THE RICHARD AND SIOBHAN COWARD FOUNDATION: GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY PHOTOGRAPHY
Grants of between £500 and £1,500 are available to UK based charitable organisations, photographers or artists to support the provision of Community Photography in order to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people under the age of 25.
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o Application deadline: WEDNESDAY 30th SEPTEMBER 2026 at midday (12 noon).
o Funder: The Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation (founded 2017. Charity number SC047266. Total value of all grants awarded during the year ended 31 August 2024: £24,961, of which £3,920 was for community photography projects and £21,041 for analogue projects).
o Who can apply: UK based artists or photographers who will be leading the project or by charitable organisations on their behalf.
o Key Words: Photography, Analogue Photography, Children and Young People Aged Under 25, Health, Wellbeing, Individuals, United Kingdom.
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The charitable objectives of Edinburgh-based the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation are:
o To promote, preserve, develop or practise the art of analogue photography.
o To support the provision of Community Photography to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people under 25, and
o To support learning in the art of analogue photography.
The Foundation aims achieves its charitable objectives by:
o Awarding grants to community photography providers, and
o Awarding grants to projects that have analogue photography at their core.
Activities must have the aim of achieving a beneficial therapeutic effect on the children’s or young people’s (aged under 25) physical and/or mental health and wellbeing.
Projects might be a single workshop or event, or a programme of linked activities and might involve working with the participants solo or in groups. Examples of activities that could be included are:
o Outings with a photographer to learn how to take pictures of people or landscapes using digital or analogue film.
o Dark room experiences.
o Creating images using techniques such as cyanotype or pinhole cameras, and
o Learning printing techniques using a range of media.
Normally, projects benefitting from these grants would be expected to last for no longer than one-year and be implementable within the year of the grant being awarded.
Grants of between £500 and £1,500 are available. Although matched funding isn’t a necessity, the Trust likes to see that applicants have sought funding from other sources or can provide an in-kind contribution.
Applications may be made by the artist or photographer who will be leading the project or by charitable organisations on their behalf. Projects must take place in the UK.
During the year ended 31st August 2024, the Foundation received 33 applications for grants, both for community photography projects and from analogue practitioners.
Grants totalling £ 24,961 were awarded, £3,920 of which was for community photography projects and £21,041 for analogue projects.
Grants awarded are listed on page 4 of the Foundation’s annual accounts. Examples of some of the projects that have benefitted from past grants can also be viewed on the Foundation’s Supported Projects webpage.
There is one application round a year. The Foundation’s website states that from 2026 the application opening and closing dates will change. Applications will open on Tuesday 16th June 2026 and close on Wednesday 30th September 2026 at midday.
Please note that applications received after this deadline will not be accepted, nor will they be held over to the following year. Only successful applicants are notified.
Further information, including details about how to apply, is available on the Foundation’s website.
Contact details for the Foundation are:
The Trustees
The Richard and Siobhán Coward Foundation
10 Brunstane Road North
Edinburgh
Scotland
EH15 2DJ
Email: info@cowardphotography.