The fund awards grants of £2,500 to Fringe artists in an effort to remove some of the financial challenges of bringing a show to the Fringe.
The Keep it Fringe fund ran for the third year in 2025, awarding 180 Fringe artists grants of £2,500 each to help remove some of the financial challenges of bringing a show to the Fringe.
Here are some of the headline statistics from Keep it Fringe 2025:
- 34% of funding recipients identified as having a disability or health condition.
- 52% of recipients identified as LGBTQ+.
- 30% identified as from a working-class background.
- Collectively, Keep it Fringe recipients garnered 73 five-star reviews and 33 awards, including the prestigious Scotsman Fringe First and Edinburgh Comedy awards.
Here’s what some of the award recipients had to say:
- ‘In a time where it is becoming harder and harder to make work, Keep it Fringe is a beacon of light. We are incredibly grateful to the fund and what it helped us to achieve.’
Claire Gilbert, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘Keep It Fringe is pivotal for artists who face discrimination or are from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and I am so grateful for the experience, as I can now move forward in the professional world having using Fringe as a stepping stone!’
Laura Layden, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘The Keep it Fringe fund had a huge impact on my time in Edinburgh... It directly allowed me to extend my reach through flyering, marketing and sustaining the 24-show run which ultimately sold out and led to multiple four- and five-star reviews. Beyond the practical help, it felt like a vote of confidence: knowing the Fringe itself believed in my work gave me the courage to pitch the show to industry, producers and venues. Off the back of Fringe 2025, I have been approached about touring the piece further and developing it for screen. None of this momentum would have been possible without the stability and recognition that the Keep it Fringe fund provided.’
Piers MacKenzie, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘I wouldn't have been able to attend the Fringe without this money... It enabled me to further my practise in a difficult time financially and health-wise. The fund means a great deal to me.’
Eleanor May Blackburn, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘The Keep it Fringe fund was actually essential to our success this year. We ventured on our first Fringe the year prior and as two working-class individuals who work full time jobs to sustain our creative ambition, the alleviating effect of financial stress Keep It Fringe afforded us was amazing.’
Kyle Moss, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘The Keep it Fringe fund has been game changing for my show, my creative practice, my confidence, and my ability to see myself as a professional artist.”
Emma Bradley, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘Without this fund it wouldn't have been possible to attend the Fringe, where we got a 5-star review and sold out some of our shows! We're in talks with some international programmers for further touring of the work. Because of this fund we have further job opportunities! Thank you so much!’
Colm McCready, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘Keep it Fringe changed everything for us. We arrived in Edinburgh with a new idea and no profile; we left with an audience, a community and a sense that our work truly belongs in the world.’
Jessie Millson, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient - ‘I won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show, and had one of the most critically lauded runs of my career... When I applied for the fund at the start of the year I was on the verge of not doing the Fringe at all due entirely to the prohibitive costs, and so the success of my show this year would not have materialised without this support.’
Sam Nicoresti, Keep it Fringe 2025 recipient and winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award 2025
The future of Keep it Fringe
We’re incredibly grateful to the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) for supporting Keep it Fringe over the past two years, during which time we’ve distributed grants of £2,500 to 360 Fringe artists.
Keep it Fringe is scheduled to return in 2026, thanks in part to a generous initial donation from Miriam Margolyes. We’ll confirm details early in the new year – in the meantime, if you’d like to join Miriam in supporting Keep it Fringe in 2026 and beyond, please contact [email protected].
