Inside Out grant programme

Applications are open to cultural organisations or those agencies, artists, curators and performers delivering cultural activities for residents or visitors to the City of Westminster, including venues, landowners and Business Improvement Districts.

Preference will be given to applicants located in the City of Westminster. 

Projects must:

• promote the cultural offer of the City of Westminster or a specific venue with the aim of attracting visitors
• not be supported by any other Westminster City Council sources of funding
• respond to Fairer Westminster strategy themes including greening, innovation, inclusion and diversity
• be free, inclusive and accessible to all
• be specifically for the Inside Out programme during the month of August 2025
• take place outdoors
• demonstrate value for money
• activities and projects must have capacity for at least 100 people to take part or benefit
• include letters of support from proposed venues
• activities must have a minimal environmental impact with steps taken to reduce carbon emissions

Fairer environment

Activities must have a minimal environmental impact with steps taken to reduce carbon emissions. 

Logistics

Please note that planning permission, advertising or licensing consent and conditions may be required for exhibitions or installations on public land including those in place for over 28 days. An application fee applies. 

Public Liability Insurance of at least £2 million must be in place for activities and a Risk Assessment Method Statement (RAMS) supplied in advance detailing the steps you have undertaken to carry out your activity in a safe manner.  

Road closures

Given the complexity of the road network in Westminster, to minimise disruption our preference would be for Inside Out activities to take place in our parks and open spaces, or in pedestrianised locations.

However, if your activity requires a road closure then please consider the following advice:

• make clear in your bid and subsequent event application that a road closure is required 
• the lead in time to secure a road closure is 12 weeks
• the standard road closure fee is currently £1,108.88, but there will be an annual increase in this cost in early 2025

In order to facilitate a road closure you will need a traffic management plan to submit with your application. The City Promotions Events and Filming team [email protected] will be able to provide advice in this regard, but please note that you may need to appoint a third party to develop the plans on your behalf and that you should set aside some budget to do this.

Please that there may be occasions whereby a road closure is simply not viable. Where this is the case then we will work with you to suggest alternative locations for your activity to take place.

If you are awarded a grant you will need to submit an event application on the council’s web portal here at your earliest convenience.

Subsidy control rules

All applicants will be required to declare in the application form that the activity complies with Subsidy Control government legislation. Funding cannot contribute towards ‘economic activity’ or towards an ‘enterprise’. Find information from BEIS on the UK Subsidy Control regime.