As part of the Inspiring Everyone Programme at the RAF Museum Midlands, the Community Grants Programme – funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is designed for community groups and not-for-profit organisations, these project grants will increase inclusion, access and participation with heritage. The successful applicants will use Royal Air Force stories as the launchpads for engagement with participants.
There are two strands under which applicants can apply:
- Flights of Fancy – for creative arts projects
- Force-full Stories – for local and community research projects.
Projects should meet the dual aims of:
- Inspiring everyone with the RAF story (RAF-Museum-Midlands-Development-Programme-Fundraising-Brochure-2025.pdf)
- Helping people to develop skills or enhance existing skills.
A project-funded Community Engagement and Grants Co-ordinator will lead on developing and delivering the grants programme. They will be a key source of support for potential applicants and successful grantees.
Grants Information
Grants will be distributed over three rounds and will be available from £250 to £2,000, including travel costs for participants to visit the Museum. For this reason, please consider travel expenses to the Museum when applying for your grant amount. Grants will be awarded to organisations based in our geographical focus areas. Each Round of grants will focus on a different area within the West Midlands. More information about our current geographical focus area can be found below in the ‘geographic eligibility’ section. Further information on payments process and guidance will be provided during the application stage.
Strands of Funding
Flights of Fancy Project applications submitted under this strand should allow participants an opportunity to explore their creativity within the theme of the RAF. The project should produce a creative arts output which can be achieved within the applied for budget, or with the assistance of other – already secured – funding. There is no restriction on which art form is chosen: drama, dance, music, visual arts, film, photography etc. Anything which utilises participants creative expression and imagination, while achieving the dual aims above will be considered.
Force-full Stories Projects submitted under this strand should come from community groups who aim to research and share connections between their own / local stories and those of the RAF and its personnel (past or present). Research can be shared in a variety of forms including podcasts, blogs, exhibitions or films. However, the choice of medium is entirely up to the applicants. For an idea of some of the stories the Museum has collected, please see https://www.rafstories.org/.
What we won’t fund…
- Projects used to support any political organisations or for campaigning on any political issues
- Projects involving the dissemination of any material that is capable of being defamatory
- Projects without activity and outcomes that can be measured or evaluated (for example, academic research projects with no potential for measurable outcomes) will also not be considered.
Round One
Round One of the Community Grants Programme is now closed to applications. Our next round will open in September 2026 to organisations within our new geographic focus area (details of which will be published on our website at that time).
Round One Projects
Flexus Dance Collective
- Strand of Funding – Flights of Fancy
- Funding amount – £2000
- About
- the project – As part of their existing Project Xpedition, this creative project will engage young people who face barriers to accessing arts, culture, and heritage opportunities. The project will culminate in an intensive creation week resulting in a co-designed and co-produced multi-disciplinary performance in a professional theatre setting inspired by the stories, values and lived experiences of the RAF.
RicNic
- Strand of Funding – Flights of Fancy
- Funding amount – £2000
- About the project – This project is a creative, youth led project, which will provide opportunities for young people to showcase their creativity and gain real-world experience. Participants will work to a creative brief to produce a children’s colouring and storybook inspired by RAF stories.
Learn Play Foundation
- Strand of Funding – Force-Full stories
- Funding amount – £2000
- About the project – This research project is a digital media project designed to connect young people from the Black Country with the diverse history of the RAF. The workshops will allow participants to research the RAF, and participants will then be mentored through the creative process to turn their research into high-quality digital content such as narrative podcasts or short films.
