Culture Helps Solidarity - Sixth Call for Proposals for Individual Grants

Culture Helps Solidarity (Creative Europe, grant agreement 101237762) is opening a sixth individual grant round from 12 October 2026 to 26 October 2026 13:00 Brussels time to provide one-off personal wellbeing support for cultural and community practitioners from Ukraine or who have fled to Creative Europe participating countries. Eligible individuals aged 18+ working with displaced Ukrainians, refugees, veterans or other vulnerable groups may request up to €1,200 for non-medical wellbeing services; the total round budget shown on the EU portal is €8,000 and approximately 7–10 awards are anticipated. Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian or English via the Culture Helps Solidarity application platform and will undergo an eligibility check followed by assessment by external advisers with final decisions by the implementing consortium. The grant covers psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative stays, cultural visits and similar resilience-focused activities and explicitly excludes medical psychiatric treatment, medication, rent, equipment, organisational costs and general living expenses.

What it funds

Purpose and scope

One-off personal wellbeing grants for cultural professionals and creatives in and from Ukraine to support mental health, resilience and personal care (not for project or organisational costs). Eligible uses include psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative stays, cultural visits, art-therapy workshops and similar wellbeing services; explicit exclusions apply (medical psychiatric treatment, medication, equipment, rent, tuition, consumables, humanitarian living costs and other listed items).

Who can apply

Individuals aged 18+ who are cultural professionals, artists, cultural managers, activists or volunteers from Ukraine or who fled from Ukraine to a Creative Europe country, working with displaced people, refugees, veterans or other vulnerable groups and personally affected by war, displacement or traumatic working conditions. Applications accepted in Ukrainian or English.

Selection and scale

Applications undergo eligibility checks and assessment by external advisors. Selection criteria focus on professional relevance, personal wellbeing need, public/community impact and coherence of the planned use of funds. Around 7 to 10 grants will be awarded in this cycle.

Apply and find full application guidance, eligibility details and the online form via the grant platform. Application platform 1

Footnotes

1. 1Use the platform link to complete the form and the budget section; contact chs@culturalfoundation.eu for questions.

Opportunity snapshot

Who can apply (eligible applicant types and scope)

Funding details and permitted uses

Eligible activities (examples)

Prohibited uses

Eligibility criteria (detailed)

Selection criteria and assessment process

After an initial administrative eligibility check, applications are assessed by external advisors familiar with the cultural sector and the Ukrainian context. The consortium partners make final decisions following the external advisors' recommendations to ensure consistency and budgetary balance. In each round the consortium expects to award 7 to 10 grants.

Application process and practical information

Administrative and programme context

This call is part of the Culture Helps Solidarity project, full project name Culture Helps Solidarity, project acronym Culture Helps S, grant agreement number 101237762, under the Creative Europe action CREA-CULT Fostering Ukrainians’ access to culture and cultural heritage. The wider programme includes three grant strands: individual grants (this call), thematic project grants and collaboration grants, combined with mentoring, learning and peer exchange activities. The project runs until 2028.

Structured extraction: answers to categorisation questions

Selection and quality tips for applicants

The call guidance emphasises the importance of a clear professional narrative demonstrating how the applicant contributes to cultural life and serves communities; a direct explanation of how the requested support will maintain or restore the applicant's wellbeing and enable continued cultural practice; and a concise, realistic and coherent budget and description of planned activities. Demand is high and rounds are competitive; complete, well-justified and clearly written applications that evidence public/community impact score higher in assessment.

Partners and implementing organisations

Final summary

Culture Helps Solidarity individual grants are small, rapid-response wellbeing grants designed to support Ukrainian cultural professionals who have been affected by war, displacement or traumatic working conditions and who continue to work with displaced people, refugees, veterans and vulnerable communities in Ukraine or across Creative Europe countries. Each grant offers up to €1,200 as a one-off contribution strictly for personal mental health and wellbeing services (psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative stays, tickets to cultural events, art-therapy workshops and similar wellbeing services). The call is a rolling, single-stage open call with rounds opening roughly every six weeks. Applicants must be individuals aged 18+ and either reside in Ukraine or have fled to a Creative Europe participating country. Applications are assessed for eligibility, then reviewed by external cultural-sector advisors; final decisions are made by the consortium partners. The round budget for this call is €8,000 with an anticipated 7–10 awards; given the per-round capacity of 170 accepted submissions, competition is strong and applicants should prepare clear, evidence-based, and well-justified requests. Apply via the grant platform and consult the organisers' info session or contact chs@culturalfoundation.eu for clarifications. More information and the application form are available on the grant platform Culture Helps Solidarity Grant Platform 1.

Footnotes

1. 1Application portal and guidance: culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com . Use this platform to complete the online application form, budget section and to find application tips and supporting guidance.

Executive Summary

Culture Helps Solidarity is an EU Creative Europe funded support programme for arts, culture and community professionals from Ukraine. The sixth individual grant round provides one off personal wellbeing support to eligible individuals whose cultural or community work benefits displaced Ukrainians, refugees, veterans or other vulnerable communities. The grant is intended to strengthen the applicant’s mental health, resilience and ability to continue their work. It is not intended to finance projects, organisations or general living costs.

The call opens on 12 October 2026 and closes on 26 October 2026 at 13:00 Brussels time. The opportunity is a single stage cascade funding call managed through the Culture Helps Solidarity project rather than a standard direct grant application to the European Commission. The official EU Funding and Tenders Portal record identifies the total funding available for this round as €8,000.

Key Opportunity Facts

What the Funding Is For

The funding provides rapid and flexible personal care assistance for cultural professionals and creatives affected by war, displacement or traumatic working conditions. Its purpose is to help applicants maintain personal wellbeing, resilience and mental health so they can continue artistic, cultural or community based work.

The support may be particularly relevant to applicants who work voluntarily or under difficult conditions with displaced Ukrainians, refugees, veterans, women veterans, vulnerable groups or communities affected by the war. The applicant must demonstrate both a credible professional or community role and a clear personal need for wellbeing support.

Who Can Apply

Applicants must meet the following core conditions:

The call is strictly for individuals. Organisations, companies, informal groups and institutions cannot apply for this individual grant in their own name. Organisational costs and payments made for the benefit of third parties are outside the purpose of the scheme.

Geographical Scope

The call is designed for people residing in Ukraine or in Creative Europe participating countries. Ukraine participates in Creative Europe, and the programme also includes the EU Member States and a number of non EU participating countries. Eligibility should be checked against the current Creative Europe country list and the specific application form because participation can vary by programme strand for some countries.

The official Creative Europe country information identifies participating non EU countries including Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Tunisia, with certain countries subject to strand specific limitations. For this individual call, applicants should rely on the dedicated call guidance and application platform when confirming residence eligibility.

Funding Amount and Financial Conditions

Each selected applicant may receive up to €1,200 as a one off contribution. The published amount includes taxes where applicable. The grant is not described as a percentage reimbursement and no co financing requirement is stated. Applicants should therefore present a realistic request based on eligible personal wellbeing activities rather than a project budget requiring matching funds.

The EU portal lists €8,000 as the total funding available for this round. The call description indicates that approximately 7 to 10 grants may be awarded. Because 10 awards at the maximum amount would exceed the stated round budget, the number and value of awards will depend on the final budget allocation and award decisions. Applicants should not assume that every selected applicant will receive the maximum amount.

Eligible Uses of the Grant

The proposed use of funds should be specific, credible and directly connected to the applicant’s wellbeing. Applicants should explain why the requested activity is needed now, how it will support their resilience and why it will help them continue their cultural or community contribution.

Excluded Costs and Activities

Selection Criteria

Applications will be assessed against four main considerations:

Assessment and Decision Process

Applications first undergo an eligibility check. Eligible applications are then assessed by external advisers familiar with the cultural sector and the current context in Ukraine. Consortium partners make the final decisions after reviewing the recommendations to promote consistency and budgetary balance.

The call expects to award approximately 7 to 10 applications in this round. The process is competitive. The organisers state that each round can accommodate up to 170 applications and may close submissions early if that limit is reached before the published deadline.

Timeline

Application Requirements and Practical Advice

Applicants should prepare a concise but evidence based explanation of their professional or community role, the people or communities they support, the impact of their work and the personal circumstances creating the need for wellbeing assistance.

Applicants should distinguish personal wellbeing expenditure from project or humanitarian needs. A request for equipment, rent, staff costs, project materials, medical treatment or general household support is unlikely to meet the purpose of this call.

Information Session and Contact

An online information session is scheduled for 14 October 2026 at 15:00 Amsterdam time and 16:00 Kyiv time. Registration is available here: Information Session Registration

Questions may be sent to chs@culturalfoundation.eu. Applicants should use the information session and the dedicated application platform to clarify any uncertainty about eligible services, geographical eligibility, taxes, payment arrangements or supporting information.

Implementing Consortium

The project is implemented by the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam, Insha Osvita in Kyiv, zusa in Berlin and the VETERANKA Movement in Kyiv. The wider programme combines individual grants with thematic project grants, collaboration grants, mentoring, learning and peer exchange. This sixth call concerns only the individual wellbeing grant scheme and should not be confused with the separate project or collaboration grant calls.

Authoritative Sources

Overall Assessment

This is a highly targeted, small scale wellbeing grant rather than a conventional cultural project grant. It is most suitable for an individual cultural or community practitioner who can demonstrate a current and meaningful contribution to people affected by the war, together with a well explained personal need for restorative, psychological or resilience focused support.

The principal strengths of the opportunity are the simple individual applicant model, the flexible one off contribution, the absence of a stated co financing requirement and the acceptance of applications in Ukrainian or English. The principal constraints are the low maximum award, the narrow list of eligible uses, the strict exclusion of medical and organisational costs, the limited round budget and the high level of competition. A strong application should therefore focus on personal wellbeing, public or community relevance, eligibility and a precise, credible use of the requested funds.