Cockaigne Fund

About this fund

The Land of Cockaigne is a mythical paradise of cakes, ale, and splendid entertainment. Although the Cockaigne Fund can't provide the cakes and ale, musical entertainment is on the menu. Since 2022, the Fund has supported innovative musical research, development, and performances to delight, inform, and move participants and audiences alike. In 2024, the average grant size was around £1,900. 

Purpose of this fund

The Fund supports creative, challenging, and original projects that explore cultures and traditions, past and present. They have a particular interest in historically-informed projects related to classical and traditional music of all periods.

The Fund may also consider community projects that push boundaries, strive for excellence, and enable people to access new musical experiences. 

Regarding funding for studies, the Fund will only consider applications related to specialist one-off courses or masterclasses, not full academic programmes. The maximum for such bursaries is £500.

Additional criteria

The project must be based in the UK.

Who can apply?

The Cockaigne Fund welcomes applications from individuals and organisations. 

Organisations must meet Foundation Scotland’s common eligibility criteria. Please note that smaller organisations are prioritised, and make sure to check the criteria before applying.

Individuals must be self-employed and registered with HMRC, or in full-time education. All applicants are required to provide a recent bank statement. 

What can’t be funded?

• Ongoing enterprises that require year-on-year or consistent funding.
• Projects primarily focused on therapy or wellbeing.
• Instruments.

Please see Foundation Scotland’s what we can’t fund page. While not strictly excluded, projects focused on working with schools or school-aged young people are rarely supported.

How are decisions made?

If you are applying as an individual, please use this application form.

If you are applying on behalf of an organisation, please use this application form.

As part of the application form, you will be asked to provide an itemised budget. Please ensure this is as detailed as possible, as the Fund may be able to support specific elements of the project even if the whole amount cannot be granted. The Fund’s aim is to be able to help projects over the line of viability.

If your project focuses on musical research, please explain how you plan to share your findings with the wider community. For performance-based projects, be sure to include details of your marketing strategy.

We aim to share decisions within six weeks. However, there may be delays during busy periods.