Culture Helps Solidarity: Open Call for Individual Grants — first round, 2-23 February 2026

Culture Helps Solidarity supports arts and culture professionals from Ukraine to sustain creativity, resilience, and community connection during and after the war. Running until 2028, it combines three grant schemes (individual grants, thematic project grants and collaboration grants) and a rich programme of mentoring, learning, and peer exchange. Culture Helps Solidarity is co-financed by the EU through Creative Europe and implemented by the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) with Insha Osvita (Kyiv), zusa (Berlin), and the VETERANKA Movement (Kyiv).

The Individual Grants provide direct, flexible support to Ukrainian cultural professionals who are working – often voluntarily – 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 personal 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 launches a series of rolling application rounds, which will open approximately every six weeks. Across the 2026-2028 project period, we anticipate 10–14 such cycles. In each cycle, approximately 7 to 10 grants of up to EUR 1,200 will be disbursed.

Who is it for?

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.

What do we offer?

We offer 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.

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.

The grant may not be used for:

purchase of medication or medical devices (even if prescribed by a doctor);
purchase of material assets (tools, household items, equipment, etc, consumables for work, etc.);
payment of rent for premises (residential or commercial, non-residential)  
tuition fees, other training costs (formal or informal);
invasive interventions (surgical operations, cosmetic procedures, dental interventions, etc.) 
streaming platform subscriptions;
consultations with doctors of alternative medical practice;
strictly humanitarian needs or cost-of living support.

Eligibility criteria:

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.

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. 

Timeline: 

2 February 2026 first call for proposals open
9 February 2026 info session
23 February 2026 call closed
End of March 2026 proposals assessed and selected
16 March 2026 second call for proposals open

How to apply?

The submission deadline for proposals is Monday, 23rd February 2026, 13:00 Amsterdam time/ 14:00 Kyiv time. You can find more information -including the budget template- and submit your application via this link: https://culture-of-solidarity-fund.grantplatform.com/.

We are organizing an online info session on the 9th February at 14:00 Amsterdam time / 15:00 Kyiv time where participants can enter into a Q&A session with the partners regarding the application process and criteria. You can register via this link: https://form.jotform.com/260285799401363.

Important information:

Each call remains open for three weeks, followed by three weeks of assessment, with new rounds launched roughly every six weeks. To ensure an optimal allocation of resources, we can process up to 140 applications per round. Once this limit is reached, the round will close, and any additional applications will be automatically placed on the waiting list for the next round.

Please note that demand is high and competition is strong. We therefore encourage you to take the time to prepare a high-quality application that stands out in a highly competitive selection process.

Should you have further questions, please contact us at chs@culturalfoundation.eu.

The “Culture Helps Solidarity / Культура допомагає: Солідарність” is a project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme and implemented by the European Cultural Foundation (NL), Insha Osvita (UA), zusa (DE) and VETERANKA Movement (UA).