UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Rural England Prosperity Fund

Information about our UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Rural England Prosperity Fund, Festivals and Events Grant, and Thrive with Arts Culture and Heritage Fund.

Festivals and Events Fund and Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund 2025/2026

We're offering two grant schemes funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Festivals and Events Grant

We're delivering the Events and Festivals programme in form of grants to organisations in Westmorland and Furness, such as:

  • voluntary groups
  • community-led businesses
  • social enterprises
  • charities
  • town and parish councils
  • other constituted groups in the area

Grants available will range from £1000 to £10,000. 

Funding is available for eligible applicants across the whole of Westmorland and Furness. Both revenue and capital grant funding is available.

Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund

We want to empower local arts, cultural and heritage organisations. This funding will help them deliver projects that support a diverse heritage and cultural offer in their communities. It will also help improve the quality of life for people in these communities and across the whole of Westmorland and Furness. 

This programme will provide grants to not-for-profit arts, cultural and heritage organisations ranging from £10,000 to £35,000. 

Funding is available for eligible applicants across the whole of Westmorland and Furness. Both revenue and capital grant funding is available.

The application deadline for both funds is Monday 2nd June 2025

For any queries please contact the Arts and Culture Officer 

Email: artsandculture@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk

Application forms and guidance

Criteria, Application Forms and Guidelines for both grants are available below:

Festival and Events Fund 2025/26

Festivals and Events Fund 2025/2026 Application Form (DOC , 217KB)
Festivals and Events Fund 2025/2026 Criteria (PDF , 295KB)
Festivals and Events Fund 2025/2026 Guidance (PDF , 139KB)

Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund 2025/26

Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund 2025/2026 Application Form (DOC , 218KB)
Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund 2025/2026 Criteria (PDF , 228KB)
Thrive with Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund 2025/2026 Guidance (PDF , 297KB)

UK Shared Prosperity and Rural England Prosperity Funds

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) aims to help kickstart economic growth and promote opportunities in all parts of the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. The UKSPF replaces the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation.

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) is a top-up to the UKSPF and succeeds EU funding from LEADER and the Growth Programme which were part of the Rural Development Programme for England. The REPF supports capital projects for small businesses and community infrastructure. This will help to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.

Lead local authorities have flexibility over how they deliver the UKSPF and REPF. Westmorland and Furness Council will use a mix of competitions for grant funding, procurement, commissioning or delivery through in-house teams. 

Investment priorities and funding allocation

We received UKSPF funding of £2,017,798 in 2023/24 and £5,286,627 in 2024/25. We have a further £2,719,672 for 2025/26 only.

We also received REPF funding of £547,413 in 2023-24 and £1,642,238 in 2024-25. We have a further £726,439 for 2025/26 only. 

The UKSPF and REPF run until March 2026. We expect wider local growth funding reforms in the 2025 Autumn Statement.

The Council’s investment priorities for the UKSPF and REPF are:

  • improvements to town centres and high streets
  • arts, cultural and creative activities
  • Active Travel
  • voluntary and social action projects
  • improvements to sports facilities
  • business start-up, growth and innovation
  • business decarbonisation
  • support to access employment
  • support to help people in employment access education and training
  • small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas
  • growing the local social economy and supporting innovation
  • improvements to cultural, historic and heritage institutions and assets

Projects

We have supported many projects through the UKSPF and REPF. These include:

Funding in 2025 and 2026

As all funding has been allocated to the above projects, there won't be another call for brand new projects in 2025/2026. 

Local businesses and communities can apply for support by contacting the delivery organisation. 

If you have any questions on the available support you can contact us at econ.dev3@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk

Further guidance to support projects:

For more information on the UKSPF and REPF: