Pitch Your Project Bursaries

 

The Pitch Your Project bursary scheme offers a creative, community-focused initiative in the SO postcode, £2000 to fund new activity. Project are selected by the community, for the community, at a live event where applicants pitch their ideas to an audience who then vote for the projects they’d like to see awarded the funding.

A Pitch Your Project event is a community building event which sees good causes get funding, voted for by the people who matter most, the local residents! Traditionally, these events cost £5 to attend, then the money from the door is what the charities or projects are pitching for. However, for this Pitch Your Project bursary scheme, ‘a space’ arts will be providing the funding for the bursary and the event will be free to attend. The shortlisted applicants will pitch their ideas and get a chance to network with other community leaders and attendees. After the presentations, the audience will be encouraged to discuss and debate before voting for the project that they want to support. The online voting will take place during the week following the event – in order to give online audiences a chance to watch the pitches (which will be uploaded to the ‘a space’ arts YouTube Channel) and then cast their votes.

 

 

Open Call: Pitch Your Project International Women’s Day 2026 – Apply HERE

For Pitch Your Project 2026, we are looking to fund a women-led project based in the SO postcode which seeks to:

  • Build connection and/or creative skills within local communities – Provide social benefit and are not-for-profit
  • Deliver a creative output. This can be art, film, music, sound, dancing, cooking or anything that’s creative in the broadest sense.

 

The Winner Will Receive:

  •  £2000 bursary towards their project, split into two payments
  • Access to spaces for meetings and workshops if needed
  • Access to shared resources including AV equipment and desk space to help deliver their project
  • Access to ‘a space’ arts networks of artists and audiences
  • On-going support from the ‘a space’ arts team, including project development, project planning, curation and marketing and comms.
  • An exhibition opportunity in Feb – March 2027 to showcase the work that you’ve done.Runners up Will Receive
  • Access to spaces for meetings and workshops if needed
  • Access to shared resources including AV equipment and desk space to help you deliver your project
  • Access to ‘a space’ arts networks of artists and audiences
  • On-going support from the ‘a space’ arts team, including project development support

 

What We Expect:

  • A project which delivers social benefit for people in Southampton or the surrounding areas (in the SO postcode)
  • Outcomes which can be displayed at God’s House Tower in an exhibition. This could be artworks, workshop outcomes or simply documentation of the funded activity/project.
  • An evaluation with the ‘a space’ arts team to report back to our funder for this project, the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Previous Pitch Your Project Recipients