Announcing the 2026 Activate Fund

Purpose of the ACTIVATE Fund 

Activate is our investment programme for Music Hub partnerships to develop or deliver action-focussed work with their young people.  

This year we are looking to support work that has a focus on early years music-making in London only, so that we can test out partnering our Emerging Music Leader Scheme trainees with Activate activity.

What is on offer? 

We have a total of £6,000 to invest via one of two pathways:  

1. 3 x grants of £2,000 for 3 x individual Music Service/Hub to each deliver a project in 1 x London borough 
2. 1 x grant of £6,000 for 1 x Music Hub partnership to deliver a project in a minimum of 3 x London boroughs. 

All grantees will also have access to: 

• Termly mentoring sessions with a Sound Connections team member specialising in youth voice and participation and/or Early Years  

• Free places on all Sound Connections’ training and networking events in the 26-27 academic year, including our Early Years and Youth Voice and Participation training and networking events 

• A supported process throughout the lifespan of the investment cycle. 

What types of activity can the fund support? 

This year we are looking to support work that has a focus on early years music-making. The sorts of things you might want to apply for can include:  

• Experimenting with new approaches to early years practice 

• Programming early-years focussed activity and developing your relationship with the early years community in your local area 

• Facilitating an early years music event(s) 

• Investing in training-up some of your team in early years practice so that they can support, programme, or deliver early years activity in future 

• Bringing in specialised early years practitioners to lead sessions with your community. 

Whatever it is, it needs to be child-centred, engaging in early years activity and development, and supporting your organisation to take your next steps in deepening your early years practice. 

More information and how to apply 

1. To find out more, please download the Activate Guidelines found here.  
2. To apply, you can find the questions here, and budget form here.  
3. Please complete your application via this link by 9am, Monday 29 June 2026.  

We have thought about making the application process as clear, simple and accessible as possible, and continue to work on making sure this is the case.  

We would be really pleased to hear from you if you need additional support preparing an application or need us to make reasonable adjustments in order to apply to Activate. Please contact jasminep@sound-connections.org.uk for support.