaluation processes and individual cashflow
This meeting will form an essential part of the final contract and agreement with the artist. The BPH team will then put in place all agreed support, monitoring and processes and the project will go into delivery.
This is the strand of grants that is about supporting the new work you really want to make, in the way you want to make it.
This strand is about supporting what you want to make. We want to support those great ideas that have been waiting for the right opportunity; the ideas that don’t fit in other funding opportunities because maybe they are too radical, too unusual or don’t meet the restrictive match funding expectations.
The ideas that have bubbled away and need someone to believe in them to make them happen. We encourage you to look at our Key Areas, this can be found in this handy PDF guide, but we are also happy to receive applications that fall outside of this list – you will tell us why your idea is important.
We know that £10,000 is not a large grant for live arts, so this may be a contribution to a larger project, or it could be the entire budget you need. Either way, we simply want to understand your idea and what difference it will make. We also understand that it may take longer for you to pull together all the funding and plans to make your idea happen.
You can apply to create a new piece of work – you might decide not to make it or premiere it in Bradford, this is fine but you must have plans to perform it here for audiences, and the lead artist or artists must live in or have a strong connection to Bradford.
We’ve set long delivery periods for these grants to allow for flexibility in plans and fundraising, but if you need longer still just let us know and we’ll see what we can do. We do of course have our own targets to meet, and will want to make sure some results happen in the time period specified.
The process for Grants will be in 2 stages:
This is for you to tell us all about the work you want to create, the kinds of audiences you think will enjoy it and a little bit about the process for creating it and what it means to you.
If you’re invited to stage 2 we will want to make sure that your Big Idea is achievable, fully considered and to understand the support you’ll need to make it a reality.
This will be a much more personal process, we’ll ask you for more information and we’ll get into the detail – but you will have the support of a Creative Producer to get all this together. And we’ll only take a small number of projects to Stage 2; a minimum of 1 in 4 will be successful.
For full information, see How to Apply, or download the PDF.
Successful applicants will have a kick-off meeting with the team to:
• Talk through their project in detail
• Raise any questions, issues or suggestions identified during the application review process
• Discuss and agree Wrap-Around Support
• Define appropriate check-in points and evaluation processes.
• Agree a fair payment schedule based on agreed evaluation processes and individual cashflow
This meeting will form an essential part of the final contract and agreement with the artist. The BPH team will then put in place all agreed support, monitoring and processes and the project will go into delivery.
For all applications, you can apply in writing, audio or film. Applications should be prepared in advance and submitted using our online form.
We’re not setting a word limit on this information: we want you to be able to describe your Big Idea to us in the best way for you, and not to have to spend ages meeting restrictive word or time limits.
Please don’t send us more than you need to: Remember that the assessors will have a lot of information to get through and more is not necessarily better, so do try to keep it succinct and to the questions.
Headings or sections are helpful so the assessors can find the information they need. As a guide, 2 to 4 pages or 4 to 7 minutes would be ideal.
You can also send us examples or links to your previous work or to illustrate your idea – please keep this to either 2 additional pages of A4, 2 links or 5 images.
You will be asked to upload your files directly to the online application form, the files need to be under 10mb each. Alternatively, you save them all to a shared folder, like dropbox or google drive, and tell us the link details on the application form.
Imagine we are a fly on the wall when it happens – what will we see and experience?
Tell us about:
a. What you will research and/or develop?
b. Who is in your team (if there is anyone)?
c. Where will it take place?
d. What do you hope to find out or test?
e. How will you know whether it’s been successful?
f. For Test It R&Ds – who you are hoping to engage/involve/reach, and how?
g. A summary of your timescale and budget: a brief overview of what you will spend the money on and when you wish to carry out your R&D.
h. What difference will it make to you / your career / your development?
i. How it relates to the Key Areas (if appropriate).
Imagine we are there with you when it happens – what will we see and experience?
Tell us about:
a. What we will see: the content, artform, story.
b. What it will feel like to experience.
c. If this is a collaboration or partnership, any other key artists involved.
d. Who is in the audience?
e. When it will happen?
f. What sort of space it could happen in and if you have a place in mind?
g. Do you think the BPH budget offered will cover it? Or will you need match funding? (we don’t need a detailed budget at this point).
h. What difference will it make to you / your career / your development?
i. How it relates to the Key Areas (if appropriate).
This helps us to understand the support that will need to be put around your idea.
Some ideas come with full teams and ability to deliver, some ideas are from a single artist who will need a team building around them in order to deliver their vision, and everything in between.
The self-assessment is not about excluding people with more needs; it is about assessing the situation around your idea; to ensure BPH can help you to deliver it.
We love a great idea and we love a challenge! We’re not risk averse: artists with great ideas need to be given opportunities. If the idea is a good fit, BPH’s job will be to put appropriate support structures around the idea so it can succeed. So, don’t be afraid to be honest about what you need.
For a full list of the application questions, download the PDF
BPH wants to fund a wide variety of work, with an aim to support at least one piece of new work in each of the ‘Key Areas’ over the 3 years of the project – we don’t expect to meet them all in this first round.
Equally one piece of work might fit across one or more of the key areas.
If your idea fits within one of these Key Areas it
will have a stronger chance of success, but we are absolutely open to hearing new and exciting ideasbeyond this list as well:
Key Areas:
• Multidisciplinary
• Family focussed
• Outdoor or Street performance
• Festival focussed
• Features Bradford voices and stories
• Co-created or participatory
• LGBTQ led
• BAME led
• Disabled led
• Diverse creative teams
• New/radical approaches to accessibility
• New collaborations or partnerships between
Bradford creatives / creative teams /
organisations
• Embraces Risk / Testing new ground – work
perceived as new or radical
• Work perceived as familiar or mainstream
• Work that could / aims to tour
• Work that could only happen in that place or at that time
This list came from our in-depth consultation process carried out in Spring 2020.
BPH is all about live arts.
This means anything that involves a live performance to a live audience. It can be any kind of performance style, for any size of audience.
Refer to the Key Areas on page 8 we want to address, and specific details for each round.
BPH aims for more live performance to be made and staged in Bradford. At least one of the key creatives in your team should have a strong connection to Bradford (and the more the better!). You might decide to make or premiere the work elsewhere, but (for Grants) you must have plans to perform it in Bradford (more info on page 6).
BPH will work with all R&D recipients to support the ongoing development of their idea in a variety of ways, supporting people to identify partnerships and opportunities for the delivery of their idea.
BPH cannot commit to directly supporting or funding any R&D through to full delivery.
Successful R&D applicants are eligible to apply for future rounds with the same or a different idea.
All projects should carefully consider audiences from the start. We will want to know who you think the work is for or what types of people would enjoy it.
It’s OK if you don’t have much experience in reaching audiences, we will provide a range of support to help you understand and reach audiences, with additional support for participatory / engagement activity where relevant.
Artists will be supported to understand your active role in engaging and bringing in audiences for your work: We want projects to have an inclusive approach to audiences and we’d like to see Bradford people involved in providing feedback and input to development stages as well as final outputs where possible (with the exception of Just R&D It projects).
BPH will take an active role in supporting the promotion and marketing of the projects, in collaboration with the artists.
For Round 1, it is important that we reach a good number of people through our grants, but we are realistic about the current circumstances and what social distancing may mean in relation to reach. So please be honest and realistic in your aims and expectations.
BPH aims to test new ways of working for the development of new work and the creative sector.
A key part of this is the way additional support will be offered around projects:
In Year 1, each successful R&D and grant, will be offered the following support, depending on the needs of the project:
• A leading Creative Mentor in the area of specialism of the successful project
• Up to 3 days of Creative Producer expertise
• Up to 5 days of Production Management / Technical expertise
• Up to 3 days of tech / stage management placement (supported)
• Up to 3 days of Access advice / support
• Audience Development and Marketing advice and support
• An involved and active BPH team and Consortium partners
This support will be provided by the BPH team or external specialists, depending on the needs of the project. All costs will be covered by BPH.
Plus access to additional funds, depending on needs and focus of the project, for:
• A 5% risk taking fund (to enable you to try something new and push boundaries)
• Digital development / capture / distribution fund
• Audience engagement activity fund
• Access support and delivery fund
• Transforming spaces and production facilities fund
This is in addition to the core commission amounts, making the value of each commission significantly higher than the amount stated. It is intended that similar wrap-around support and funds will be offered for future rounds, based on evaluation of the findings and success of Y1.
We welcome applications from new artists and experienced artists and companies alike.
You will not be judged based on your experience level, but you will need to find ways to assure us that
you will be able to deliver your idea – this could be through working with experienced mentors or partners, or it could be through examples of
other work.
You can be from Bradford or from elsewhere, but we will preference work by/with Bradford’s artists and creatives. All work must be performed in Bradford, but it doesn’t have to premiere here.
You do not need to be a registered company or charity, but freelancers will have to be registered
as self-employed and pay your own tax and
national insurance.
We would like to see the results of these grants (performances in Bradford) by July 2021. We will of course be flexible in relation to changing circumstances, or if an artist has a particular event, date or moment related to their project.
This broad performance period aims to support: work to respond to the current circumstances; the wide variety of creative schedules and timelines for different types of work; time for further fundraising where needed; to avoid pushing artists into delivering to overly restrictive deadlines that can impact the ability to be creative and risk taking.
All performances should be priced as PWYD
(Pay What You Decide) or low ticket prices wherever possible.
For Round 1, performances in Bradford venues can be arranged by BPH on behalf of the artist. We will cover reasonable costs of venue hire for performances, in addition to the grant.
BPH will take 30% of any ticket income, the
remaining 70% will be taken by the artist as a contribution towards the project or their future work.
We do not need to see Bradford ticket income in your budget as match funding. If your project does well then we all benefit!
Match funding
We are conscious that the landscape for match funding of projects is drastically changing, and it is unclear at this stage what this might look like over the years to come. As such: Round 1 will not require any match funding to be in place. This will be reviewed for Yrs. 2 & 3, based on up to date information on how the funding landscape is changing.
This risk around achieving match funding also applies to Bradford Producing Hub, which has a target of approx. £315k still to raise in order to deliver the project as currently planned. If we are unable to raise this, we will need to re-evaluate all project expenditure, including amounts allocated to future rounds.
BPH aims for more live performance to be made and staged in Bradford, across existing theatre spaces as well as in new or unusual spaces (such as vacant shops or outdoors), aimed at many different audiences.
Our consultation showed the need to increase the visibility of work in Bradford to address the perceptions of ‘nothing going on’ or ‘nothing for me’. Therefore, BPH has taken the decision that the majority of grants will focus on performance that takes place in the Bradford City area.
It is not a requirement of the grants that your piece will tour to other venues or places. That said, we would of course love to see Bradford’s brilliant work being shared, whether that is elsewhere in the Bradford District, other cities, or even internationally.
All performances will be supported to be accessible, and need to be:
• staged in spaces that provide disabled
access facilities
• able to support/integrate translation (to British Sign Language or other languages) where needed
Further, we encourage artists to think about inclusivity in your working processes including:
• Wheelchair accessible work and rehearsal spaces
• Flexible plans that are able to respond to individual’s needs, such as disability or
mental health
• Caring or family commitments
• Religious needs and important dates
• Fair pay and fair working hours
Stage 1 shortlisting will be made by members of BPH Creativity Council – a group of local people passionate about Bradford and making things happen. They will be a mixture of people who have a background in arts and live events and people who do not, so bear this in mind when you are describing your idea.
We hope to let you know whether you have been successful in Stage 1 by 15 July.
This helps us to understand the support that will need to be put around your idea.
Some ideas come with full teams and ability to deliver, some ideas are from a single artist who will need a team building around them in order to deliver their vision, and everything in between.
The self-assessment is not about excluding people with more needs; it is about assessing the situation around your idea; to ensure BPH can help you to deliver it.
We love a great idea and we love a challenge! We’re not risk averse: artists with great ideas need to be given opportunities. If the idea is a good fit, BPH’s job will be to put appropriate support structures around the idea so it can succeed. So, don’t be afraid to be honest about what you need.
For a full list of the application questions, download the PDF
Core Funders
Lead Partner
