We seek support from charitable Trusts, Foundations and Grantmakers to advance our ambition to provide ‘goosebumps’ moments to more and more of our diverse audiences across the West Midlands region and beyond, for many years to come.
The funds donated are vital for us to sustain and expand our charitable work and support our ambitions to be a cultural hub, for everyone, right in the heart of Birmingham. Support from Trusts, Foundations and Grantmakers assists us in delivering our key ambitions for:
- Education and Learning programmes for children and young people, including those with Special Educational Needs. This includes Hippodrome Education Network (HEN), Curtain Raisers and Youth Theatres.
- Strengthening and expanding our Access for All initiatives including our popular Relaxed Performance programme and Access and Inclusion Advocates.
- Supporting our free, outdoor arts Festivals, taking exciting arts and cultural experiences to the streets of the city.
- Developing New Musical Theatre and new artistic projects, supporting our goal to be a leading regional producer of new theatrical work.
- Helping local artists in Birmingham and the West Midlands region to develop their skills and ideas, to build a new wave of regional talent to enter the industry
- Vital capital projects needed to maintain and develop the Hippodrome estate, to ensure that our world-class venue will be used and appreciated for generations to come
By supporting in this way, and often over multiple years, Trusts, Foundations and Grantmakers provide a bedrock of support on our journey to deliver our Five-Year Organisational Plan and its key objectives. This benefits young people, vulnerable communities and families all across the West Midlands Region.
You can read more about how this funding has made a big difference to our reach and impact via the case studies below.
Case Studies
The Saintbury Trust
The Saintbury Trust are a grant-making charity that supports organisations in the West Midlands, particularly in the cities of Birmingham and Worcester. The Trust is particularly keen to support the arts, heritage, the environment and helping those with disabilities.
The Trust has been a regular supporter of charitable initiatives at the Hippodrome, most recently in 2024 supporting our delivery of Relaxed Performances for those audiences with an autistic spectrum condition and/or additional needs through a grant of £6,000.
The Trust’s award formed part of our annual Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign that we hold each December, one of our biggest public fundraising campaigns in the year.
The Charles Michael Holloway Charitable Trust
Charles Michael Holloway is a generous philanthropist who has a passion for supporting the theatre across the UK. Through The Charles Michael Holloway CT, he has donated to several worthy causes, and Birmingham Hippodrome is extremely grateful to be included in that number.
Having made a grant of £150,000 across 2023 to 2025, The Charles Holloway CT has been a founding supporter of our own in-house New Musical Theatre department – the UK’s first in-house department dedicated to developing musical theatre talent in tandem with commissioning and presenting new musicals.
One of our new musicals came to the Patrick Studio in December 2024. The Jingleclaw, a Christmas-themed musical aimed at younger children, was a brand-new musical that was only made possible through the generous support of The Charles Holloway CT.
Property for Kids
Comprised of a Committee of regional property professionals, Property for Kids supports charities that help disadvantaged children across the West Midlands.
Property for Kids has been a consistent supporter of our Hippodrome Education Network programme across several years, noting the incredible opportunities, skills and experiences in theatre and the arts that HEN offers to children and young people across the region. Most recently in 2024, Property for Kids generously provided a £5,000 grant in support of HEN – equivalent to a HEN Gold Category membership for a school to be part of the Network for an academic year.
For a school with a limited budget and few, if any performing arts teachers, it means we can offer a package that includes visits to world-class performances on our main stage, weekly creative workshops that enhance the curriculum delivered by a dedicated Learning Artist and the hugely popular showcase performance opportunities for students in the Patrick Studio.
Arts Council England
Birmingham Hippodrome regularly applies to grants from Arts Council England in support of our larger projects, including our free, outdoor festivals. We have recently, successfully received a grant award in support of our Capital plans.
As part of a successful grant of over £800,000 from the Arts Council England – Capital Investment Programme during 2023, we have successfully reinvigorated and updated our website to focus on increasing visual and physical accessibility for our audience when navigating webpages and purchasing tickets.
This work represents a twofold commitment both to Access for All to ensure that our theatre can be freely accessed by all of our audiences including with those who may find a traditional website difficult to navigate, and to Hippodrome Tomorrow – to ensure our theatre and its working practices are fit for the audiences of today and the future.
Our current Trusts, Foundations & Grantmakers
We want to say a big thank you to all our current grantmakers – you make our charitable work possible!
| Arts Council England | IMI Charitable Trust |
| Baron Davenport’s Charity | The Oakley Charitable Trust |
| Birmingham Bodenham Trust | The Owen Family Trust |
| The Bishop of Birmingham Charitable Trust | Property for Kids |
| The Charles Michael Holloway Charitable Trust | The Reed Foundation |
| Creative Futures Fund | Richardson Brothers Foundation |
| The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust | The Saintbury Trust |
| The Eveson Trust | The Sebbie Hall Kindness Foundation |
| The Grimmitt Trust | The Squire Patton Boggs Charitable Trust |
| Horton’s Social Purpose Committee |