Arts Council England's £25M capital fund closes to expressions of interest at noon on 7 August, and touring kit qualifies.

Strand 1 covers grants of £100,000 to £1,000,000 for not-for-profit cultural organisations registered in England. Up to £25M is available in this strand alone, out of £76.8M across both strands for 2026/27.

Most of the guidance is written for building projects: land, leases, ownership. Equipment-only applications skip all of that. The guidance is explicit: 'if this is an equipment only project, you will move straight to point 6.' A touring company with no building of its own can apply.

What qualifies, quoted from ACE's own guidance: moveable theatre lighting, AV and digital equipment, low-emission vehicles for touring, portable technical equipment, sound and audio enhancement systems including captioning and audio description. Venues can also fund dressing rooms, auditorium seating, wheelchair spaces and backstage communications.

The detail worth knowing: applicant validation on the ACE grants portal takes up to 10 working days. With the EOI closing at noon on 7 August, anyone not already registered won't make this round.

Successful expressions of interest are invited on 7 September to submit a full application by noon on 23 October, with award decisions by the end of March 2027. Applicants need 5% partnership funding. This is England-only and organisations-only: an individual artist can't apply, but the company or venue they work with might.