Luton Create Fund

The Luton Create Fund has now closed, and we’re excited to share the next steps!

This programme has been made possible with generous support from Arts Council England, Luton Rising and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through the Luton Create Fund, and was administered by the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Fund (BLCF). We’re grateful for their commitment to nurturing creativity and championing the diverse talent that makes Luton’s cultural community thrive.

We’re proud to support creative ideas across Luton. This fund will help projects flourish in areas such as visual and performing arts, film, design, storytelling, comedy, poetry, digital creativity, craft, textiles, heritage, music, and community traditions.

The fund will enable individuals and organisations to develop new work, reach diverse audiences, and grow artistic skills and careers. We were especially delighted to welcome applications from underrepresented voices and those new to funding.

Applications were assessed against the fund criteria, and a community panel played a key role in selecting recipients who have a strong connection to Luton.

Two strands of funding were offered:

• Lightning Commissions – £1,000 for individuals with new ideas.
• Evolution Commissions – £5,000-£20,000 for organisations and individuals, supporting arts projects, creative health and wellbeing initiatives, and work with schools.

We’ve just announced the recipients of our Lightning Commissions – creatives who are about to begin their journey developing fresh ideas. The Evolution Commissions are currently being assessed, and we’ll share the successful projects in January.

You can find out more about the creatives who received funding by visiting our Meet the creatives page.

Thank you to everyone who applied and contributed to making Luton’s creative community thrive!

Looking for more support? You can still access helpful resources in our Resource Hub to guide you when searching for other funding or planning your next project.

And looking ahead, we’re working with partners on a new resource hub to support local creatives. It will launch in 2026, and we’d love you to be part of it.