Project Investment Portfolio
Annual project investment for activity from 1 April 2027 to 28 February 2028

Applicant guidance

This guidance explains who can apply, what the fund can support, how to complete the application and budget, and how Bradford Council will assess applications. Read it alongside the application form and Project Budget Template.

Read this guidance first

• Read the whole guidance before starting the application.
• Use the application form and Project Budget Template provided.
• Answer the questions asked and use evidence proportionate to your project and request.
• Word limits are maximum, not targets. You are welcome to use bullet points where appropriate.
• Keep all figures consistent across the application, budget and supporting documents.
• Contact Bradford Council before the deadline if you need an accessible format, reasonable adjustment or help understanding the process.

1. About the Project Investment Portfolio

The Project Investment Portfolio provides annual investment in time-limited cultural projects, people and ideas. Projects must have arts, culture, heritage or creativity at their core and principally benefit Bradford District, its residents, communities or cultural sector.

Key information	Position
Request range	£1,000 to £30,000
Delivery period	1 April 2027 to 28 February 2028
Application limit	One application per applicant or project lead
Freelancer priority	At least 30% of total funding available within this PIP round will be prioritised for eligible individual, freelancer and freelancer-led projects, subject to sufficient applications meeting the required standard.

2. Application timetable

Stage	Date
Applications open	29 October 2026
Applications close	5pm on Friday 18 December 2026
Assessment	From week commencing 21 December 2026 to 25 January 2027
Outcome and Decision Communicated	From week commencing 1 February 2027
Investment Agreements Issued	February 2027
Investment Begins	From April 2027

Bradford Council reserves the right to change the timetable where necessary. Any change will be communicated to applicants.

3. Who can apply

Applicant route	Main requirements
Individual artist, freelancer or creative practitioner	Aged 18 or over and a resident in Bradford District. This includes sole traders.
Organisation or constituted community group	An eligible cultural, community or other organisation or group with a written governing document, at least two unrelated responsible people and a bank account in its name.
Un-constituted or informal community group	Can not apply directly but may take part through an eligible Bradford-based accountable body or project host.
Accountable body or project host	An eligible Bradford-based organisation applies and holds the award for a named project lead or group that originated and remains substantively involved in the projec.
Partnership	One eligible lead applicant takes responsibility and explains the role of each partner.
Commercial company	Eligible only where the project has a clear Arts, Culture and or Heritage purpose with public benefit, need and additionality. Funding cannot support dividends, distributable profit or ordinary commercial activity.

An artist or practitioner who is not ordinarily resident in Bradford may lead Bradford-focused work only through an eligible Bradford-based accountable body or project host. An un-constituted or informal group may take part on the same basis but cannot apply directly.

Strategic Investment Organisations (SIO)

• Any organisation receiving or has been offered Bradford Council Strategic Investment Organisation funding may apply for its own project only with Bradford Council’s written permission before submission.
• The project must be entirely separate from the organisation's existing core programme of work or activities, and not represent an extension, enhancement, or continuation of activity already planned or funded.
• An SIO may also host a project led by someone else; this is a separate role and must be stated clearly. You do not need to seek permission to be a host, but you must articulate how you are able to provide the host capacity, alongside your committed programme.
• You can seek permission by contacting us at pip@bradford.gov.uk no later than two weeks before the deadline. Late requests will not be accommodated.

Commercial companies

• A commercial company, including a company limited by shares, may apply where the funded project has a clear arts, culture, heritage and creativity purpose with public benefit for Bradford.
• The application must distinguish the proposed project from ordinary commercial activity and explain why Council investment is needed.
• Funding cannot support dividends, distributable profit or costs whose main purpose is private gain.

Accountable bodies and project hosts

• A host is not an application-writing service. The named project lead must help develop and write the application, approve the budget, remain involved in decisions and delivery, and participate in monitoring.
• The host signs the agreement, receives and manages the award and carries the agreed compliance responsibilities. A hosting fee of up to 10% of the Council award may be included where it reflects genuine work and responsibility.

4. Funding levels and cash match

Council request	Minimum eligible cash match
£1,000 to £5,000	No mandatory cash match
£5,001 to £15,000	10% of the Council amount requested
£15,001 to £30,000	20% of the Council amount requested

Cash match is calculated against the Bradford Council amount requested. It must come from other cash sources. Earned income, grants, sponsorship, donations and applicant or partner cash contributions may count. In-kind support may be recorded but does not count towards the cash-match requirement.

5. What we can support

• Festivals, events, exhibitions, performances and public programmes.
• New creative work, commissions, publications and digital activity.
• Community-led work, participation, co-creation and engagement.
• Artist or practitioner research and development with a credible public or sector benefit.
• Talent, skills and workforce development.
• Partnerships, pilots, collaborations and place-based cultural activity.
• Fair project-related fees, staffing, access, venue, production, marketing, evaluation and reasonable overheads.

6. What we cannot support

• Costs incurred before a funding agreement or outside the delivery period.
• Activities that have already started before any funding is approved.
• Activity without arts, culture, heritage or creativity at its core or without principal benefit for Bradford District.
• Dividends, distributable profit, ordinary commercial activity or excessive management charges.
• Recoverable VAT, alcohol, prizes, fines, debts or loan repayments.
• Party-political campaigning or activity whose primary purpose is worship or proselytising.
• Fundraising whose principal purpose is to raise money for another organisation.
• Major capital works. Proportionate essential equipment may be considered where integral to delivery.

7. Paying people properly

Budgets should include fair and appropriate rates for artists, freelancers and workers, including preparation, delivery, administration, access and evaluation time where relevant. Voluntary labour should not replace work that ought reasonably to be paid.

8. Preparing a proportionate application

Applications may come from individuals, freelancers, small groups and organisations of very different sizes. We do not expect every applicant to have the same systems, staffing or previous experience. Give clear information that is proportionate to your project and the amount requested. Word limits are maximums, not targets, and bullet points are welcome where they make an answer easier to understand.

Assessors will consider the application, budget and supporting documents together. Use cross-references where helpful and avoid repeating the same information in several answers. Write in plain language and explain any specialist terms, abbreviations or assumptions.

9. Guidance on completing the application form

The guidance below follows the order of the application form. Complete every question that applies to your route. Enter “Not applicable” only where the form allows it and the question genuinely does not apply.

9.1 Applicant Details and Application Route

This section establishes who is applying, who will be legally responsible for any award and whether another organisation is hosting or leading the project.

Include:

• Use the individual’s name or the organisation’s full legal name. Give registration numbers exactly as held by Companies House, the Charity Commission or another regulator.
• Select one application route and one legal status. Individual artists, creative practitioners and freelancers may apply in their own name, including where they operate as a sole trader.
• A constituted but unincorporated community group may apply directly if it has a written governing document, at least two unrelated responsible people and a bank account in the group’s name.
• An un-constituted or informal group must apply through an eligible accountable body or project host.
• If using a host, name the project lead and host, explain why the arrangement is needed, the responsibilities of each party and the proposed hosting fee. The project lead must remain involved in developing, deciding and delivering the project.
• For a partnership, identify the lead applicant, formal delivery partners, their roles, whether involvement is confirmed and how decisions, funding and accountability will be managed.
• If you select Company Limited by Guarantee, answer the not-for-profit question accurately. A company is operating on a not-for-profit basis only where any surplus is reinvested in its purposes and is not distributed for private benefit.

Avoid:

• Selecting several applicant routes or using the name of a project rather than the person or legal body responsible for the award.
• Describing an informal supporter as a formal partner or naming a host that has not agreed to the proposed role.
• Assuming that being a company limited by guarantee automatically means the company is not for profit.

9.2 About you or your organisation

Give assessors enough context to understand who is proposing the project and why you or your organisation are well placed to deliver it. This is not intended to be a full organisational history.

Include:

• Describe your purpose or creative practice, the work you normally make or enable, the people and places you work with and your relevant experience or track record.
• Select one primary cultural discipline or area that best represents your main practice or public offer. Select secondary areas only where they form a significant part of your work.

Avoid:

• Repeating the full project proposal, which belongs in later sections.
• Selecting every discipline touched on by the project where it is only incidental.

9.3 Project information and investment request

Provide the essential project details.

Include:

• Use a clear project title and dates that fall within 1 April 2027 to 28 February 2028. Make sure the total project cost and Council request matches with the Project Budget Template.

Avoid:

• Including activity or costs outside the eligible delivery period.

Project budget, match funding, need and value

Complete and submit the separate Project Budget Template with your application. Although the budget is provided separately from the numbered sections of the application form, it forms part of the application and assessment. It must show the full cost of the project, all cash income and any in-kind support, and must agree with the figures in Section 3 of the application form.

Completing the budget

Include:

• Include every cost needed to deliver the project, including fair fees, preparation and administration, access, marketing, evaluation, venue, production, insurance and a reasonable share of overheads where relevant.
• Explain how significant costs and fees were calculated, using quotations, rates, previous experience or recognised benchmarks where appropriate.
• List each cash income source separately and distinguish confirmed income from applications, plans or forecasts.
• Record in-kind support separately. It may demonstrate wider support but does not count towards cash match.
• If using an accountable body or project host, include any agreed hosting fee. It may be up to 10% of the Council award where it reflects genuine work and responsibility.

Avoid:

• Omitting necessary costs to make the budget appear cheaper or relying on unpaid work that should reasonably be paid.
• Counting the same contribution as both cash and in-kind support.
  Including recoverable VAT, retrospective expenditure or other costs listed as ineligible.

Cash match

Cash match is calculated as a percentage of the Bradford Council amount requested, not as a percentage of total project cost.

• Requests from £1,000 to £5,000 have no mandatory cash-match requirement.
• Requests from £5,001 to £15,000 require cash match equal to at least 10% of the Council request. For example, a £10,000 request requires at least £1,000 from other eligible cash sources.
• Requests from £15,001 to £30,000 require cash match equal to at least 20% of the Council request.
• Eligible match may include earned income, grants, sponsorship, donations and applicant or partner cash contributions. In-kind support does not count.

9.4 Project idea, quality and ambition

Use this section to explain the project itself: what you want to do, why it matters and how you will achieve an appropriate level of creative or cultural quality.

What you want to do and why

Include:

• Describe the activity, work or experience that will be created, produced, presented, curated, researched or enabled.
• Explain the need, opportunity or idea behind the project and why this is the right time to do it.
• Be clear about the project’s focus, scale and what is new, distinctive or developmental for you, the participants, audiences or Bradford.

Avoid:

• Describing only the wider organisation or a long-term programme rather than the time-limited project for which funding is requested.
• Relying on broad claims such as ‘high quality’ or ‘innovative’ without explaining what those terms mean for this project.

Creativity quality and ambition

Include:

• Explain how the work will be researched, developed, commissioned, selected or produced and who will influence creative decisions.
• Describe the relevant knowledge and experience of artists, practitioners, participants, communities or partners who will shape the work.
• Explain how you will judge whether the work has achieved the intended quality and ambition. This might include peer review, participant feedback, testing, specialist advice or agreed creative standards.

Avoid:

• Assuming that higher cost or larger scale automatically demonstrates quality or ambition.

9.5 People, experience and partnerships

Show that the people needed to deliver the project have been identified and that roles, experience and working arrangements are credible.

Include:

• List the key project lead, artists, freelancers, organisations and formal partners. State what each will do and whether their involvement is confirmed or expected.
• Where a person has not yet been appointed, describe the role, skills or experience you will seek and how recruitment will take place.
• Explain how rates have been calculated, including preparation, delivery, administration, access and evaluation time where relevant.
• State how opportunities will be advertised or allocated fairly and transparently. Explain any voluntary roles and why volunteering is appropriate.

Avoid:

• Naming people or organisations as confirmed where they have not agreed to take part.
• Using unpaid work in place of roles that should reasonably be paid.
• Listing partners without explaining what they will contribute.

9.6 Public benefit, reach, inclusion and access

Explain the public benefit the project will create for Bradford District, who it is intended for and how people will be able to take part or experience the work.

Public benefit

Include:

• Focus on the most important cultural, social or economic benefits. You do not need to cover all three.
• Explain the need or opportunity and the evidence or insight that informed the project. Evidence may include previous activity, conversations, community knowledge, local data, evaluation, research or partner insight.
• Describe what you want people, communities, artists, places or the cultural sector to experience, gain or change as a result.

Avoid:

• Making general claims about Bradford without showing how they relate to the proposed project.
• Treating the number of attendees as the only evidence of public benefit.

Audiences, participants and communities

Include:

• Be specific about who the project is for and distinguish between audiences, participants, artists, practitioners, communities or other beneficiaries where relevant.
• Explain how you will communicate with, reach and involve people, including any existing relationships, targeted outreach, participation or co-creation.
• Describe how people will influence the activity, decisions or evaluation where this is part of the project.

Avoid:

• Saying the project is for ‘everyone’ without identifying who is most likely to benefit or how they will be reached.

Inclusion and access

Include:

• Identify practical barriers that could prevent people from taking part, working on the project or experiencing the work.
• Explain the action and access provision included in the plan and budget, such as accessible venues, interpretation, captioning, transport, affordable pricing, access workers, alternative formats or targeted support where relevant.
• Explain how equality, inclusion and access will be considered during delivery and reviewed with the people involved.

Avoid:

• Stating that the project is accessible without identifying likely barriers and practical action.

9.7 Geographic reach

Show where activity and engagement will happen and which parts of Bradford District are expected to benefit.

Include:

• Tick every ward in which activity will take place or people will be engaged, participate or experience the project.
• Use the narrative box for district-wide, online or touring work, activity outside Bradford and the main venues, neighbourhoods or places where these are known.
• Where work outside Bradford is included, explain how it supports the project’s principal benefit for Bradford District.

Avoid:

• Ticking a ward only because the project could theoretically attract someone from there.
• Claiming district-wide reach without explaining the delivery or engagement approach that makes this realistic.

9.8 Strategic contribution

Culture is Our Plan contains ten ambitions and ten targets up to 2031. We want to understand the project’s strongest and most credible contribution, not an artificial connection to every part of the strategy.

Include:

• Select no more than two ambitions and two targets.
• For each ambition, explain the relevant project activity, who or what will benefit, the change expected and how Council investment will enable or strengthen the contribution.
• For each target, describe the project’s realistic and measurable contribution during the delivery period and how it will be evidenced.
• Explain how the project complements existing cultural provision, fills a gap, creates useful connections or strengthens Bradford’s cultural ecology.

Avoid:

• Selecting an ambition or target because it sounds broadly relevant without showing a direct contribution.
• Suggesting that one project will deliver a district-wide target on its own.
• Repeating the wording of Culture is Our Plan without explaining what the project will actually do.

9.9 Targets and outcomes

This section asks what the project will deliver, what change you hope it will create and how you will understand whether it has been successful.

Project targets

Targets are forecasts of the measurable activity or engagement expected from this project. They should be realistic and consistent with the delivery plan and budget.

Include:

• Use a comparable previous activity as the baseline where one exists. State the previous result rather than the organisation’s total annual activity unless that is genuinely comparable.
• If this is new work or no meaningful baseline exists, enter N/A and briefly explain the research, confirmed plans or assumptions used to estimate the target.
• Enter 0 where a measure applies but no activity is expected, and N/A where the measure is not relevant.
• Count people consistently and avoid counting the same person more than once within a measure unless the unit is attendances or sessions.

Avoid:

• Using ambitious figures that are not supported by the timetable, venue capacity, partners, marketing plan or budget.
• Using social-media reach or impressions as meaningful online engagement without explaining what active engagement means.
• Adding figures from different measures together where this would double count the same activity or people.

Understanding selected measures

• Participants are people who actively take part in activity; live audiences or visitors are attendances by people experiencing it.
• Artists and creatives engaged should normally count people involved in creating or delivering the project. Freelance employment is recorded separately as the total number of paid days.
• Broadcast or online audiences should represent meaningful engagement with the work, using a clear and consistent definition rather than total potential reach.
• Existing employee posts supported means posts that the project helps sustain; new employee posts means additional paid employment created by the project.
• Performances, exhibitions or event days counts public-facing delivery days, while education, training or participation sessions counts individual sessions delivered.

Outcomes

Outcomes are the changes or benefits resulting from the project. They are different from outputs, which describe how much activity was delivered or how many people took part.

Include:

• Identify up to three outcomes that are important and achievable within, or can make meaningful progress during, the project period.
• For each outcome, briefly explain the change or benefit expected, who or what will benefit, why it matters, any relevant starting point and how you will know whether progress has been made.
• Keep outcomes proportionate. A small or developmental project may reasonably seek focused changes such as increased skills, stronger relationships, tested ideas or improved access.

Avoid:

• Presenting outputs, such as delivering ten workshops, as outcomes without explaining what difference those workshops are expected to make.
• Claiming broad long-term change that cannot reasonably be influenced or evidenced by the project.

Monitoring, evaluation and learning

Include:

• Explain the evidence and feedback you will collect, who will be involved and when information will be reviewed.
• Use methods appropriate to the people and project, such as attendance records, observation, participant or artist feedback, interviews, creative evaluation, partner feedback or digital analytics.
• Explain how learning will be used to adjust delivery or inform future work rather than collecting information only for reporting.

Avoid:

• Collecting unnecessary personal information or relying on a single feedback method that is inaccessible to some participants.

9.10 Key activity and risks

Show that the project is realistic, appropriately organised and capable of being delivered within the available time and resources.

Delivery approach

Include:

• Use the activity plan to show a credible sequence of work, with a lead person or partner for each main stage. The people and partnership information in Section 5 should make clear who will manage delivery and decisions.
• Use the activity plan to show the main stages rather than every individual task. For example, include key planning, recruitment, development, delivery, marketing, evaluation and reporting activities, with approximate dates and a lead person or partner.

Avoid:

• Providing a timetable that starts before an agreement could be issued or finishes after 28 February 2028.
• Listing activity without allowing time for preparation, recruitment, permissions, marketing, evaluation or reporting.

Project risks

Include:

• Identify the principal risks that could materially affect delivery, participation, quality, finance, people, venues, permissions, safeguarding, reputation or the intended benefit.
• Assess likelihood and impact as Low, Medium or High, describe the action that will reduce or manage the risk and name the person responsible.
• Include significant dependencies, such as an unconfirmed venue, artist, permission, partner or income source, where failure would affect the project.

Avoid:

• Listing every minor operational issue or presenting a risk without a practical mitigation and owner.
  Marking all risks as Low where the application shows important uncertainty.

9.11 Responsibility, compliance and supporting documents

The standards are proportionate confirmations about the arrangements needed to deliver the project responsibly. Select Yes, No or Not applicable for every statement.

Responsibility and compliance

Include:

• Select Yes only where the arrangement is already in place or will definitely be in place before it is needed.
• Explain every No response and any material legal, financial, safeguarding, delivery or reputational concern, including the risk, action being taken, responsible person and expected resolution where known.
• Select Not applicable only where the standard genuinely does not apply to the project or applicant route.
• Where information cannot be included because of legal, safeguarding, confidentiality or duty-of-care reasons, provide an appropriate high-level summary and indicate that further information is confidential.

Avoid:

• Selecting Yes because an arrangement is intended but no action has been taken to put it in place.
  Including personal data, legally privileged material or information that you are not permitted to disclose.

Supporting documents

• Submit documents that are relevant to your applicant route and project. Use clear file names beginning with the applicant or project name and label any document that is draft or provisional.
• Project Budget Template: required for every application.
• Individual applicants will need to submit a CV or short professional profile. Organisations or constituted groups where relevant will need to submit governing documents.
• Latest approved accounts or proportionate financial evidence: provide information appropriate to the applicant’s legal form, age and scale. Contact Bradford Council on pip@bradford.gov.uk before the deadline if you are unsure what is proportionate.
• Draft accountable-body or project-host agreement: provide where a host route is used. It should identify the parties, responsibilities, financial arrangements and hosting fee.
• Partnership agreement: provide where a formal partnership arrangement is central to delivery, even if the agreement remains draft at application stage.
• Other evidence: include only concise material that is directly relevant to assessment, such as confirmation of a key venue, partner or permission where this materially supports deliverability.
• Bank evidence is not required with the application. If funding is offered, the applicant or accountable body must provide valid evidence of a UK bank account in its name before an agreement is issued or payment is made. If suitable evidence is not provided by the deadline set by Bradford Council, the offer may be withdrawn.

Avoid:

• Sending bank statements or other bank evidence with the application unless Bradford Council has specifically requested it.
• Submitting large amounts of general promotional material that do not provide evidence against the assessment areas.

9.12 Declaration and use of information

Read the declaration and information-use statement carefully before signing. The signatory confirms that the information is accurate, the applicant is eligible, relevant matters have been disclosed and the applicant can meet the programme requirements.

Include:

• An individual applicant signs for themselves.
• For an organisation or partnership, an authorised person signs on behalf of the lead applicant.
• For a hosted project, the accountable body or project host signs because it will enter into the agreement and receive the award.
• Notify Bradford Council promptly if any material information changes after submission by contacting us on pip@bradford.gov.uk.

Avoid:

• A project lead signing on behalf of a host organisation without the host’s authority.

10. How applications will be assessed

Applications will be assessed by Bradford Council officers against the six published assessment areas. The Council may also appoint suitably experienced external assessors or advisers where their expertise would support the process.

Everyone involved in assessing or advising on applications must declare any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest. A person must not assess an application where a material connection could affect their impartiality. Bradford Council will record and manage any declared conflict.

Assessors will consider the application, Project Budget Template and supporting documents together. The weightings reflect the programme’s emphasis on creative or cultural quality, public benefit, reach and inclusion, strategic contribution, deliverability, and the need and value of Council investment.

Assessment area	Weight	What assessors will consider
Creative or cultural quality and ambition	20%	The idea, cultural approach, relevance, quality and appropriate ambition.
Public benefit for Bradford	20%	The need or opportunity, intended benefit and who or what will benefit.
Reach, engagement, inclusion and access	15%	Who will be reached, how people will be involved and how barriers will be addressed.
Strategic contribution to Culture is Our Plan	15%	A clear and credible contribution to relevant ambitions, targets and Bradford’s cultural ecology.
Deliverability, management and risk	15%	People, experience, partnerships, timetable, budget, permissions, compliance and risk.
Need, additionality and value	15%	Why Council investment is needed, what it adds, leverage, reasonable costs and proportional benefit.

 

Score	Descriptor	Meaning
0	No relevant evidence	The response provides no assessable evidence.
1	Weak	Very limited evidence or major weaknesses.
2	Partly meets	Some relevant evidence but important gaps or concerns.
3	Meets	Clear and credible evidence appropriate to the project and request.
4	Strong	Detailed and convincing evidence with only minor limitations.
5	Excellent	Exceptionally clear, compelling and well evidenced.

Assessors will score independently using whole scores from 0 to 5, then discuss the application through moderation. Each assessor will confirm or revise their scores after discussion. Confirmed scores will be averaged and weighted. Final decisions will also consider available funding, the freelancer-led priority, portfolio balance and material risks. A strong score does not guarantee funding or the amount requested.

Bradford Council may decide not to progress or fund an application where eligibility is not met, required information is missing, the project or budget is not credible, a material safeguarding or compliance concern is unresolved, or the Council cannot reasonably manage the risk. Where appropriate, the Council may seek clarification or apply conditions rather than reject an otherwise fundable proposal.

The funding panel reserves the right to offer awards that may be less than an application value.
The panel's decision is final and binding, with no appeals process. Feedback on unsuccessful applications may be offered at the panel's discretion but is not mandatory.

11. Submitting the application

• Complete every relevant field and check the application against this guidance.
• Save the completed application form as a final PDF and keep the editable version.
• Submit the PDF and all required supporting documents to pip@bradford.gov.uk. Include your organisation’s name and the investment year in the email subject line, for example: Arts Org Name: PIP2027/28 Application
• Submit by the deadline: 5pm on Friday 18 December 2026. Late applications will not be assessed unless Bradford Council has explicitly confirmed otherwise in advance.

12. If an award is made

A funding offer will be subject to any final eligibility, financial, bank account or compliance checks and to the applicant signing a funding agreement. The agreement will set out the approved amount, payment arrangements, eligible delivery period, conditions, targets and monitoring requirements. Costs incurred before the permitted start date or before any required agreement is in place will not be eligible.

Successful applicants must keep appropriate financial and delivery records and provide monitoring information and evidence requested by Bradford Council. If a material change affects the project, budget, timetable or responsible applicant, contact Bradford Council before making the change.

13. Help and support

We want to support individuals and organisations to understand the application process and submit a complete application. We can:

• clarify the guidance, application questions and assessment process;
• explain how to complete the application form and budget template;
• help with technical problems relating to the documents; and
• provide reasonable adjustments or information in alternative formats.

We cannot write or edit your application, tell you what to include in your answers, or guarantee that your application will be successful.

If you need help or a reasonable adjustment, please contact us at pip@bradford.gov.uk as early as possible and before the application deadline.