Culture Helps Solidarity Open Call for Individual Grants

• Reinforcement of Cultural cooperation between Ukraine and other Creative Europe countries, to help Ukrainian cultural and creative sectors organisations, artists and professionals.
• Integration of Ukraine’s cultural and creative sectors in the EU’s cultural landscape.
• Facilitation of future investments linked to the recovery of the cultural and creative sectors in Ukraine, particularly in view of the country's EU candidate status.

• Proposals under this topic should foster Ukrainians’ access to culture and cultural heritage namely for displaced people, in Ukraine or Creative Europe participating countries in order to promote integration, social cohesion or health through culture.
• This action will support cultural cooperation projects between Ukraine and other Creative Europe countries that will help and strengthen Ukrainian cultural and creative sectors organisations, artists and professionals.
• Projects shall demonstrate a very good understanding of the complexity of the current situation in Ukraine and develop actions encouraging the development, experimentation, dissemination or application of concrete practices on how culture and the arts can contribute to wartime resilience and post-war recovery.

Eligible activities include:

• Psychotherapy or psychological counselling;
• Trauma-informed coaching or emotional (group) support sessions;
• Restorative care or rehabilitation stays (e.g., sanatorium treatment, wellness programmes, retreats);
• Visit to cultural institutions and events (tickets to museums, theatres, cinemas, concerts, etc.);
• Participation in master classes or workshops (art therapy) and materials for participation in them, if necessary;
• Other justified wellbeing-oriented services that directly support the applicant’s resilience.
• All proposals shall take into consideration the overarching EU priorities in the implementation of their project.

Selection criteria and process:

• Personal motivation and clarity - Is the need well explained? Is the request coherent and sincere?
• Relevance to the 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 an 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 the planned use of funds - Are the requested activities realistic and eligible?
• Following an eligibility check, applications will be assessed by external advisors who are familiar with the cultural sector and the current context in Ukraine. Final decisions will be made by the consortium partners, who review the recommendations to ensure consistency and budgetary balance. 7 to 10 applications will be awarded per round.

This call seeks to support individuals working in arts, culture or community-based cultural activities who:

• support displaced Ukrainians, both inside Ukraine and across Creative Europe countries;
• work with vulnerable groups such as veterans;
• are in need of psychological, emotional or wellbeing support to continue their cultural or community engagement;
• have been personally affected by war, displacement and/or traumatic working conditions.
• Individual grants are strictly dedicated to individuals, who:
  • are aged 18 and above
  • reside in Ukraine or have fled from Ukraine to one of the Creative Europe countries;
  • artists, cultural managers, or activists volunteers working with displaced persons in Ukraine, or with refugees from Ukraine in one of the Creative Europe countries, particularly veterans
  • submit a complete application form in either Ukrainian or English language.

• The Individual Grants provide direct, flexible support to Ukrainian cultural professionals who are working with displaced people and refugees, particularly vulnerable communities such as veterans, in Ukraine or in Creative Europe (CE) countries.
• These grants are designed to offer quick, accessible and humane assistance - not project implementation support - strengthening the personal wellbeing, resilience and mental health of those individuals, enabling them to continue their crucial cultural, community-based work in extremely challenging circumstances.
• This first call for proposals for individual grants launches a series of rolling application rounds, which will open approximately every six weeks across the 2026-2028 project period with 10–14 cycles. In each cycle, approximately 7 to 10 grants of up to €1,200 will be disbursed.
• Up to €1,200 (including taxes if applicable) per individual, disbursed as a one-off contribution. The grant may be used strictly for personal mental health and wellbeing support and may not be directed to third parties, to project implementation or organisational costs.