Culture Helps Solidarity - Third Call for Proposals for Individual Grants

Culture Helps Solidarity (Creative Europe-funded) offers Individual Care Grants to Ukrainian cultural professionals and activists supporting displaced people, refugees and vulnerable groups. The third rolling call opened on 27 April 2026 and closes on 18 May 2026 (13:00 Amsterdam / 14:00 Kyiv) with up to €1,200 per individual and a total pool of €8,000 for this round. Grants are one-off contributions to cover personal mental health and wellbeing services such as psychotherapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative stays, cultural visits and workshops and cannot be used for medical psychiatric treatment, medication, rent, organisational or project costs. Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian or English via the Culture of Solidarity Fund grant platform and applicants must be aged 18 or over, residing in Ukraine or having fled to a Creative Europe participating country.

Who can apply

Eligibility highlights

Individual cultural professionals (artists, cultural managers, activists, volunteers) aged 18+ who reside in Ukraine or have fled from Ukraine to a Creative Europe country and who work with displaced people and vulnerable groups (including veterans). Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian or English.

What the grant funds:One-off personal wellbeing support to strengthen mental health and resilience (therapy, trauma-informed coaching, restorative stays, art-therapy workshops, cultural visits, and similar wellbeing services). Funds cannot be used for medical psychiatric treatment, medication, purchase of assets, rent, tuition, organisational/project costs, or general cost-of-living support ¹.

1. 1Grant type: Individual, flexible, non-project support
2. 2Maximum per individual: €1,200 (including taxes if applicable)
3. 3Awards per round: approximately 7 to 10 grants
4. 4Call model: rolling rounds (third round: 27 April 2026 to 18 May 2026)
5. 5Implementing partners: European Cultural Foundation with Insha Osvita, zusa and VETERANKA Movement; co-funded by Creative Europe

Application process:single-stage online application. Each round accepts up to 140 applications; excess applications are waitlisted for the next round. Selection considers personal motivation, relevance to wellbeing, effectiveness of the applicant's cultural role, impact on resilience, and coherence of planned use of funds.

Footnotes

1. 1Apply and find full guidance, budget template and contact details at the application portal: Culture Helps Solidarity application portal

Opportunity summary

Culture Helps Solidarity (project acronym Culture Helps S, Grant Agreement 101237762) runs an open rolling series of small individual grants to support Ukrainian arts and culture professionals impacted by the war. This third call opened on 27 April 2026 and closes on 18 May 2026 at 13:00 Brussels time. The action is co-financed by the EU Creative Europe programme and implemented by the European Cultural Foundation with partners Insha Osvita (Kyiv), zusa (Berlin) and VETERANKA Movement (Kyiv). The programme runs until 2028 and combines individual grants, thematic project grants and collaboration grants alongside mentoring, learning and peer exchange.

Key facts

1. 1Call opening date: 27 April 2026
2. 2Call deadline: 18 May 2026 13:00 Brussels time (14:00 Kyiv time)
3. 3Deadline model: single-stage (one submission)
4. 4Total funding available for this specific open call round: €8,000 (this appears to be the pool listed on the portal; typically 7–10 grants per cycle are disbursed)
5. 5Maximum grant per individual: up to €1,200 (one-off contribution, inclusive of taxes if applicable)
6. 6Expected grants awarded per round: approximately 7 to 10
7. 7Call cadence: rolling rounds approximately every six weeks across 2026–2028 (10–14 cycles anticipated)
8. 8Application language: Ukrainian or English
9. 9Submission portal: culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com

Primary objective:To provide fast, flexible, person-centred wellbeing support to individual Ukrainian cultural professionals (artists, cultural managers, activists and volunteers) who directly support displaced people and refugees, including vulnerable groups such as veterans, enabling them to continue their cultural and community-based activities during and after the war.

Eligibility and who should apply

This scheme is strictly for individuals (no organisations) meeting the following conditions. Applicants must be aged 18 or older and either reside in Ukraine or have fled from Ukraine to one of the Creative Europe participating countries. Applicants must be cultural professionals, cultural managers, artists or activists/volunteers actively working with displaced persons in Ukraine or with refugees from Ukraine in a Creative Europe country (with particular attention to those working with veterans). Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian or English via the online application form.

Eligible applicant types:Individuals only. Eligible profiles include artists, cultural managers, cultural workers and volunteers engaged in community-based cultural activities with displaced Ukrainians or refugees from Ukraine. Organisations, companies or project partnerships are not eligible to receive these individual grants.

What the grant covers and exclusions

The grant is intended strictly for personal mental health and wellbeing support for the individual applicant. It is not intended for project implementation, organisational costs, or payments to third parties. The grant is paid as a one-off contribution (up to €1,200) and can be used for a defined set of wellbeing services and activities; certain services are explicitly excluded.

1. 1Permitted uses (examples): psychotherapy or psychological counselling; trauma-informed coaching; emotional group support sessions; restorative care or rehabilitation stays (sanatoriums, wellness programmes, retreats); visits to cultural institutions and events (tickets to museums, theatres, cinemas, concerts); participation in master classes or workshops (including art therapy) and materials needed to participate; other justified wellbeing-oriented services that directly support the applicant’s resilience.
2. 2Explicit exclusions: psychiatric consultations or medical mental-health treatment requiring medical care or diagnosis; purchase of medication or medical devices; purchase of material assets (tools, household items, equipment, consumables for work); payment of rent for premises; tuition fees or other training costs; invasive medical interventions (surgeries, cosmetic procedures, dental interventions); subscriptions to streaming platforms; consultations with alternative medical practitioners; strictly humanitarian needs or general cost-of-living support.

Selection and evaluation

Applications first undergo an eligibility check. Eligible applications are then assessed by external advisors with cultural sector expertise and contextual understanding of Ukraine. Consortium partners make final decisions based on those recommendations, ensuring consistency and budget balance. Approximately 7 to 10 applications will be awarded in each round.

1. 1Selection criteria used to evaluate applications: Personal motivation and clarity (is the need explained and sincere), Relevance to the call focus (clear focus on applicant wellbeing and mental health), Effectiveness (convincing professional profile and active cultural role benefiting displaced persons), Impact (likelihood that support will meaningfully improve resilience and ability to continue work beyond the grant period), Coherence and feasibility of the planned use of funds (realistic and eligible activities).

Administrative and operational details

Each call is open for three weeks, followed by three weeks of assessment. Rounds open roughly every six weeks. To manage demand, each round can process up to 140 applications; when this limit is reached the round closes and further applications are placed on the waiting list for the next round. Applicants are advised to consider timing and apply in the round best aligned with their planned activities.

Application process and method:Open call submitted through the online grant platform at culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com. Single-stage submission. Applicants must complete the application form in Ukrainian or English and may be required to use provided templates such as the budget template available on the portal.

Timeline (calendar for the third call and immediate next steps)

Support available to applicants

An online info session is scheduled for prospective applicants to ask questions about the application process and criteria (registration link provided). The consortium provides guidance materials and a budget template on the submission portal. For direct questions applicants can contact chs@culturalfoundation.eu.

Structured answers to classification questions

Below are detailed, structured responses to the requested categorisation and extraction questions based on the published call text and Creative Europe participation rules.

1. 1Eligible Applicant Types: Individuals only. Specifically: artists, cultural managers, cultural workers, activists and volunteers (aged 18+) who are actively working with displaced Ukrainians inside Ukraine or with refugees from Ukraine in Creative Europe participating countries. Organisations, companies, research institutes, universities, or consortia are not eligible as beneficiaries for this individual grant scheme.
2. 2Funding Type: Grant (direct one-off financial contribution to individuals).
3. 3Consortium Requirement: Single applicant only — no consortium required or permitted for this individual grant stream.
4. 4Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Residents of Ukraine and Ukrainian nationals who have fled to Creative Europe participating countries. Creative Europe participating countries include EU Member States and the list of non-EU participating countries published for Creative Europe; Ukraine is explicitly a participating country. (Reference: Creative Europe participating countries list; includes EU, EEA/EFTA countries and a set of candidate/acceding and third countries under the programme terms.) ¹
5. 5Target Sector: Culture and arts; community-based cultural activities; wellbeing support for cultural professionals serving displaced persons and refugees (cross-sectoral activities at the intersection of culture, social support and mental health resilience).
6. 6Mentioned Countries: Ukraine is explicitly mentioned. The call refers to Creative Europe (CE) countries as eligible host countries for applicants who have fled Ukraine; implementing partners are located in the Netherlands (European Cultural Foundation), Ukraine (Insha Osvita, VETERANKA Movement) and Germany (zusa). The Creative Europe participating countries list (which determines geographic eligibility) includes EU Member States, EEA/EFTA countries such as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, acceding/candidate/potential candidates (e.g., Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova) and certain neighbouring countries per the published list ¹.
7. 7Project Stage: Personal wellbeing / recovery stage for individual practitioners — these grants are not for research or project development but for individual resilience, recovery and continuation of ongoing cultural/community practice.
8. 8Funding Amount: Up to €1,200 per individual (one-off contribution). The portal page lists Total funding available for the specific call posting as €8,000 (this corresponds to the pool shown on the EU portal entry for the round; typical per-round disbursement is 7–10 grants).
9. 9Application Type: Open call (rolling rounds), single-stage application submitted via the online grant platform. Rounds are time-limited (three weeks open) and repeat roughly every six weeks.
10. 10Nature of Support: Monetary support (direct grants) intended to be spent on wellbeing services for the applicant. Non-monetary services (mentoring, peer exchange, learning) are provided by the wider Culture Helps Solidarity programme but the individual grant itself is monetary.
11. 11Application Stages: One administrative submission stage followed by eligibility check and external assessment leading to final partner decision. In practice this functions as a single-stage call with an eligibility check and then an evaluation phase; counted as 1 principal submission stage plus assessment (answer: effectively 1 submission stage; process includes 2 internal steps: eligibility check and expert assessment).
12. 12Success Rates: Not explicitly published. However, typical per-round awards are 7–10 grants and the portal limits processing to 140 applications per round. If 140 applications are processed and 7–10 awards are made, the per-round success rate could range roughly between 5% and 7% (7/140 ≈ 5.0%; 10/140 ≈ 7.1%). Actual rates depend on the number of applications received and whether rounds close upon reaching capacity.
13. 13Co-funding Requirement: No co-funding required or indicated for individual grants. These are one-off contributions up to €1,200 and do not require matching funds.
14. 14Templates: The call references a budget template and additional guidance available on the grant submission portal. Applicants must complete the online application form in Ukrainian or English and the portal provides the budget template and useful tips. The portal link: culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com.

Application advice and practical notes

Because competition is strong and demand is high, applicants are advised to prepare a clear, concise and sincere statement of need that demonstrates: the applicant’s active cultural role with displaced persons; the direct link between the requested wellbeing support and the applicant’s capacity to continue their cultural/community work; a realistic and feasible plan for the use of funds; and evidence of professional profile and activity (brief CV, examples of work, or references). Use the budget template provided on the portal and ensure the request does not cover excluded items. If your timeline for using funds is not aligned with the current round, consider applying in a subsequent round that better matches your planned implementation period.

Register early for the info session (5 May 2026) if you need clarifications. If the round reaches its per-round processing capacity (140 applications), additional applicants will be placed on a waiting list for the next round. For questions contact chs@culturalfoundation.eu or use the portal resources.

Source references:Primary call information and application portal as published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the Culture Helps Solidarity grant platform; Creative Europe participating countries list referenced for geographic scope and country eligibility ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Creative Europe participating countries list and guidance: ec.europa.eu. Application portal and call details: culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal opportunity pages.

Funding Opportunity Overview

Culture Helps Solidarity is a Creative Europe-funded initiative running until March 2028 that provides direct personal support to Ukrainian cultural professionals and activists working with displaced people, refugees, and vulnerable groups including veterans. The third round of Individual Grants is currently open, offering flexible financial assistance for mental health and wellbeing support rather than project implementation. This is part of a rolling series of calls with approximately 10-14 application cycles planned across the project period.

Key Funding Details

Grant Amount:Up to €1,200 per individual, disbursed as a one-off contribution. Approximately 7 to 10 grants will be awarded in each round.

Total Funding Available:€8,000 for this third round. Over the full 2026-2028 project period, more than €1.4 million will reach over 200 individuals and organisations across all three grant schemes.

Application Deadline:18 May 2026 at 13:00 Amsterdam time / 14:00 Kyiv time. The call opened on 27 April 2026 and remains open for three weeks.

Application Portal:Submissions must be made via Culture of Solidarity Fund Grant Platform

Who Can Apply

This call targets individual cultural professionals and activists who meet all of the following criteria:

• Aged 18 years or above
• Reside in Ukraine or have fled Ukraine to one of the Creative Europe countries
• Work as artists, cultural managers, or activist volunteers supporting displaced persons in Ukraine or refugees from Ukraine in Creative Europe countries, with particular attention to vulnerable groups such as veterans
• Submit a complete application form in either Ukrainian or English language
• Have been personally affected by war, displacement, and/or traumatic working conditions

Applicants must be working directly with displaced Ukrainians, refugees, or vulnerable communities. The grant is strictly for individuals and cannot be directed to third parties, project implementation, or organisational costs.

Eligible Use of Funds

Grants must be used exclusively for personal mental health and wellbeing support. Eligible activities include:

• Psychotherapy or psychological counselling
• Trauma-informed coaching or emotional group support sessions
• Restorative care or rehabilitation stays such as sanatorium treatment, wellness programmes, or retreats
• Visits to cultural institutions and events including tickets to museums, theatres, cinemas, and concerts
• Participation in master classes or workshops including art therapy and materials necessary for participation
• Other justified wellbeing-oriented services that directly support the applicant's resilience

Ineligible Use of Funds

Grants cannot be used for the following:

• Psychiatric consultations or medical mental health treatment including any expenses involving medical care or diagnosis
• Purchase of medication or medical devices even if prescribed by a doctor
• Purchase of material assets such as tools, household items, equipment, or work consumables
• Payment of rent for residential or commercial premises
• Tuition fees or other formal or informal training costs
• Invasive interventions including surgical operations, cosmetic procedures, or dental interventions
• Streaming platform subscriptions
• Consultations with alternative medical practitioners
• Strictly humanitarian needs or cost-of-living support

Selection Criteria and Process

Applications are evaluated based on five key criteria:

• Personal motivation and clarity: Is the need well explained and is the request coherent and sincere?
• Relevance to call focus: Does the application clearly focus on the applicant's mental health and wellbeing?
• Effectiveness: Does the applicant demonstrate a convincing professional profile and active cultural role that benefits displaced persons?
• Impact: Will the support meaningfully improve the applicant's resilience and ability to continue their work beyond the recovery period financed through the grant?
• Coherence and feasibility of planned use of funds: Are the requested activities realistic and eligible?

Following an eligibility check, applications are assessed by external advisors familiar with the cultural sector and current context in Ukraine. Final decisions are made by consortium partners who review recommendations to ensure consistency and budgetary balance. Approximately 7 to 10 applications are awarded per round.

Application Timeline

Important Application Information

Each call remains open for three weeks followed by three weeks of assessment. To ensure optimal allocation of resources, the programme can process up to 140 applications per round. Once this limit is reached, the round closes and additional applications are automatically placed on a waiting list for the next round. Applicants are encouraged to consider the timing of their planned activities and apply in a round that aligns well with their implementation timeline. Demand is high and competition is strong, so applicants should prepare high-quality applications that stand out in the competitive selection process ¹.

Support and Further Information

An online information session is scheduled for 5 May 2026 at 15:00 Amsterdam time / 16:00 Kyiv time. Participants can register in advance via the Zoom link to receive access details and participate in a question and answer session with programme partners regarding the application process and criteria. The application form, budget template, and additional guidance materials are available on the grant platform. For questions, applicants should contact chs@culturalfoundation.eu.

Programme Structure and Partners

Culture Helps Solidarity is co-financed by the EU Creative Europe Programme and implemented by a consortium comprising the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam), Insha Osvita (Kyiv), zusa (Berlin), and the VETERANKA Movement (Kyiv). The programme combines three grant schemes: Individual Care Grants for personal wellbeing support, Project Grants for cultural initiatives fostering access to arts and heritage, and Collaboration Grants connecting organisations across Ukraine and Creative Europe countries. Beyond financial support, the project fosters a community of peer learning, mentoring, and exchange providing a safe space for shared reflection, professional growth, and solidarity across borders.

Geographic Scope

Applicants must reside in Ukraine or have fled to one of the Creative Europe participating countries. Creative Europe countries include all EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia (for Culture strand only), Kosovo (for Culture strand only), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova (for Culture strand only), Armenia (for Culture strand only), and Tunisia (for Culture strand only) ².

Rolling Application Cycles

This is the third in a series of rolling calls. Across the 2026-2028 project period, approximately 10 to 14 application cycles are anticipated, with new rounds launching roughly every six weeks. The fourth call is scheduled to open on 8 June 2026. This rolling structure provides repeated opportunities for support and allows applicants to apply in cycles that best match their needs and timelines.

Footnotes

1. 1Applicants should note that high demand and strong competition mean that only the most compelling applications demonstrating clear need, strong relevance to wellbeing support, and realistic planned use of funds are likely to be successful. Taking time to prepare a thorough and well-articulated application is essential.
2. 2The list of Creative Europe participating countries is maintained by the European Commission and was last updated on 15 January 2026. Applicants should verify their country's participation status on the official EU Funding and Tenders Portal if uncertain.