The BRIT Trust announces its beneficiary charities for 2026

16 December 2025 - Press release

Grants totalling more than £30 million have been awarded by the BRIT Trust since its foundation in 1989, supporting causes that share its mission to improve lives through the power of music and the creative arts 

 

The BRIT Trust – the principal charity of The BRIT Awards and of the UK recorded music industry, which works to improve lives through the power of music and the creative arts – today announces the charities that will receive its grant funding in 2026.

With annual income generated largely through monies raised by The BRIT Awards and by the Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS), as well as, more recently, the White Label Auction, the BRIT Trust was originally set up to support the vital work of The BRIT School – the world-renowned, Croydon-based performing and creative arts school that is free to attend – and that of Nordoff and Robbins – the UK’s largest music therapy charity.  Both these causes remain close to its heart as its long-term beneciaries. Over the past three decades, however, the Trust has expanded its giving, making around 300 grants to a diverse breadth of eligible causes across the UK that promote education and wellbeing, social justice and community cohesion through the power of music.

Twelve charities in all will benefit from BRIT Trust funding in 2026. Among the projects being funded, activities will range from empowering disadvantaged young people in Wales with increased access to music, to providing a vital health and wellbeing training programme for musicians and performing artists across the UK working in a creative health setting; and from helping vulnerable people in Leicester with education and training, to nurturing self-expression, develop technical skills, and building confidence through collaborative music-making in areas of poverty and deprivation outside of Glasgow.  See Notes for full project details and quotes from all the charities.

• Abram Willson Foundation (London)
• Anthem Wales (Cardiff & Wales)
• BAPAM (London and UK wide)
• BRIT School (Croydon)
• East London Arts and Music (ELAM) (East London and wider)
• Hand Of (Newcastle Upon Tyne and the North East)
• Healthy n Happy (Rutherglen, Glasgow)
• Heart n Soul (South East London)
• Nordoff and Robbins (UK wide)
• Pedestrian (Leicester/shire)
• Performing Room (Northampton)
• Tomorrow’s Warriors (London)

 

BRIT Trust Chair, Tony Wadsworth CBE, said: 

“We all know how hard it is for charities right now, and it’s getting tougher – and that’s true of our own experience at the BRIT Trust, but, thanks to the valued support of our music industry, we are delighted to be able to once again support a breadth of good causes across the UK and help deliver some important projects. We congratulate the recipient charities on their successful applications and look forward to receiving funding requests for 2027.”    

In each grant cycle, from December to April, registered charities which meet The BRIT Trust’s giving criteria can apply for funding via The BRIT Trust website. The BRIT Trust’s Grants Committee evaluates these applications and a recommendation is made to the Trustees for their November Board Meeting, after which a final decision is communicated to applicants. Grants are confirmed and announced once final due diligence has been completed.

Applications for BRIT Trust funding in 2027 are now being received until 30^th April 2026, and can be made here.