Living and working in a city as expensive as London can make money a difficult issue for many practitioners.  This section not only lists funding providers who can help with specific projects or research and development of new work but provides practical advice on rates of pay, resale royalty rights, tax, VAT and applications for funding.

One of the main sources of funding for London based visual artists and craftspeople is Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts Scheme. You can download forms and guidelines from their website.

Launched in November 2005, Guidestar collects, for the first time, information on all UK charities in one place, accessible for free. This is an excellent first port of call for information and match searches for project funding from UK charities, along with Charities Direct, the home of the National Charities Database, providing regularly updated information on over 10,000 UK charities. Among other information, you can use the site to find charity details or a professional adviser for your existing charity.

J4B Grants which is run by j4b plc (an information services company offering research, information publishing, technology and business services), provides listings of UK funding organisations specifically for small businesses. It includes an easy to use search facility that enables you to find grants relevant to you, helps you find organisations that can offer you help and advice and will email personalised grant alerts tailored to your individual criteria.

You can also have a look at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) website's PDF guide to funding for the arts