the impact our monthly grant has on its recipients

since september 2020, we have been selecting a writer or artist every month and giving them a no-strings-attached grant of £500. the grant exists because we want more working class creatives to get in here, but the money doesn’t have to go towards the art, it can be for anything. pay your rent etc. We don’t need to know! the money for the first 46 grants originally came from Creative Debuts but for the past year it’s been coming directly from you lot. There have been 4 grants funded by a reader called Nina, Holly Gramazio is funding a whole year, and this month’s grant is in memory of Vi James.

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But in 3 months that pot of money will run out and we’ll need to ask our audience again if anyone can swing £500 or more to keep this grant going. I figure one of the best ways to do that is to ask recipients so far about the impact getting the grant had on them. Because like, in the grand scheme of things I know it’s not a life-changing amount of money, but it still feels important. Asking the 59 recipients taught me that it’s more than just the money.

Because while money helped them afford life-things…

‘I’ve literally hardly ever had any savings in my life, just one of those things like born on the breadline live on the breadline, something always comes up, so the £500 was such a mad little nest egg for me to sit on; as it happens my laptop broke last year and I’d kept it for all this time and I used it to buy a replacement, which honestly no word of a lie would have been impossible without it 🙌’ – Amelia Lane

‘Receiving The White Pube’s creative grant was a life-changing experience for me. At the time, I was temporarily unemployed and staying with friends because my house in South London had a rodent issue that needed to be resolved, and we had to evacuate promptly. My deposit wasn’t large enough to help me relocate, and I desperately needed to find a place to live. I was able to sublet a room with this grant for a month, holding down some space before I got a new job, and was able to move into my current home, where I’ve been for almost two years now. If it weren’t for that grant, so many things I have in my life now probably wouldn’t have been achievable’ – Anonymous

‘I was not only able to buy more film and camera equipment to support my photography but also it supported me with kickstarting my private dentistry care that I desperately needed but wasn’t able to prioritise beforehand because of the daunting pricing. I really appreciated that the grant was no-strings attached and I could genuinely use it to support me in any way I needed 💕’ – Rachael Button

‘It gave me a little bit of breathing room to think about writing rather than my monthly rent/bills/food shop etc for once.’ – Polly Manning

‘Receiving the grant was an absolute lifeline for my practice after leaving university. Something as simple as being able to afford Grammarly (other writing-assistance software is available) once my student subscription expired—and I was dropped like a dyslexic stone—made a real difference. The grant felt like a much-needed artist support package. I can’t emphasise enough how grateful I am.’ – Toby Rainbird

**… and it let them buy art-things too…**

‘Delighted to share how helpful your funding was in getting my first armature built! It contributed towards materials and later on transport to mackinnon and saunders’ – Georgia Madden

‘This grant was hugely helpful! I used the funds to go to France for three weeks and write uninterrupted. 30,000 words of the next novel!’ – Emily Unwin

‘This grant helped me fund my latest music video Performative Love, which heightened engagement and awareness of the track. It came during a time of financial uncertainty and gave me much needed creative momentum. Due to the support of The White Pube I feel genuinely creatively reinvigorated and ready to create limitlessly and authentically. This allowed me to manifest my vision. This is so important and essential to artists. Thank you so much to The White Pube, this work is invaluable to artists.’ – Princess Arinola Adegbite

‘I used the grant to support my attendance of Paris Ass Book Fair in June and my book was collected by the centre pompidou - c’est très bien!’ – Emil Woudenberg

‘The grant was massively useful for me. I went large and used it to make some big painty drawings. I bought some new paints and sourced some old hospital bed sheets (from France -very thick and with signs of human existence).’ – Carrie Stanley

‘The grant was put in good use and made possible of a moving image work titled ‘The Oriental Pearls’, which centres on a TV tower (the highest Chinese building used to be) in my hometown Shanghai. The work draws from my grandfather’s memories of the Economic Reform in China and reflects on the city’s rapid urbanization. The grant partially funded the production (I worked independently without a crew, which kept the budget low), and supported the post-production (on colour grading).’ – Zhang Dino

‘The funding meant I was able to pay for the physical production of a zine, working with a designer. This zine has been sold around the world, in Egypt, Norway, and across the UK, and also being purchased for several collections — this is a first for me. It’s also put me in touch with artists, book makers and sellers who have taken an interest in the work - leading to future projects and collaborations.’ – James McColl

‘The White Pube Writer’s Grant played an essential part in the early stages of my writing practice. The fund paid for Scrivener, which I still use to this day to write plays and essays, and it was integral to covering my expenses for the month during a long string of unemployment. Not only that, being selected by Gabrielle and Zarina really infused me with confidence during a time when I was finding my voice through writing. Having the right tool, and being able to comfortably have time to brainstorm, write, and publish because of the grant was invaluable. Thanks, TWP!’ – Natalie Tan

**… recipients also said…**

It boosted confidence & affirmed their identity as an artist:

‘First and foremost it was literally a form of recognition my writing had never received before, it was such a huge boost in confidence and even now (as I’m still plugging away at it) whenever I falter, worrying that nobody out there is EVER going to want to read my writing I can think “except they did!!!!! and it was good enough for a grant!!!!”’ – Amelia Lane

‘This grant came at a point in my life where my creative identity was hanging by a thread and the financial ramifications of surviving in a city that felt like the round hole to my square peg had left me feeling helpless. The grant and The White Pube’s patronage was the gentle hand on my back that I needed, encouragingly pushing me forward. Not only did it help me financially, it helped me envision a future as a writer and without it, I’m not sure I’d still be pursuing this dream.’ – Molly Gough

‘I vividly remember the lovely feeling of being noticed and your work acknowledged. For sometime I felt like a celebrity (:), because The White Pube happened to be so popular and many of creatives had applied for the grant.I was congratulated by other artists just randomly while notably started getting more interest in my practice.’ – Ivilina Kouneva

It gave them a network:

‘For me the real benefit was in potentially new opportunities, community growth and networking. thanks to this grant I have met some new talented creatives including another recipient- Carrie , that now I am in contact. I am really proud that I can put this achievement in my CV and definitely it is something I treasure.’ – Ivilina Kouneva

‘This grant really help me with recording some videos at my EP launch. I’ve also been contacted by some lovely people after being featured including someone who has asked to collaborate on a music video so thank you!’ – Nouria Bah

It changed their perception of funding:

‘Getting the grant was massive for me - I honestly didn’t even know funding like this existed. It was my first ever grant, and it completely changed the way I saw things. It made me realise there are actual bodies and organisations out there that will support people like me in pursuing a passion, a dream, or a career in the arts. You lot were the first to say, “Hold on a minute, this is cool, let’s help this guy out.” That meant the world, and I’m so grateful. Since then, I’ve gone on to receive support from Help Musicians, Youth Music, Arts Council England, and more - all in all over £30k in funding. And that’s not just money; that’s belief, momentum, and space to make my career a real thing. So yeah, thank you for being the first domino. That support cracked something open for me and I’ll never forget it.’ – Sharifa

‘When you’re working class and so many opportunities to have your work looked at are behind a paywall it’s really easy to talk yourself out of submitting anything to anyone; while like £15 or £25 or whatever might not seem like much on the face of it, conjoined with the natural anxiety that your work is maybe somehow lacking, its reflexive to totally back off and recede into inaction. Or if you are super confident maybe you can afford to submit to like one thing a month, but you can’t really play the numbers game and be like “I’m just going to send this out to as many people as possible and it’s bound to catch the eye of someone” when deep inside of you niggling away will be the thought you need to spend that money on something ‘practical’, so the fact your grant is free to submit to is vvvv cool as well.’ – Amelia Lane

‘It’s important to say how positive the funding process was. As a working class artist, I’ve found the application process for funding demoralising. Growing up on benefits, the amount of means testing and oversight any money that my mum received, leaves a lasting impact. This has been replicated in the art world time and time again - where artists have to justify any spending. This process on the other hand, was quick and easy to apply for; it was paid quickly, and I never felt as if I needed to justify how I would spend it. The White Pube also made sure I received the funding, and were always extremely helpful, and quick to reply. A dream!’ – James McColl

It gave them a bridge into other creative opportunities:

‘The grant changed the trajectory of my life! Having that cushion allowed me to do some work I was barely paid for, which in turn led to me getting proper writing jobs. Now, I live in that London and I’m doing a writing and culture-related job, which I would never have even considered applying for, all because the grant helped me take that initial risk. Thank you for my social mobility, I will accept the guilt and discomfort I must now endure as a fair trade!’ – Natalie Dunning

‘When The White Pube asked if I wanted to show any work on their site, this gave me a deadline to make new game-based work and develop an idea that I struggled to find a place or outlet previously - that space was really valuable and shaped the idea. Because of this, I’ve been able to confidently move further into game design and apply for opportunities that involve gaming - I’ve just finished a residency at FACT in Liverpool, where I created a major piece of work that directly links to this initial artwork on TWP’s website (something I was able to point to and use as an example when applying). This work had a sizeable budget and artist fee, the largest to date for a project I’ve worked on, and was seen by hundreds of people. Though I’m not sure how many people saw the work on TWP’s site, their large audience and responses I received gave me confidence to make bigger work. In June 2025, I’ll be participating in a games/art meet up through LADA — again because of this initial project and the subsequent opportunities from it.’ – James McColl

‘It also looked great on my writer’s CV when I applied for Creative Writing Master’s programmes, and from what I can remember I was able to use a bit of the money to buy some things I’d been wanting to read for ages but hadn’t been able to find for cheap.’ – Polly Manning

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When I emailed everyone about this question of impact the £500 may or may not have had on them, Noor-e-Sehar replied to say ’so many seeds, you must see the garden.‘ I think about that all the time now. I think about that when looking for more funding to divvy out to these flowers. Money is an evil. But it’s also water to grow.

If you have £500 to build someone’s confidence and help them afford to live so they can also afford to make art, email us on [email protected]

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!