Applications for the 2027 - 2028 Cultural Bridge programme will open in January 2027
Cultural Bridge supports arts and cultural organisations across the UK and Germany to develop partnerships that explore social arts practice.
The programme enables a growing network of organisations committed to sharing expertise and skills, exchanging ideas and collaborating on artistic practices and projects that explore themes and issues faced by communities across both countries.
The application portal for the 2027-2028 Cultural Bridge (Round 6) programme will be open from Monday 4th January - Wednesday 10th February 2027. Please note that this round will focus on Tier 2 applications only.
The priority for this round is to enable more sustainable relationships between UK and German organisations which have already begun (not NEW). Applications are welcome from any UK-Germany creative partnerships who have worked together previously, internal and external to our Cultural Bridge network. All partnerships must have a core focus on social arts. Our ambition is for future rounds to be open to new (Tier 1) partnership applications.
We have released updated guidance for applicants, so please ensure you have read this and checked your organisation’s eligibility to apply before considering an application.
If you have any questions, please read our FAQs before getting in touch. You can also register for one of our upcoming Information Sessions - see below.
Key information
Full guidance
Download the text-only version (English)
Download the guidance in German language
Download the guidance in Welsh language
Download the guidance in Gaelic language
How much is available?
There is a total of £360,000 (approximately €416,000) available in the 2027 - 2028 funding round, which will include covering access costs where applicable (see funding guidance).
The 2027 - 2028 (Round 6) funding is for Tier 2, established partnerships only. Applicants can request up to £30,000 in total per partnership, as well as personal (internal) access costs in addition to this.
We anticipate making up to 12 partnership awards.
Eligibility
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be an organisation based in the UK or Germany (see guidance for further definition of ‘organisation’
- Be able to demonstrate expertise in social arts practice working with communities
- Be able to demonstrate previous experience of working together in partnership
Cultural Bridge is open to all artforms, the 2027 - 2028 funding round will prioritise support for:
- Organisations who have been previously funded through the Cultural Bridge programme
- Smaller arts & cultural organisations who don’t already receive significant or sustained funding
- Organisations based or working with communities outside of major cities e.g. in rural areas or less populated urban centres
- Organisations who empower local communities through their creative work
- Organisations whose work aligns with our programme aims and place themes
- Organisations who foster equity, diversity and inclusion through their leadership and practice
The Cultural Bridge programme is committed to promoting an equitable, diverse and inclusive network. The activity we support, and the workforce of arts and culture organisations we fund, should reflect the diversity of the UK and Germany.
Information sessions
Find out more about the funding opportunity and ask questions at one of our upcoming information sessions held on Zoom. We encourage you to read the full guidance ahead of the session so you can prepare your questions.
German language sessions (book here)
Monday 26th October, 3-4pm
Thursday 12th November, 12-1pm
English language session (book here)
Wednesday 4th November, 12-1pm
Key dates
Fund opens: Monday 4th January 2027
Application deadline: 12pm (UK) 1pm (Germany), Wednesday 10th February 2027
Decisions: by 1st April 2027
Activity starts: from 1st June 2027
Activity ends: by 31st July 2028
Help to apply
We want to make the process of applying to the Cultural Bridge programme accessible to all organisations who would like to apply. If you need support to make an application, there are a number of ways we can help.
The guidance is available in accessible formats, including formatted PDF and Plain Text. If you require an alternative format please get in touch.
If you require additional support to apply, our programme leads in the UK and Germany are on hand - please see their contact details below.
Contact us
Please make sure you have read the guidance in full and checked the FAQs before reaching out to a member of the programme team.
UK organisations contact:
Lorna Palmer
Programme Manager, Cultural Bridge
contact_at_cultural-bridge.info
German organisations contact:
Silvia Bonadiman
Programme development
Fonds Soziokultur e.V.
bonadiman_at_fonds-soziokultur.de
02 28 - 97 144 79-15