Help with using our application portal

You’ve registered a new account and you’re now able to log into the Portal home screen. This guide will help you to navigate this and give you information on how to change your details and apply for a range of support, from creative activities to requesting support for your health and welfare.

Home page

The home screen is divided into three main areas:

• Start an Application: explore the opportunities available and make an application 
• My Profile: find the contact information that you shared when registering and make changes if necessary (see below for more on how to do this). This is also where you will need to enter your bank details if you have been offered financial support
• Change Password: change your account password

My Applications

This will show you the status of all applications you will have submitted via the system:

• In Progress: any applications you are working on which haven’t yet been submitted. Once you submit your application the status might return to ​‘In Progress’ while it is being review by us. This is normal and means we have received your application. 
  
• Submitted: applications which you have completed and submitted to us will remain here until they have been assessed and a decision made
  
• Approved/​Declined: any applications that we have approved or declined following a review by our team

My Support

Here you can see the progress of any support you have been awarded and check and complete any actions required from you:

• Upcoming actions: any actions you will need to take in the future such as completing a progress report (creative support applications only)
  
• Outstanding actions: any actions that you need to address now, such as due progress reports or grant agreements that need to be accepted (creative support applications only)
  
• Completed: any actions that have been completed, such as signed agreements, payments made and progress reports you have submitted

Top tip

To get back to the home screen just click on the Help Musicians logo at the top left corner of the screen or go back on your web browser.

It is important that you keep your contact details up to date. To update your profile information, select My Profile.

You can update any of your registration information including: 

• Consents around future contact and sharing your story 
• Contact details
• Banking information
• Required fields are marked with an asterisk *

Update the information you need to and then select Save.

On rare occasions when your bank account information has just been submitted and is not yet approved by us, this button may not be available. It will usually become visible within 24 hours. 

PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to update both your profile and banking details at the same time select Update Banking Information.

When you first register or update your profile, you do not need to provide banking information. However, if your application is successful and we offer you a grant, you will need to provide us with details of your UK bank account. 

To submit or amend bank details select My Profile from the home screen and then enter or change the relevant details. 

Once a bank account has been saved in your profile and approved by us for use, we will use the same account for any current and future grants you receive. You must make sure your bank details are accurate and up to date.

To verify your bank account details are correct, we ask you to upload a recent bank statement that matches the details in your profile — this can be in the form of a .pdf, excel or .jpeg file. 

We only accept UK personal current accounts. 

Once updated, save your information by selecting Update Banking Information.

This next section will take you through how to apply using the system. 

If you are applying for Health and Welfare support and would like more detailed instructions on how to make an application, explore our guide to making an application for assistance.

If you are applying for creative support and want to understand more about the different activities that you can apply for, explore the guidance notes for creating music, learning a new skill or collaborating with others.

If you are applying to join Co-Pilot: The Musicians Mentoring Network please note that our portal is designed to process both financial and non-financial support, and the term ​‘grant’ is standard wording on some system features and in this case refers to your Co-Pilot application. No financial support will be allocated as part of any application for Co-Pilot: the Musicians’ Mentoring Network.

Start an application 

Select Start an Application to begin this process.

If you are applying for creative support:

• Select Apply Now to be taken to the next screen
• Select New Grant and then Continue to start your application

If you are applying for Health and Welfare support:

Select Health and Welfare – support to be taken to the next screen

From here follow the questions on the form.

You’re now in the application form and there are five sections to complete: Contact Details, Application, Finances, Attachments and Declaration and Consent. 

Once you begin an application, you can save your progress at any time by hitting the Save Application button at the bottom of the page. This will save your progress for you to return to in the future. Your saved application will display on your home page under In Progress the next time you log on.

Contact details

Your contact details are pulled from your profile.

If you are applying for creative support, you will be asked whether you’re applying as an individual musician or as part of a group. 

If you’re applying as an individual, you can also include co-applicants and collaborators. 

Co-applicants can edit the application but cannot submit it on your behalf, whereas collaborators can only view the application.

So, decide which is most appropriate and if you select Yes from the drop-down list you will be asked to invite them to your application by selecting Invite Co-applicants/Collaborators.

This will open another window where you can enter their details.

• To add more people just use the + button 
• When you’ve finished adding all your Co-Applicants or Collaborators, select Invite.

If you make a mistake, you can use the 🗙 button the at the end of the row to remove the invite. 

At this point you can select Save application or continue by selecting the next section in the form from the top menu bar.

Application

The Application Section will look different depending on the type of support you are requesting.

We ask for three areas of information:

1. About project / activity
2. Online presence
3. Additional information

If you are applying for creative support:

To expand any of these sections select the > arrow next to the title.

About Activity: Share your biography, the type of activity you are applying for, a short description, when it will start and end, key milestones, a summary of your activity and what impact it will have on your career.

If you would prefer to send us videos you can upload these in the ​‘Attachments’ section for the following questions: 

• Biography
• Summary of your activity
• Impact of your activity

Then select the type of activity you are applying for.

Online Presence: You can share your social media, website and streaming links, and will need to include links to your music to support your application.

Additional information: This is where you can tell us more about the genre you are working in, what outcomes or impacts you hope to see, and information about your working life as a musician.

If you are applying for Health and Welfare support:

We will ask you what your main musical discipline is and the length of your career in music, as well as the contact details of someone that can provide a reference for you We use this information to ensure we provide the right support for you.

We support musicians at all levels of their career and this information will help our team assess the next steps of your application.

Save, then select Next or Finances to continue.

Finances

In this section you’ll be asked some financial information.

If you are applying for creative support:

You will need to share the amount you need for your activity and your budget with estimated costs. Please refer to the Activity Guidance for advice on how much to apply for each type of activity. 

To add lines to your budget, select Add budget information and a new window will open. 

If you are applying for Health & Welfare support:

You will need to share three months’ worth of bank statements and a recent tax return if you have one. We ask these questions because our help is means tested, so we need you to confirm your income, expenditure, and debts. You can add this to the Attachments tab on the next page of the application form.

Once you have completed the information select Save then close. 

To proceed, save and then select Attachments or Next.

Attachments

This is where you can upload video answers to the questions in the Application section, your financial information and music to support your application. The maximum file size for any of your uploads is 2GB.

Declaration and Consent 

When you are finished with your application select Submit application.

If you have not completed the application form, you will be notified of which sections still need to be filled in, otherwise congratulations, you have just submitted your application for support from Help Musicians! 

We will contact you if we need further information and to give you any updates on the status of your application.

The Help Musicians portal is designed to process both financial and non-financial support, the term grant is standard wording on some system features. However, please note, no financial support will be allocated as part of any application for Co-Pilot: the Musicians’ Mentoring Network.

To move through the application form, please click on ​“continue with grant” when prompted.

If you have been asked to make changes to your application, please log in to the Portal using your registration details.

Select In Progress under My Applications.

You will see all your applications in progress. Find the application with the status Revisions Requested and select Open to go into the application.

At the top of the page you will see a reminder of the areas where we requested further information about your activity. 

The sections of the application displayed will be the same as those when you originally applied.

Depending on what information we have requested, navigate to the correct section of the form and update the details. Then select one of the following:

• Save Application will save the details you have changed but do not submit to us yet.
  
• Submit Application will be submitted to Help Musicians for further review.
  
• Withdraw if you decide you no longer wish to apply.

Once you have re-submitted your application and a decision has been made, you will be informed by email and the status of your application will be changed in the portal to Approved or Declined.

If your application has been approved then this guide will show you how to complete the information to accept your grant.

If your application is successful you will receive an email from us. From here, log into the portal and under My Support select Outstanding Actions.

You will see details of the grant needing acceptance.

Select Open. You will be presented with the following screen.

To download and review a copy of your agreement select Generate Grant Agreement to see full details.

To accept the agreement, tick the box which confirms that you have reviewed and agree to all the terms in the agreement. Then select the Accept Agreement button.

The grant agreement will now move to your Completed Actions and be marked with the date you accepted it. You can review and download from here.

If you were not successful on this occasion, please feel free to get in touch with our team for feedback. We can also book you into a 1:1 surgery which may be helpful before you submit any future application.

You can contact us on support@helpmusicians.org.uk or by calling 020 7239 9101 during working hours.

As per your grant agreement, we will ask for progress reports so that we can make sure that your activity is happening as intended from your application.

We understand that sometimes things can change along the way, so the progress report is also a good way of telling us if it has.

To submit a progress report, log in to the Portal, head to My Support and select Upcoming Actions (if you are running ahead of schedule) or Outstanding Actions or a report that is already due. This will take you to a new window which shows all the grants which require a progress report.

There will be more than one Progress Report required for each grant so find the Progress Report that is due first, select Open and a form for you to complete will be shown.

Please complete all the required fields.

You can use this form to tell us about any activities that have happened during the period, what changes may have occurred and what you’ve been able to achieve so far. If you wish, you can save the draft and return to complete it a future date but you must complete it before the progress report is due.

Once complete please Submit and Help Musicians will review and, if satisfactory, release the next payment.

We will review your progress report and if we require more information before formally approving and releasing the next payment we will request a revision.

You will receive an email informing you of the revision required and your report will remain in Outstanding actions. Open the report, update the required section and Submit.

Once your report has been reviewed and approved by us it will be seen marked as Approved under My Support > Completed Actions.

Your original email would have contained a PDF copy of your report but you can always generate a new copy by opening the relevant application and selecting PDF of Report.