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Grants

The Society makes grants both to individuals and to organisations in support of cultural and scientific activities which increase innovation, outreach and diversity in Leeds and its immediate area. It also supports local museums and galleries and publications relating to the city.

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About the Society

The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, founded in 1819, is a charity that promotes interest in science, literature and the arts – in the city of Leeds and beyond. We have meetings, lectures, entertainments, publications and visits.

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Grant Beneficiaries and Stories

Rodley Nature Reserve

The reserve, created in the Aire Valley at the turn of the millennium, has benefited from several Phil & Lit grants.

Leeds – a biographical dictionary

We supported the publication of the first biographical dictionary of Leeds since 1865.

Front Room Productions

A Leeds Phil & Lit grant supported rehearsals and ten performances of a promenade version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at Home Farm, Temple Newsam.

‘Sense of line’ – Exhibition of drawings by Imtiaz Dharkar – 2019

An example of a grant that assisted an artist/poet and also contributed to students' learning experience.

Leeds City Museum Has a Whale of a Time Thanks to LPLS Grant

A History of the Clinical Specialties in Leeds 1767-2018

Leeds Phil & Lit supported the publication of this volume which brings together the stories of development of 28 specialties across medicine and surgery in what is now Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Downhearted Drayman

The Phil & Lit grant helped to support a book – in English and German – with illustrations by the children.

Left Bank Opera and Festival

The Phil & Lit has awarded four grants to support young performers at the Left Bank Leeds, Cardigan Road.

Full list of grants recently awarded

  • The Leeds Civic Trust towards a blue plaque to commemorate William Gascoigne, the inventor of the telescope sight and telescope micrometer.
  • Support local workshops at the first Leeds Peacejam Conference.
  • The Royal Armories Museum to support the provision of blinds for ‘The Mess’, a dedicated area for school lunches.
  • Support for research associated with Rachel Reeves’s book Women in Westminster: MPs Who Changed Politics.
  • Support for the 2018 Bradford Science Festival.
  • The St Peter’s Singers to support a performance and recording of a new work, Penthos Requiem, commissioned by St Peter’s Singers from two of its members.
  • Support the publication of a booklet on the history of the Leeds Pals Battalion written by Leeds Museums & Galleries volunteers.
  • Front Room Productions’ to support 10 performances of an abridged and accessible promenade version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Home Farm, Temple Newsam.
  • Support the performance of Cosi fan tutte at Sunnybank Mills, Farsley.
  • Support MathsWorldUK”s production of a new exhibit to be used at science fairs around the UK.
  • The Leeds Library to support the Through The Pages exhibition, part of the 250th Anniversary Programme of the library.
  • Support for the 2018 Left Bank Opera Festival.
  • Support for the design and layout of a book describing the history of Leeds Teaching Hospitals medical and surgical specialities over the last 250 years.
  • Support the installation of 10 Leeds Little Free Libraries in areas of deprivation across the city.
  • Support Whoever heard of a black artist?, an innovative form of participatory theatre exploring the historical-political context of black art.
  • The Leeds Museums to support the articulation of a Long-finned Pilot Whale for display in the Leeds City Museum.
  • Support Headingley Festival of Ideas.
  • Support a performance piece based on the story of Antony Gormley’s discarded Brick Man statue.
  • West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra to support a semi-staged production of Cavalleria Rusticana at Sunny Bank Mills.
  • Support the orchestral premiere of Rudi Leavor’s Cantata ‘Enosh’ at Left Bank Leeds.
  • The University of Leeds to support the public lecture by Nobel Laureate, Richard Henderson at the Astbury Conversation event in Leeds, March 2020.
  • Support for The Leeds Opera Festival 2019.
  • Moveable Feast Productions Ltd to support a picture book about the Drayman statue in Dortmund Square – a story by children from Beechwood Primary School in Seacroft.

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Grants

The Society makes grants both to individuals and to organisations in support of cultural and scientific activities which increase innovation, outreach and diversity in Leeds and its immediate area. It also supports local museums and galleries and publications relating to the city.

Events

Since 1819, the Phil & Lit has been inviting the people of Leeds to hear from knowledgeable and entertaining speakers. Many are leaders in their field of science, arts or current affairs. We also hold an annual Science Fair and organise occasional visits. Becoming a member means that you’ll receive invitations to all these activities. In future, we plan to have a mix of real and virtual events.