What do you need help with?
Funding Direction
A route recommendation, the main risks and what to prepare.
£45Check my route →I have a draftReview & Strengthening
Feedback on priority fit, evidence, delivery and budget consistency, with practical questions to resolve before submission.
From £95Review my draft →The idea needs shapingProject Packaging
Bring the activities, partners, outcomes and budget together before writing.
From £175Shape my project →Write it for meComplete Writing
A concise initial enquiry or invited application rooted in your organisation’s work, with later stages agreed separately.
Fixed quoteAsk for a fixed quote →What this application needs.
Large Grants now use an initial enquiry followed by an invited full application. They support revenue costs rather than a general capital building bid. The usual income band is over £200,000 and up to £2 million, with a specific exception for some returning applicants. A Scottish address alone is not enough: the work must fit the Trust’s priorities.
Check current eligibility, deadlines and assistance rules. This page does not confirm that a round is open.
Considering another route?
Compare the support available. Each fund has its own eligibility rules.
I check the funder’s assistance rules before accepting writing work. Where you must write it yourself, I offer planning or feedback instead.
What to send and how the quote works
A short outline is enough to start.
- Charity details, annual income and work delivered in Scotland
- The relevant funding priority and intended request
- Recent accounts, budget and delivery plans
- Initial enquiry draft or full-application invitation
Writing is quoted for your brief. Reviews start at £95. Scope, complexity and the application stage determine the final fee. Later stages and extra review rounds are agreed separately. No payment on this form.
This is not a general arts or building fund. I check the current guidance and assistance rules; the charity owns the decisions, confirms the facts and submits.
From your rough notes
to a complete written draft.
Research, writing and one agreed round of refinements.
The people and the purpose
Explain the connection to poverty and associated trauma using your service evidence, without sharing identifying personal stories.
How your work helps
Describe the support, prevention or longer-term change in plain language. Show what people using the service have influenced.
A sustainable delivery plan
Bring staffing, governance, costs and other income together. Distinguish the current service from what extra funding would enable.
Check and refine
You check the facts and missing information. I make one agreed round of refinements; you approve and submit.
You receive an editable draft and submission checklist, with missing facts flagged. You approve it and submit to the funder.
Read the writing before you hire me.
A genuine application extract. Only identifying details have been redacted; the wording is retained.
Browse all writing extracts →Real applications.
Personal support.
Scroll across for more client experiences →
Matt supported me throughout my Paul Hamlyn Foundation application, which was successful. He demonstrated profound respect for the background of my application, which focused on Ballroom Culture, and articulated my points clearly to the panel.
The review was very detailed and clearly structured, so it was easy for me to update my application and submit it in time.
I am really grateful to Matt for reviewing my DYCP application. He provided clear, detailed feedback with explanations for each proposed change.
Send me the fund,
the deadline, and the idea.
Two or three sentences are enough. I’ll reply personally with the right service, scope and fixed quote.
No commitment until you agree the quote.
Prefer to talk first? Book a chat
Dear Matt,
Tell me what you know. “Not sure” is fine.Only your name, email and a short outline are required. The other fields are optional.
Form not working? Email matt@artsfunded.com directly.
Quick answers.
Yes, where the Trust’s current criteria fit your organisation. The application still needs a clear account of your work and financial position.
Start with the enquiry. We can organise useful source material, but a full application should follow the Trust’s invitation and questions.
Independent support from Matthew Simmonds, not the funder or an approved supplier. I check the current route and outside-assistance rules before agreeing work. You approve all facts, figures and commitments and submit the application. Funding is never guaranteed.
Feedback on priority fit, evidence, delivery and budget consistency, with practical questions to resolve before submission. It is not a complete rewrite. I confirm the fee and scope before payment.
This is not a general arts or building fund. I check the current guidance and assistance rules; the charity owns the decisions, confirms the facts and submits.
A bid writer who works
inside the arts.
I’m Matthew Simmonds, Co-Artistic Director of Strange Futures, an Arts Council England-funded theatre company. I’m also a theatre maker, performer and facilitator.
I know the work behind the form. I work with individual artists, small organisations and charities, from a first application to NPO bids, multi-year community funding and longer-term planning. My job is to make the next step clearer and keep your own voice in the writing.
Matt Simmonds More about Matt →Working on another application?
Arts, charity, community and heritage support, with the same personal approach.