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Our Funders
We are hugely grateful to our partners, funders, donors and everyone who has supported our work during 2025-26. This has enabled us to offer a remarkable range of high quality cultural, heritage and creative activities in Sunderland for people to enjoy, experience and participate in.
Thank you to our founding partners for their vision and support in establishing Sunderland Culture.
We wish to thank everyone who generously donated to our Big Give Arts for Impact campaign in 2025.
Thanks to Arts Council England for its support for Sunderland Culture as a National Portfolio Organisation.
Sunderland Culture is funded by the UK Government through the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Culture Start is supported by a £1.2m Place Partnership award from Arts Council England through the National Lottery, and generously funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust and the Gillian Dickinson Trust.
We wish to thank the following for their support during 2025-26:
The Albany – Family Arts Network
Art Angel
Arts Council England
Art Fund
Art Network North East
Association of Independent
Museums (via DCMS Know Your
Neighbourhood Fund)
ATG Entertainment
Big Give
Building Culture CIC
The Cultural Spring
Culture, Health and Wellbeing
Alliance
The Eaton Fund
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Film Hub North with National
Lottery Funding on behalf of the
BFI Film Audience Network
Future Arts Centres
Garfield Weston Foundation
Gillian Dickinson Trust
Group for Education in Museums
(GEM)
Granada Foundation
Henry Moore Foundation
The Julia Rausing Trust
Maximillian William
The National Foundation for
Youth Music
National Lottery Heritage Fund
National Theatre
North East Mayoral Strategic
Authority
Northern Centre of Photography
REECE Foundation
Scops Arts Trust
Sir James Knott Trust
Sport England
Sunderland City Council
Sunderland Music, Arts and
Culture Trust
Sunderland Music City
Sunderland Voluntary Sector
Alliance
Tate Gallery – British Art Network
Bursary Award 2025
Tullie
UK Shared Prosperity Fund with Sunderland City Council
University of Sunderland – Innovate & Grow, supported by UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Washington Heritage Partnership
We are delighted Sunderland City Council has received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players and the DCMS Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England to support the redevelopment of Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
