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Open daily 9- 4
Back view of a person in a burgundy and yellow varsity jacket with 'MAURER' on it, seated at a desk with yellow speakers, plants and string lights.

Funding for Young Creatives

Portrait of a person with short dark hair, wearing a white dinner jacket and dark bow tie, on a stage with a blurred background.

Funding for Young Creatives

Mike Howley worked for many years as Director of Cultural Services for the Isle of Wight Council. When he died in 2013, he had left part of his estate for the specific benefit of aspiring young actors, musicians, dancers and writers, between the ages of 18 and 30, living on the Isle of Wight.

The Trustees of Mike Howley Trust welcome young Island creatives to apply for up to £1,500 to help them realise their artistic ambitions. Funds are available for those involved in dance, theatre (including film/video), music and writing.

Typically, we are able to fund 40% of applications. If you are not successful in this round, we encourage you to apply again to the next round of funding, which will be announced on this webpage.

If you have any questions, whether it’s about your ideas, or just to have a chat, please don’t hesitate to contact us as we are here to help! Feel free to contact Alicia French, Arts Team at [email protected]

Back view of a person in a burgundy and yellow varsity jacket with 'MAURER' on it, seated at a desk with yellow speakers, plants and string lights.

MHT Funding Application Guidelines 2025/2026

  1. You must be at least 18 years of age and no older than 30 years of age on the date of the application deadline.
  2. You must live on the Isle of Wight.
  3. You must use the entire amount awarded on your proposed project/purchase. If awarded funds do not cover the full cost of the project, you must be prepared to use other resources to make up any difference.
  4. You may apply to use funds in areas such as training, coaching, recording, rehearsal space, staging, publishing, instruments, equipment, conference fees/travel/hotel, legal fees, software etc. You may use no more than 10% of an award for promotion/marketing.
  5. You cannot use MHT funds for university/college fees/housing. Funding for laptops is not normally given.
  6. You must spend the funds in their entirety within 5 months of the announcement of awards, or you will have to repay the funds. (Time extensions may be permitted in exceptional circumstances.) You must also complete a short report about your project by the deadline date (template will be provided).
  7. If you have been awarded MHT funds in the past you may apply again if you have submitted your final report.

Tips for successful application

Be realistic! Can you accomplish the task in the short time frame with the amount you request? Tell us why this is important to your creative aspirations. Show us with work samples (they don’t need to be professionally produced) that you are serious about being creative.

Quay Arts (charity number 272007) administers this programme on behalf of the Trustees of the Mike Howley Trust.

Amy Birch received MHT funding to create costumes for Horse Box Theatre's Sunset Boulevard production in 2024.
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Costumes by Amy Birch for a Horse Box Theatre show

Funding Schedule 2026

We will be announcing our next funding round mid 2026 onwards, please check back here soon for details.

Applicants will receive email acknowledgement of their online submission and will be contacted about award decisions following the application deadline.

Person with shoulder-length blond hair plays an acoustic guitar in a studio, wearing a green floral shirt and a sunflower-patterned guitar strap.
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Amy Jolliffe by India-Rose-Lawie

Examples of past Mike Howley Trust awards

  • A creative writer received funds for courses exploring writing and illustrating children’s books
  • A musician received funds to help develop, mix and re-master tracks for an album
  • A dancer/choreographer received funds for 1-to-1 specialist training
  • A filmmaker received funds towards pre-production costs

“The support from Mike Howley has given me the time, space and resources to be able to choreograph and develop my creative practice. I’d urge any young creatives to take up this offer!” - Lily George

Above quote from previous award recipient Lily George. Her funding was spent on Venue hire, speaker, creating soundtrack, choreography time, and mentoring for ‘Ad Astra’.

“I have learnt a lot about the music industry throughout this process. It was amazing to be able to record my music in a professional studio, and to have the creative freedom to experiment with different sounds.” - Amy Jolliffe

Amy Jolliffe was one of our 2025 award recipients, who used her £1500 funding to upgrade her equipment, studio time, a professional photoshoot, and produced professional recordings of her original songs. Find out more about Amy’s creative journey and experience with her funding HERE.

“This grant has given me the opportunity to have more advanced lessons with an experienced teacher working in the industry. I am now starting my degree course much more confident in my ability than I was previously.” - Alfie Rollinson

Alfie Rollinson was one of our 2025 award recipients, who used his £500 funding for drumming lessons at Stingray Recording Studios to develop his practice before starting university. Find out more about Alfie's creative journey and experience with his funding HERE.

“I am now more confident in my ability. And have more dance skills. I have really enjoyed choreographing alongside my tutor Charlie. And reviewing the dance, changing bits and having time to practice.” - Chris Shore

Chris Shore was one of our 2025 award recipients, who used his £500 funding for 11 weeks' worth of dance lessons with a professional dance tutor to help improve his dance skills and to support his college application HERE.