Focus on Funding – April 2026
March 26, 2026
Welcome to Focus on Funding – your monthly resource to keep you abreast of current and new funding opportunities, and the latest funding news and events.
As well as Focus on Funding, you can access our support, including dedicated funding assistance, identifying funding sources, offering advice on strong applications, application reviews, communication with funders, application development and the facilitation of partnerships.
Other resources on the Funding page on our website include:
- Funding Application Checklist: Enhance your application with expert advice.
- Funding Applications Letters: Guidance on writing persuasive letters for charitable trusts and foundations when no application form is provided.
- Funding Tips: Key tips to consider when creating your funding application.
- Are You Fit to be Funded? Ensure your organisation is prepared to receive funding by addressing key aspects of capability, health, and policy compliance.
- Details of our online self-service funding portal, which makes it easy to find funding for specific activities or services by category, geographic area and more.
- How to access unrestricted funding using easyfundraising.
- Information on applying to the Eric Wright Charitable Trust.
For personalised support with funding for your voluntary or community group, or social enterprise, please contact us at:
📧 CVSfunding@cumbriacvs.org.uk
📞 01768 800350
This page will be updated with new information as we receive it during the month. Please check back regularly. (Last update: 24/04/26 – items added on this date are marked as [NEW])
You can view previous Focus on Funding posts here to catch up on our archive of information.
If you’ve seen something you think we should be sharing, let us know! Email us: info@cumbriacvs.org.uk
Assessing diversity, accountability and transparency in grant-making foundations
The Foundation Practice Rating is a groundbreaking initiative which assesses grant making charitable foundations on their diversity, accountability and transparency. The latest FPR report – now in its fifth year of assessing the diversity, accountability and transparency of 100 foundations – found overall improvements, with this year seeing the highest number of overall A grades.
The report shows that diversity remains the weakest domain, which is ‘consistent with all previous years’, although scores have improved somewhat year-on-year. It also noted that charitable foundations have ‘historically not been very diverse’, with survey research published in 2025 finding that trustees of foundations in England and Wales are predominantly male (61%), aged 65+ (65%), retired (54%, against 22% in the population) and white (94%, against 82% in the population).
10 things funders can do to help stressed out grantees
There’s been much debate recently about the volume of funding applications increasing, and how this is leading some funders to change their strategies and systems. Funders are in a bind: they can’t fund everybody and often have limited staff capacity themselves to do more.
In this article for DSC, Jay Kennedy explores how funders can reduce stress on charities facing rising demand and limited resources by simplifying processes, improving communication, and adopting more supportive, transparent funding practices.
Short-term fund ‘rapidly’ set up after gambling levy raises £120m in first year
The government has invited charities to bid to a short-term fund launched after its levy on gambling firms raised just under £120m in its first year.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has “rapidly established” the Gambling Levy Transition Fund (GLTF) while a new permanent funding arrangement is set up.
Before the levy was introduced in April last year, some charities providing gambling harm prevention and treatment services in England were voluntarily funded by the industry.
Sasha Foundation
Amount available: Typically grants will be up to £10,000 and at most will be for 50% of the total budgeted cost of the proposed project/program.
Deadline: Wednesday 1st April
This fund aims to support charitable organisations working with young people, with a preference for those suffering from depression and mental health issues, or those who are confronting drug abuse issues.
Funding can be used for running costs (including salaries), projects, equipment, or capital developments.
Funding can be used for new, continuing, or one-off initiatives.
Find out more about Sasha Foundation grants here
Ironmongers’ Company – Charitable Grants for STEM Projects
Amount available: Up to £10,000
Deadline: Wednesday 1st April
Funding is intended to support charities in the UK with projects to encourage young people, in particular those between 11 and 18 from disadvantaged backgrounds, to study science subjects and go on to further education or training in STEM related subjects, in particular the area of Material Science. The Foundation considers Materials Science to be science applied to understanding the production, properties and engineering applications of materials. This may be considered from the perspective of physics, chemistry, mathematics or vocational studies.
The foundation prefers to support smaller projects where it is the sole funder or its contribution makes a real difference.
Items of equipment will only be funded as part of specific programmes of activity.
Preference for urban areas outside London and particularly areas in the north and midlands with a manufacturing presence.
Find out more about Ironmongers’ Company – Charitable Grants for STEM Projects here
Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust
Amount available: £1,000-£10,000
Deadline: Wednesday 1st April (for the Summer meeting)
Grants are available to animal welfare charities for projects or activities in the UK that benefit and protect animals, relieve the suffering of animals, address the conservation of wildlife or encourage a greater understanding of animals.
Applications are accepted from UK registered charities working in the UK or abroad. (Charities with an annual income under £5,000 do not need to be registered to be eligible.)
Find out more about Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust grants here
Alec Dickson Trust
Amount available: £500
Deadline: Wednesday 1st April
The funding is aimed at individuals and groups of young people who are able to demonstrate that through volunteering or community service they can enhance the lives of others, particularly those most marginalised by society.
Applications are accepted from UK based volunteering or community service projects, organised and run by young people (under 30 years).
Find out more about Alec Dickson Trust funding here
The Fore: Summer 2026 Funding Round
Amount available: A grant of up to £45,000 of unrestricted funding over 1 to 3 years.
Deadline: (midday) Wednesday 1st April
The Fore is running its Summer 2026 Funding Round. We are offering unrestricted grants of up to £45,000 to help small charities and social enterprises develop, grow or become more sustainable.
Successful applicants will receive:
- Access to free, highly skilled support provided by experienced professionals.
- Access to our programme of skills training workshops, covering areas such as fundraising, communications, finance, strategy and more.
- A fully funded place on an impact measurement course.
- Access to peer networking opportunities.
Who is eligible to apply? All UK registered charities, CIOs, CICs limited by guarantee and charitable CBSs with an annual income of under £500,000 are welcome to apply. Please also take our eligibility quiz here.
Our grants are intended to create a step change for your organisation. What do you need to get to the next stage of your development? Our grant might help your organisation to grow, increase your staff capacity, become more sustainable or make your systems more efficient – we don’t mind, we just want you to be able to be better at what you do.
Find out more about The Fore: Summer 2026 Funding Round and how to apply here
easyfundraising Impact Fund
Amount available: 20 x £500 unrestricted grants
Deadline: Sunday 5th April
The new easyfundraising Impact Fund is now open with 20 unrestricted grants for UK not-for-profit organisations to help them continue or enhance their work. The grant is unrestricted, so it can be used wherever the money is needed most to support your work.
The fund is open to UK based:
- Registered charities
- Other not-for-profit organisations
- Sports clubs and teams
- Schools and education settings
- Social enterprises and CICs
- After-school and youth groups
- Churches and religious organisations
How it’s awarded: The application form is straightforward. Grants will be awarded to organisations that best explain how they would use the £500. The grants will be awarded across a mix of categories and locations, and the fund is open to organisations of all sizes and structures.
Apply to the easyfundraising Impact Fund here
Youth Music Trailblazer Fund
Amount available: Two levels of grants are available:
- Grants of £2,000 to £15,000 are available to organisations of less than one year old.
- Grants of £2,000 to £30,000 are available to organisations of more than one year old.
Deadline: Friday 10th April (17:00)
Grants are available to constituted UK based organisations to run projects in England for children and young people (aged 25 or under) to make music activity more inclusive and foster learning, creation and employment opportunities.
The funding aims to support young people who want to change their lives through music but cannot because of who they are, where they are from or what they are going through.
The grants are for organisations who want to trial work or test a new way of working, sustain a grassroots programme or disrupt the status quo (or all three).
Projects should last between 6 and 24 months.
The total project budget should include at least 10% match funding. Funding from Arts Council England or National Lottery cannot be used towards meeting the minimum match funding requirements but can be used as additional contribution.
Find out more about Youth Music Trailblazer Fund here
The7Stars Foundation: Social Impact Funding
Amount available: Two-year grants of £10,000 (£5,000 per year); Individual Grants: One-off grants of up to £500
Deadline: Sunday 12th April
The foundation makes grants to projects which support young people (18 years and under) who are challenged by abuse or addiction, who are young carers, or who are homeless/without a safe place to call home.
Funding is currently available across the following streams:
- Social Impact Grants for charities working to address key societal issues affecting young people, both for direct solutions and approaches that address the wider societal challenges linked to the Foundation’s focus areas. This round will focus on LGBTQ+ Inclusion and support.
- Individual Grants for safeguarding professionals (such as social workers, lawyers, school outreach officers) representing a young person within the UK, in the care or legal system, who is in need of some extra help.
Find our more about The7Stars Foundation: Social Impact Funding here
Hospital Saturday Fund
Amount available: There are two levels of awards:
- Standard Grants of £2,000
- Larger Grants of up to £10,000
Deadline: The 2026 deadlines for:
- Standard grant applications are 13th April, 14th July, 8th October 2026, and 5th January 2027
- Large grant applications are 16th March, 16th June, 10th September, and 2nd December 2026.
Provides grant funding to registered health charities such as hospitals, hospices and medical organisations for medical projects, care, research or support of medical training taking place in the United Kingdom.
Funding can assist with medical projects, capital projects, medical care or research, hospice/respite care, medical training and running costs.
Large Grants are awarded for specific projects, research or equipment rather than running costs.
Find out more about Hospital Saturday Fund here
Veterans’ Foundation – Major Grants
Amount available: £200,000 and £500,000 spread over one to two years
Deadline: Monday 20th April
This is a new major funding programme designed to support collaborative, innovative projects that benefit the UK armed forces community (serving personnel, veterans, seafarers, and their families). The programme aims not only to deliver impactful services, but also to generate sector-wide learning, test and refine new approaches, strengthen cross-sector partnerships, and develop evidence to inform future policy and practice. Projects must involve partnership working and contribute learning and insights that can be shared to improve support across the Armed Forces sector.
Applications must be submitted by a partnership of at least two organisations, led by a registered charity or CIC Limited by Guarantee with an annual income of at least £100,000.
Applications must be made by the lead organisation on behalf of the partnership. Partner organisations may include charities, public bodies, and other not-for-profit organisations.
Both new and existing partnerships are eligible to apply.
Projects must align with at least one of the following priority areas:
- Community and relationships – reducing isolation, strengthening family support, and improving social connection.
- Employment, education and skills – supporting training, employment pathways, and enterprise.
- Health and wellbeing – improving mental health, physical health, and recovery programmes.
- Housing and homelessness – helping veterans access and sustain secure housing.
- Tackling disadvantage – addressing issues such as addiction, poverty, disability, and justice issues.
Find out more about Veterans’ Foundation – Major Grants here
NFU Mutual Charitable Trust
Amount available: £1,000 to £50,000
Deadline: Friday 24th April
Grants are available to large charitable groups and organisations in the UK for projects that further the objectives of the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, particularly those that educate young people in rural areas and the relief of poverty in rural areas.
The Trust offers grants to charitable organisations working in agriculture, rural development and insurance in the UK.
Currently, the Trust’s main objectives are to:
- Advance the education of the public by means of research and dissemination of information in relation to agriculture.
- Advance the education of young people within rural areas.
- Relieve poverty within rural areas.
- Promote the benefit and social welfare of inhabitants of rural communities by associating together with the inhabitants and local authorities, voluntary and other organisations to advance education and leisure.
- Advance the education of the public by means of research and dissemination of information in relation to agriculture.
- Promote research into agricultural associated activities.
- Advance the education of the public by means of research and dissemination of information in relation to insurance.
Priority will be given to larger initiatives that would have a significant impact on rural communities, as well as initiatives in the areas of education of young people in rural areas, relief of poverty within rural areas, and support for the next generation of farmers.
Find out more about NFU Mutual Charitable Trust grants here
Army Benevolent Fund
Amount available: Funding is at the discretion of the Grants Committee. The charity has not set a minimum or maximum amount. Grants to new partners are likely to be below £20,000.
Deadline: Tuesday 28th April
The funding is intended to support charities and organisations with projects and activities that directly benefit the Army community in six key areas: independent living, elderly care, education and employability, mental fitness, families and housing.
All registered charitable organisations and community interest companies which support the Army community, which includes veterans, serving soldiers, their families and immediate dependants, may apply.
The Fund supports a broad range of charities, with a preference for charities and organisations which are members of the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO) or Veterans Scotland.
The Charity prefers to support those organisations working directly with beneficiaries at a grassroots level.
Any charity that has not been supported by the Fund in the previous 24 months must contact the Fund before making a formal submission.
Charities or organisations providing mental health services to members of the Army family would normally be expected to be a member or at least signed up to the Quality Network for Veterans Mental Health Services (QNVMHS) run by the Royal College of Psychiatrists on behalf of the sector.
Find out more about Army Benevolent Fund here
[NEW] Asda Foundation – Local Community Spaces Fund
Amount available: £10,000 – £20,000 to wholly fund the project. Applicants can contribute up to £20,000 of their own funds to the project but should demonstrate these funds are in place.
Deadline: Tuesday 28th April 2026 for notification by the end of August.
The aim of the Fund is to ensure community spaces are safe, accessible, and fit for purpose by supporting essential repairs, maintenance, and improvements. It is anticipated that the programme will help community spaces expand their capacity, enhance facilities, and provide inclusive environments that meet the diverse needs of local communities.
Applications must address at least one of the following funding priorities:
- Repair and maintain community spaces: essential repairs or maintenance to ensure the facility remains safe, functional, and able to serve the community effectively.
- Expand and improve community spaces: enhancing or adapting spaces to better meet the needs of service users.
To be eligible, applicants must have an annual income between £40,000 and £400,000.
Find out more about Asda Foundation – Local Community Spaces Fund here
Comic Relief – A Place to Belong: Every Step of the Way
Amount available: Two pathways are available:
- Service Delivery Pathway – a £2.8 million programme offering core-flexible funding of up to £200,000 over three to five years for organisations supporting 16 to 25-year-olds at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Organisations must work in specified areas of England.
- Systemic Change Pathway – a £1 million programme offering core-flexible funding of up to £450,000 over three to seven years for organisations advancing policy change and challenging structural racism in housing and homelessness across the UK
Deadline: Thursday 30th April (12 noon)
Comic Relief, in partnership with Omaze, has launched A Place to Belong: Every Step of the Way, a new programme supporting work on youth homelessness and racial justice in homelessness. The programme builds on earlier youth homelessness funding and aims to address both immediate need and structural inequity in housing.
This programme aims to ensure that funding not only addresses the immediate needs of young people but also helps dismantle the longstanding barriers that drive and sustain housing inequity.
UK organisations with annual income between £200,000 and £10 million can apply.
Find out more about Comic Relief – A Place to Belong: Every Step of the Way here
The Space – Digital Commissions (funded by Arts Council England)
Amount available: Commissions of between £5,000 and £16,000 (including VAT) are available.
For audio-only projects the maximum commission available is £8,000.
Projects must be published before 31 March 2027.
Deadline: Thursday 30th April (17:00)
Funding is available to develop and deliver creative digital projects for online or in-person audiences in England.
The wider aim of the funding programme is to build the arts and cultural sector’s capacity for making and distributing digital content.
Eligible projects include:
- Video pieces.
- Audio pieces.
- Interactive experiences (e.g., a game or website).
- Immersive experiences (e.g., 360-degree video, VR or mixed reality experience).
Applications will be considered from art and cultural organisations, including:
- Museums.
- Libraries.
- Community organisations.
- Local councils.
Individual’s with a suitable project must be partnered with an organisation that can apply on their behalf.
Applications from diverse-led and disabled-led organisations will be particularly welcomed by the funder.
Find out more about The Space – Digital Commissions here
7stars Foundation
Amount available:
- Project Grants: One-off grants of up to £5,000.
- Shine Bright Long Term Grants: Two-year grants of up to £30,000 per year.
- Child Poverty Grants: Two-year grants of up to £30,000 per year.
- Social Impact Grants: Two-year grants of £5,000 per year.
- Individual Grants: One-off grants of up to £500.
Deadline: Thursday 30th April 2026; Monday 31st August 2026
The foundation makes grants to projects which support young people (18 years and under) who are challenged by abuse or addiction, who are young carers, or who are homeless/without a safe place to call home.
Morecambe Bay PCC VCFSE Support Fund
Amount available: up to £2,000
Deadline: Thursday 30th April (11.59pm).
Short-term funding is available to support community-led activities that work with or complement general practice in improving health and wellbeing and contributing to the three “shifts” at the heart of the NHS 10-year plan:
- From sickness to prevention: supporting people and communities to stay well and prevent ill health before it develops or worsens.
- From hospital to community: providing more care, support and wellbeing activity closer to where people live.
- From analogue to digital: improving access to services, information and support through digital approaches where appropriate.
Grants are available to VCFSE organisations in North Lancashire and South Cumbria (the Lancaster City Council area, South Lakeland, Barrow and Millom).
Activities must have been completed by 31st August 2026 with reports due by 30th September 2026.
This fund is administered with support from Lancaster District CVS and Cumbria CVS, in partnership with the South Cumbria VCFSE Gateway.
Find out more about Morecambe Bay PCC VCFSE Support Fund here
The UK Youth Fund
Amount available: Up to approximately 10% of your organisation’s annual turnover
Deadline: For expressions of interest: 6th May
UK Youth and Pears Foundation have launched a new £10 million fund to champion an approach that works: providing multi-year, unrestricted funding alongside targeted capacity-building support to small youth organisations.
The aim of the Fund is to strengthen the financial resilience and capacity of small youth and outdoor learning organisations across the UK.
We aim to achieve this through two key outcomes:
Outcome 1: Improved Financial Sustainability, supporting grantees to invest time and resource in strategic, organisational development through our multi-year unrestricted funding grant programme
Outcome 2: Increased Capability and Organisational Resilience through our capacity building programme
Organisations can apply for multi-year unrestricted funding. This approach ensures that funding is proportional to the size and capacity of your organisation to help ensure sustainability and resilience.
Find out more about The UK Youth Fund here
[NEW] D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Amount available: £500 – £8,000
Deadline:
- Friday 8th May for first-stage applications for large charities (charities with an annual income of above £5 million). Successful first-stage applicants will be invited to submit a second-stage application by 1st June 2026.
- Monday 1st June for small charities (charities with an annual income of £5 million and under per annum).
Grants are available for UK registered charities working in the UK in the areas of participation in the performing arts, creative health interventions, and heritage crafts and skills.
Projects must fall within the following fields of interest:
Performing Arts
Supporting community music-making, performing arts engagement and early-stage career development.
The Trust funds:
- Amateur community music-making and singing.
- Performing arts engagement for underserved communities, particularly young people.
- Charities that provide early-stage career development to improve social mobility in the performing arts.
Creative Health
Funding non-clinical interventions that improve physical, emotional and mental health.
The Trust funds:
- Arts-based interventions accessed through referral.
- Short breaks for young carers.
- Animal-assisted therapy and horticulture.
Heritage Crafts
Protecting rare craft skills and linking traditional skills to training and employment.
The Trust funds:
- Protection of rare or endangered heritage craft skills.
- Projects linking heritage skills to employment and training, particularly for young people.
Applications are accepted from UK registered or regulated exempt charities working within the UK for the benefit of UK residents.
There is a separate application process for small charities (with an annual income of £5 million and under per annum) and large charities (with an annual income of above £5 million).
Work must begin at least two months after groups have been informed of the decision unless they have secured at least 75% of the funds they require.
Find out more about D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust here
Barclays Community Sport Fund 2025 to 2027
Amount available: Access Grants of £1,000. The grant can be split across football, tennis or cricket activities.
Female Coaches for Girls Grants. Football – £160 grant; Tennis – £200 grant; Cricket – £200 grant.
Deadline: Wednesday 27th May (17:00)
Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations operating in an area of high deprivation in the UK to make football, cricket, or tennis more accessible to women and girls.
The funding supports community groups and grassroots sports organisations who are working within the most deprived and/or rural areas of the UK and are making sport more accessible to women and girls, as well as engaging people from other under-represented groups including people with disabilities, from racially diverse communities and from the LGBTQ+ community.
Two funding streams are available:
- Access Grants to support the delivery of football, tennis or cricket activities for women and girls (as well as engage people from other underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, those from racially diverse communities and those from the LGBTQ+ community).
- Female Coaches for Girls Grant to cover the cost of a Level 1 or equivalent qualification for the sport. This is to upskill up to two female coaches at the club or group.
Find out more about Barclays Community Sport Fund 2025 to 2027 here
Caremark Community Care Fund
Amount available: £3,000
Deadline: Sunday 31st May
Caremark are looking for local projects across the UK that will create a meaningful, lasting impact.
This could be:
- Equipment for inclusive sports or activity groups
- Revamping a village hall or community centre
- Supplies for a community garden or green space
- Equipment for food banks, community larders or support services
- Brightening up a charity or community group’s space
- New equipment for a pre-school or playground
Their judges will shortlist 12 projects – one from every UK region – which will then go head-to-head in a public vote on social media.
The three projects with the most votes will win a £3,000 grant each.
Find out more about Caremark Community Care Fund here
National Archives – Project Grants
Amount available: up to £30,000.
Deadline: Friday 12th June. There will be a second 2026 funding round opening on 1st September with a deadline on 13th November.
Grants are available to support substantial, collaborative initiatives between at least one GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) or heritage organisation and one community group within the UK.
This initiative aims to respond to a long-standing challenge in the UK’s GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) and heritage sectors: how to make innovation and learning from community-facing projects more sustainable, transferable, and accessible across the sector. Through a supportive funding structure, it aims to help communities and organisations share their work more widely and contribute to a growing body of knowledge that others can learn from and build upon.
The grants are intended to support in-depth research, skills development, and the creation of lasting resources that reflect diverse voices and experiences.
Projects should be co-designed and community-led, with a focus on inclusion, sustainability, and impact. Whether building upon a Seed Corn project or starting fresh, Project Grants are intended to create meaningful change and long-term value for both communities and institutions.
Projects should be inclusive, sustainable, and impactful, with a strong emphasis on shared ownership and mutual benefit. The funding is intended to support practical, creative, and developmental work that strengthens relationships between GLAM organisations and the communities they serve.
Applicants must not have received a Community Hub Project Grant before.
Find out more about National Archives – Project Grants here
[NEW] Green Community Grants Programme – The Wildlife Trusts
Amount available: up to £25,000.
Deadline: Applications for 2026 will be accepted in the following windows:
Round Two: Wednesday 24th June 2026 to Wednesday 15th July 2026.
Round Three: Wednesday 30th September 2026 to Thursday 1st October 2026.
The funding is for organisations whose main aims and objectives fit with one of the following Fund’s themes:
- Contributing to nature recovery and responding to the climate emergency.
- Improving nature-rich spaces and access to them.
The grants can be used for a wider range of sustainable activities, including recycling, litter picking, beach cleans or sustainable transport.
To be eligible, applicants must have an annual income between £10,000 and £1 million in the most recent financial year.
As funding is generally oversubscribed, priority will be given to organisations:
- With an income of £250,000 or below.
- That work in communities located in the top 15% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation.
- Whose main activities are focused on supporting marginalised groups. This could include, but is not limited to, disabled people, communities experiencing racial inequity, and LGBT+ people.
- Organisations whose objects or purpose within its governing document relate to habitat or species restoration/protection.
Groups can apply for no more than 25% of their annual income listed on their most recent set of signed accounts.
Find out more about Green Community Grants Programme – The Wildlife Trusts here
[NEW] BFBS Big Salute – British Forces Broadcasting Service
Amount available: up to £10,000
Deadline: Friday 31st July
A small number of grants are available once a year for registered charities supporting members of the armed forces community, including regulars, reservists, veterans, and their families.
The funding is for purpose-driven projects that address the unique challenges faced by the military community in the UK and overseas.
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Staff salaries
- Training costs
- Running costs
Projects should start from January 2027 and demonstrate a tangible, measurable benefit within a year of receiving the grant.
Find out more about BFBS Big Salute – British Forces Broadcasting Service here
Grocers’ Charity Grant
Amount available: usually up to £5,000
Deadline: Tuesday 1st September. There is a two-stage application process.
The Charity provides one-off grants for UK registered charities to support the following areas:
- Relief of hardship.
- Children and young people (from birth to 25 years old).
- The elderly.
- Disability and inclusion.
- Health.
- Military.
- Heritage.
- The arts.
- Environment and conservation.
Registered charities in the UK with a turnover below £500,000 (or medical charities with an income below £15 million) are eligible to apply.
Find out more about Grocers’ Charity Grant here
[NEW] Benefact Trust – Community Impact Grants
Amount available: Funding is awarded at the discretion of the trustees. Multi-year grants of up to three years are available. Groups are expected to have secured at least 30% of their total project costs before applying.
Deadline: Applications can be submitted at any time
Grants are available for churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies, Christian charities, schools, and theological institutions across the UK to deliver projects and activities that have a positive impact on communities.
This fund aims to support Christian organisations to deliver projects that will make a positive and transformative impact on lives and communities and contribute to the following objectives:
- Growing congregations and Christian communities.
- Addressing social challenges facing communities.
- Enabling wider community use of church buildings.
- Empowering Christian education.
Find out more about Benefact Trust – Community Impact Grants here
Postcode Lottery – Dream Fund
Amount available: One £5m award for a collaborative project
Deadline: Applications are open but no fixed closing date has been announced
Funding for charities and not-for-profits in Britain with collaborative proposals. These initiatives should tackle major social and environmental challenges in British communities and demonstrate long-term impact. Project partners can also be universities, companies, councils or research institutes.
Find out more about Postcode Lottery – Dream Fund here
The Morrisons Foundation
Amount available: up to £10,000
Deadline: Rolling
The Morrisons Foundation awards grants to registered charities to fully fund projects which make a positive difference in local communities in England, Scotland and Wales.
Applications should deliver on (at least) one of three objectives to be considered for support, these are:
- Tackling poverty and social deprivation
- Enhancing community spaces, facilities and services
- Improving health and wellbeing
Find out more about The Morrisons Foundation here
VocTech Together Programme
Amount available: in 2027, the VocTech Together Grant Fund will offer grants of between £20,000 and £40,000.
Deadline: details not provided. Applicants should complete the short form on the Ufi VocTech Trust website to receive further information and opportunities to get involved in the programme.
This programme aims to address systemic barriers in adult education and skills development through digital technology, focusing on challenges faced by underserved learners and supporting scalable solutions through collaboration and funding. Its objectives are to improve access to skills and employment pathways, strengthen workforce development, drive sustainable change in the UK skills system, and support collaboration to test and scale innovative VocTech solutions.
Rather than offering a single pathway or solution, VocTech Together engages organisations at different stages of adopting vocational technology, from early exploration to large-scale implementation across places, sectors or learner communities. The programme includes:
- A support programme to help smaller organisations adopt VocTech and improve learning outcomes.
- A grant fund to support embedding technology into practice and workforce development.
- Impact Partnerships to scale VocTech across places or sectors.
- A programme of evidence and impact to inform practice and policy.
Find out more about VocTech Together Programme here
The Great Get Together – Jo Cox Foundation
Amount available: £100
Deadline: Not specified
The Great Get Together is the UK’s annual celebration of everything that connects our communities, inspired by Jo Cox’s belief that we have more in common than that which divides us.
This year’s Great Get Together will take place on 19th-21st June and will mark 10 years since Jo was killed. The Jo Cox Foundation are able to offer £5,000 worth of mini-grants to organisers for this year’s Great Get Together. Organisers are able apply for up to £100 to cover things like venue hire, refreshments and decorations.
You can find out more about this funding, and the campaign, here
Great Big Green Week
Amount available: £300/£200
Deadline: Monday 4th May
Great Big Green Week (6th – 14th June) is a countrywide initiative coordinated by the Climate Coalition of national charities as a way of raising awareness of climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
The Westmorland and Furness locality boards are supporting with funding of up to £300 for not-for-profit groups planning a climate and nature themed celebratory event. The week also coincides with Open Farm Sunday on the 7th June and the Eden Project’s The Big Lunch initiative. Cumberland Food Partnership has allocated funding of up to £200 per organisation to host an event showcasing low carbon local food, which could involve celebrating local growers, encouraging people to grow their own fruit and veg, and strengthening connections with community gardens, allotments and farms.
Find out more about Great Big Green Week funding here
Screwfix Foundation
Amount available: up to £5,000
Deadline: Sunday 10th May for the June Trustee meeting with a decision by Thursday 30th July.
The funding is intended for both national and local charities across the UK so that they can fix, repair, maintain and improve properties and community facilities specifically for those in need (by reason of financial hardship, sickness, disability or other disadvantage or distress) in the UK.
The funding is for projects which improve a physical building (or land attached to it) that is used by people in need.
The funding is to be used for the following types of projects:
- Improved energy efficient lighting and heating
- Installation of new kitchen, bathroom etc.
- Installation of a sensory room.
- General painting and decorating.
- Improving safety and security of a building.
Due to the very high number of applications received each quarter, Screwfix will give priority to the following projects:
- Where Screwfix is funding the project in full.
- Where the project will directly benefit people in need and will have a lasting impact.
Find out more about Screwfix Foundation funding here
The Environment Partnership
Amount available: Up to £1,000
Deadline: Sunday 31st May
The Environment Grant offers funding to any individual, group, professional, student, institution or charity across the whole of the UK. To be successful, applicants need to demonstrate a drive to make an impact on the environment, by furthering the environmental profession and/or raising awareness of environmental issues.
Find out more about The Environment Partnership grants here
The DPO Centre
Amount available: up to £10,000. Grants can be used to cover up to 80% of the total costs.
Deadline: Sunday 31st May
The DPO Centre is a Data Protection Officer resource centre delivering data protection and privacy advice and access to skilled and experienced resources to clients across a range of sectors, to help organisations identify how data protection legislation will affect them, how to ensure compliance, and how compliance builds trust, confidence, loyalty, and engagement.
This fund aims to provide charities and not-for-profit organisations with access to data protection consultancy advice and services that ensure they run efficiently, remain compliant with the law, and achieve the following outcomes:
- Provide immediate access to subject matter experts and a broadly experienced team of data protection professionals.
- Remove ‘unknowns’ experienced when conducting a similar process internally.
- Decrease the potential for compliance failure across an organisation.
- Provide a substantial reduction in regulatory and reputational risk.
- Lead to improved trust, increased engagement, reputation, and organisational value.
Funding can be used for projects and activities such as:
- Information asset registering and data mapping.
- Policy drafting and review.
- Impact assessments and gap analysis.
- Data protection training.
- Data sharing and international transfers.
- Privacy-by-design.
- Data protection readiness.
Find out more about The DPO Centre grants here
The Big Bike Revival
Amount available: Up to £3,500
Deadline: Monday 1st June
The Big Bike Revival is an intervention for adults aimed at encouraging an uptake in cycling. By providing solutions to perceived barriers, adults are enabled to learn to how to cycle and to increase their cycling levels for short, everyday journeys. Events focus on presenting cycling as a practical, normal and habitual way to get around locally.
The Big Bike Revival is delivered across England by a wide range of community-embedded partners who understand the local need. An extensive programme of FREE events offering services that fix bikes, teach skills and lead rides, motivate adults to either start or return to cycling. Social and inclusive activities help adults of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to discover the joys of cycling and help make cycling become a normal travel option.
Delivery partners are typically volunteer-led groups, not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises that are rooted in local communities and working to address a range of local needs.
Find out more about The Big Bike Revival grants here
Leeds Building Society Foundation
Amount available: up to £2,500
Deadline:
- Monday 1st June 2026 for consideration at the Wednesday 24th June 2026 meeting
- Monday 7th September 2026 for consideration at the Wednesday 7th October 2026 meeting
- Wednesday 11th November 2026 for consideration at the Wednesday 2nd December 2026 meeting.
The funding is intended to support projects to improve the health, wellbeing and financial literacy of people who are experiencing homelessness.
Small Grants – are flexible and can be used for core, project and/or capital costs. This is UK wide for organisations with a turnover of less than £500,000.
Projects must meet the Foundation’s purpose through one or more of its criteria themes. Examples of eligible projects include:
- Financial stress – projects that help with bills or debt stress
- Security and refuge – projects that support emergency accommodation
- Quality and suitability of housing
- Health and wellbeing support for those experiencing homelessness if it is part of wraparound support and the application also meets at least one of the other themes
Applications are welcome from those who take a Housing First and/or relationship-based approach. Applications should show evidence of:
- Strength-based practice
- Trauma-informed care
- Psychologically-informed environments
Find out more about Leeds Building Society Foundation grants here
Help the Homeless – main grants
Amount available: Up to £5,000
Deadline: 20th June at 5.00pm.
Funding for UK charities with an annual turnover of less than £500,000.
These organisations must work with people experiencing homelessness. They should also be capital projects and it must be two years since any previous grant from the trust.
Find out more about Help the Homeless – main grants here
Theatres Trust – small grants
Amount available: Up to £7,500, supported by the Linbury Trust
Deadline: Midday on Friday 26th June
Funding for Not-for-profit theatres in the UK doing small capital works to improve sustainability, diversity and digital readiness, among other areas.
Applicants must own or manage a theatre with a lease or title of more than five years with a minimum of 30 annual performances.
Find out more about Theatres Trust – small grants here
Sir Halley Stewart Trust – main grants
Amount available: £5,000 to £60,000 for projects in religious, medical and social fields.
Deadline: Monday 29th June
Funding for UK charities and educational establishments which deliver innovative research or pioneer development projects in the trust’s priority areas.
Find out more about Sir Halley Stewart Trust – main grants here
Weaver’s Company Benevolent Fund
Amount available: Small grants of up to £5,000. Main Grants have no maximum amount.
Deadline: midday on:
- Thursday 2nd July 2026 to be considered in October 2026.
- Thursday 12th November 2026 to be considered in February 2027.
Grants are available for UK registered charities and charitable incorporated organisations that can demonstrate impact with ex-offenders, young offenders or young people at risk of offending, either within a local area or nationally.
The funding is intended for registered charities working in the current priority areas:
- Supporting offenders and ex-offenders into work, specifically for those looking to build skills and capability to get into sustainable work.
- Helping specific groups within the criminal justice sector that are less popular with funders than others.
The secondary funding area is focused on projects that work specifically with young people (aged 16 to 25 years) involved with the Criminal Justice System to ensure they are given every possible chance to realise their full potential and to participate fully in society, rather than general youth development projects.
National Churches Trust – Large Grants Programme
Amount available: £10,000 and £50,000 are available. The current average is about £15,000.
Deadline: Tuesday 7th July
The Large Grants programme (formerly Cornerstone Grants) supports structural repairs and maintenance issues costing more than £100,000 or the installation of kitchen and toilets costing over £30,000.
Priority for funding is for urgent structural repairs (costed at more than £80,000 including VAT), but the Trust will consider projects for the installation of kitchens and accessible toilets (costed at more than £30,000 including VAT).
Find out more about National Churches Trust – Large Grants Programme here
Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust
Amount available: £5,000
Deadline: Saturday 15th August
The objectives of the Trust are:
- To promote horticulture.
- To promote the conservation of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity.
- To promote the creation, development, preservation and maintenance of gardens accessible to the public.
- The advancement of horticultural education.
Funding is available for:
- The advancement of research in any branch of horticulture and the publication of the results of such research.
- Assisting in the creation, development, preservation and maintenance of gardens accessible to the public.
- Promotion of the cultivation of plants which have horticultural value and new plants.
- Assisting in the publication of books or other works related to the science of horticulture.
Find out more about Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust here
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust – Peace and Security Programme
Amount available: No fixed limit
Deadline: 2nd September
Funding for organisations performing national-level work in the UK – work that is legally charitable and focuses on systemic change.
JCRT will not fund large, established national charities or statutory bodies, nor will it fund business development projects.
Groundwork – Grassroots Grants
Amount available: £500 to £2,000
Deadline: Applications will close in September 2026
Grants are available for small, grassroots charities, community interest communities (CICs), and voluntary and community groups across England to deliver vital services that benefit their local communities.
Small, local, constituted voluntary and community organisations, including registered charities, with an annual income of less than £25,000 in the last financial year can apply.
Community interest companies (CICs) can apply if they have been in operating for two years with an asset lock (schedule one and two only).
Priority will be given to organisations that meet the following criteria:
- Funding is for work in communities that rank as being within the top 15% on the English Indices of Deprivation.
- Organisations that work with and support communities that are classed as marginalised or vulnerable.
Find out more about Groundwork – Grassroots Grants here
Homeless Link – Energy Resilience Fund
Amount available: A share from a pot totalling £15m. The fund offers a package of energy audit support and blended funding (60% loan and 40% grant). Eligible organisations can apply for blended funding of between £25,000 and £250,000.
Deadline: Not specified
Funding for charities working with people who are homeless, who need funding for a range of energy saving or generation projects.
These can include: energy efficient or saving lighting systems, glazing upgrades, solar PV panels, battery storage, heat pumps, insulation, electric vehicles or energy efficient equipment.
Find out more about Homeless Link – Energy Resilience Fund here
Quilter Foundation – New Financial Futures Fund
Amount available: The grants will be worth up to £1m over five years
Deadline: Not specified
The grants will support financial education programmes in partnership with specialist charities.
The grants will back large-scale UK programmes that deliver financial education to various priority groups at key life moments, from entering the workforce, to periods of financial hardship and retirement planning.
Find out more about Quilter Foundation – New Financial Futures Fund here
Parkinson’s UK Physical Activity Grants Programme
Amount available: £500 and £3,000
Deadline: It is a rolling programme and applications will be accepted until all of the funding has been allocated.
The funding supports physical activity projects for people living with Parkinson’s across the UK, with a particular focus on encouraging those who are currently inactive to get involved and connect with local opportunities that help them move more creatively.
The priorities for this year’s grants programme are:
- Supporting people with Parkinson’s to participate in movement based activities that build confidence and foster a lasting interest in being physically active.
- Engaging people with Parkinson’s who are currently inactive to begin physical activity and maintain ongoing participation.
This year, in recognition that some people face additional barriers to engaging in physical activity, the programme has broadened its scope to include ‘Gateway Activities. These activities help people with Parkinson’s build confidence and develop an interest in movement-based activity. Examples include arts-based activities such as theatre, musical and circus skills, singing and movement, playing large instruments that require significant movement (such as samba drumming), and gardening or horticulture projects.
Find out more about Parkinson’s UK Physical Activity Grants Programme here
Aviva Foundation – Financial Futures Fund and Communities Fund
Amount available: 1) Financial Futures Fund: multi-year grant funding for large organisations with incomes of more than £1m. 2) Communities Fund: Match-funding through a crowdfunding platform for small charities and not-for-profits with incomes of less than £1m.
Deadline: Unspecified
Funding for UK-based organisations which help people build financial resilience and support community-led climate action.
Find out more about Aviva Foundation – Financial Futures Fund and Communities Fund here
Greggs Foundation – Community Action Fund
Amount available: £20,000 per year for up to three years of core funding
Deadline: Currently no fixed deadline – there are four funding rounds per year
Funding for not-for-profits with annual incomes between £25,000 and £1m. Those that have at least one full year of delivered services and a set of annual accounts, a board of at least three unrelated trustees or directors and a strong presence in one of Greggs’ areas of focus, ie near an outlet or in areas of social deprivation.
Find out more about Greggs Foundation – Community Action Fund here
St Martin in the Fields – Homelessness Support
Amount available: Up to £500
Deadline: None
VRF awards fast emergency grants of up to £500 to help people who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. These crisis grants can be used to remove immediate barriers such as rent in advance, deposits, ID, and removal costs.
You can register for a VRF account today using your direct work email address and once approved, you can start an application via our Application Portal.
Fid out more about the fund and process here
If you would like more information, please register to join one our Teams webinar where we can discuss our grant offer and answer any questions you might have. Once registered, you’ll be emailed a link to join the webinar at the scheduled time:
Tuesday 10th February 14:00 – 15:15. Please register for the event using your work email address via this link
BlueSpark Foundation
Amount available: up to £5,000
Deadline: Rolling
Grants are available for schools, community groups, clubs, societies or other organisations in England to improve the education and development of children and young people through educational, cultural, sporting and other activities.
The funding is for relatively small-scale projects, which might not happen at all or would only happen on a lesser scale without the support of BlueSpark.
The Foundation aims to help children and young people reach their full potential by supporting projects that have the following objectives:
- Encouraging independence.
- Developing team working skills.
- Developing self-confidence.
- Promoting creativity and individuality.
- Encouraging aspiration.
- Enhancing educational achievement.
- Widening educational horizons.
Yusen Logistics and Baltic Apprenticeships – apprenticeships levy transfer
Amount available: £210,000 in total levy funding.
Deadline: On a rolling basis over the next six months.
For charities, not-for-profits and NHS bodies. Eligible organisations will be able to claim funding for apprenticeship programmes in areas such as IT support, data analysis and digital marketing, all at no cost.
Village Halls Small Grants Fund
Amount available: Grant awards of between £2,000 to £5,000 are available where match funding of 80% is in place.
Deadline: There is no deadline but the fund will be closed when all funds are allocated.
Managed by Action with Rural Communities in England (ACRE), the fund provides support for the modernisation and improvement of village halls in England.
It helps organisations to undertake smaller projects such as disability access, boiler replacement, toilet upgrades and new kitchens. Project expenditure must take place before 31 March 2026.
Find out more about the Village Halls Small Grants Fund here
Wooden Spoon – Pass the Plate Appeal
Amount available: A minimum of £2,000.
Deadline: Applications taken on a rolling basis.
For organisations with pre-existing initiatives in tackling child hunger. Project beneficiaries must be a group.
They must be UK-based and support the lives of children and young people disadvantaged physically, mentally and socially.
Joyce Wilkinson Charitable Trust Fund
Amount available: There is no minimum or maximum grant award
Deadline: n/a
Grants for voluntary and community groups operating or providing charitable activities in or close to the parishes of Rosley and Westward, Wigton, and Aspatria.
The Leathersellers – small grants programme
Amount available: One-off grants of up to £5,000.
Deadline: Rolling
Charities and CIOs must meet the following criteria:
- Deliver activities to meet an identified need for vulnerable members of the community
- Provide evidence of effective impact/ difference made e.g. testimonials gathered from feedback and questionnaires
- Have a planned expenditure of under £200,000 during the financial year in which you are applying for funding.
- Demonstrate financial need. Due to overwhelming demand from charities with high financial need, we are unlikely to be able to prioritise applications from organisations holding more than 6 months’ free/unrestricted reserves.
- Have a publicly accessible website clearly showing who you are and what you do.
- Have a minimum of one year’s published accounts available via the Charity Commission. We do not accept management accounts.
Travel Actively Fund
Amount available: No limit
Deadline: n/a
The Travel Actively Fund (TAF) is open for applications from organisations in Barrow or Carlisle.
If your organisation has an activity or idea that will encourage and enable people from the fund’s targeted audiences to be more active by cycling, walking and wheeling (using scooters, wheelchairs) for everyday journeys you may be eligible to apply.
David Riddell Memorial CIO
Amount available: Between £5,000 and £25,000
Deadline: Applications taken on a rolling basis
Funding for charities running suicide awareness and prevention programmes for charitable purposes.
National Deaf Children’s Society – Community Grants
Amount available: £1,000 – £10,000
Deadline: Any time
The aim of the grants programme is to build communities that unite families of deaf children. For parents with a deaf child, having a strong community is vital, particularly during those first few years when families are still finding out what their child needs.
The early years are a crucial time for all children. For deaf children, this is even more true. Without adjustments, accommodations and the right support, young deaf children can find it more difficult to develop their language, communication and social skills.
This funding cycle is focused on projects that support deaf children in the early years (aged 0-5). This can be directly or indirectly, and projects can also involve older deaf children, deaf young people, families and professionals.
Wolfson Foundation
Amount available: To be agreed
Deadline: Two funding rounds per year
Applications are currently considered under four strands: the needs of older people; mental health needs; independent living for people with disabilities; palliative care and hospices.
The Foundation is also committed to funding projects that build, strengthen and sustain an organisation’s infrastructure for the longer term. Our grants will be for new build, refurbishment and equipment projects.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation
Amount available: Small grants range from £1,000 – £5,000, Large grants usually range from £10,000 to £60,000.
Deadline: n/a
The Masonic Charitable Foundation is dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people, as well as vulnerable older people, in England and Wales.
Priority areas:
- Children with special educational needs and disabilities.
- Children affected by domestic abuse.
- Early years (ages 0-5) with a focus on poverty and neglect.
COSARAF – Hardship Grants
Amount available: £2,000
Deadline: at any time
Grants are available for third party social organisations to support individuals and families across the UK who are in financial need and have exhausted all other sources of funding.
Applications will only be accepted from recognised third party social organisation, such as charities, housing associations, schools and social services who are acting on behalf of a family or individual in need.
Priority will be given to:
- The most financially excluded people.
- Families over individuals.
- Those with caring responsibilities.
- Items that will make the most difference to the individual/family’s long-term future.
Organisations can only apply once in a single year.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are taking advantage of all support offered by local services, including the referring social organisation.
Football Foundation – Lionesses HERe to Play Fund
Deadline: Any time
Amount available: up to £25,000 for up to 75% of total project costs.
The fund aims to elevate the experience of women and girls in football by creating inclusive, welcoming, and high-quality environments that support female participation at every level.
Projects include:
- Signage.
- External lighting/CCTV.
- Toilets.
- Shower improvements.
- Baby change and breastfeeding facilities.
- Female officials’ and player privacy changing spaces.
- Changing room improvements.
- Clubhouse improvements.
- External covered spaces.
The Football Foundation requires a minimum of five years security of tenure for all applications, to be evidenced in the application.
Affiliated clubs need to have completed, signed up for or be on the waiting list for The FA’s Equal Game workshop.
Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation
Amount available: Previous grants have ranged from £5,000 to £2.25 million.
Deadline: The first step in the application process is to complete the online ‘eligibility test’ on the Foundation’s website. If the proposed project is eligible for funding, applicants will be sent a link to the Salesforce digital application form and given a deadline for submission for the next Grants Meeting.
The funding is for charitable work that meets one or more of the Foundation’s current priorities:
-
- Victims of modern slavery: to provide facilities for and support to victims on their journey back to independent living, better mental health and employment.
- Victims of domestic abuse: to provide emergency safety and to support victims through associated poverty and mental health issues.
- Ex-offenders and their families: to support the ex-offenders back to work and contributing positively to society and to support their families whose lives can be severely impacted.
- Homelessness: to provide facilities for and support people, especially young people, on their journey back to independent living, better mental health and employment.
- Medical research: to support research that could lead to preventing or slowing the onset of a condition or to lessen the symptoms.
- Support for people with terminal illnesses / life limiting conditions and their carers: to provide hospice care to support individuals and give respite to their carers to assist them with their mental health and other ambitions.
- Drug and substance misuse: to support rehabilitation and the journey back to independent living and work.
- Support for people with intellectual disability: to provide support with personal care, job skills and supported living.
- Care leavers: to give them a chance to succeed on a par with other young people.
- Worship and associated community outreach: to ensure places of worship are energy efficient and watertight with an emphasis on wider community use of church halls or Church buildings where those buildings are redundant or too large and where the parish has a focus on non-conditional outward facing work.
- Amateur sport: to improve physical and mental health with a focus on sport provision for people with disabilities.
- Care for the elderly: to allow quality care for those who cannot afford private care or continue living at home.
Please note: this list is subject to quarterly review and may change.
Applications to the Foundation’s General Fund will be considered from registered charities with an annual expenditure of less than £10 million who are working to support communities in need.
Arnold Clark Community Fund – Community Support
Deadline: It is recommended that groups apply as early as they can as applications could be paused due to high demand
Amount available: up to £1,000
Funding to projects embedded in the communities in which Arnold Clark operates and is available to organisations who provide services widely accessible to those within Arnold Clark local communities, addressing the needs of those living within them. Organisations must be based/operate solely in the UK and located within 50 miles of an Arnold Clark branch.
Particularly welcome applications from smaller voluntary and community organisations who are working within Arnold Clark local communities.
Historic Houses Foundation
Deadline: Any time
Amount available: £1,000 to £250,000. Most grants are for less than £50,000.
This fund aims to support the repair and conservation of rural historic buildings and structures in England and Wales, including their gardens, grounds and outbuildings. Grants for the restoration and conservation of works of art in historic house collections open to the public will also be considered.
Funding is intended to support projects which are ready to proceed (i.e. can be started within 1-2 years) but which either do not qualify for funding from any of the mainstream sources or have been awarded only partial funding and require significant further funds to complete the resource package.
National Deaf Children’s Society Community Grants Programme
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: Between £1,000 and £10,000
Funding is available for projects that support deaf children in the early years (aged 0-5). This can be directly or indirectly, and projects can also involve older deaf children, deaf young people, families and professionals.
B&Q Foundation
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: £5,000/£10,000
The B&Q Foundation provides grants for a wide range of community organisations who are seeking funding to improve or develop spaces that benefit their community. Typically, the foundation provides up to £10,000 for building and indoor projects or £5,000 for garden projects. Using Neighbourly, the B&Q Foundation asks charities to complete a simple three step application process. Currently, its focus is on charities supporting people who are at risk of homelessness.
The Movement Fund
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: between £300 and £15,000
Sport England has reserved up to £16 million from its £160 million Movement Fund to help the sector respond to the impact of climate change. Sports clubs and physical activity groups are being encouraged to apply for grants which can be used to fund projects that will improve sustainability by addressing at least one of six Every Move priorities:
- Just transition: inequalities, inclusion and participation
- Energy and resources: carbon emissions, travel and facilities
- Energy and resources: circular economy – supply chains, products and waste
- Nature: blue-green environment quality and use
- Nature: biodiversity
- Resilience: adapting to climate change and extreme weather events.
To be eligible, projects should also demonstrably improve physical activity in the community and have a clear, feasible and reasonable delivery plan. Projects in an area of high need will be prioritised.
Priority will also be given to work that benefits: people living on low incomes, disabled people or those with long-term health conditions, older people, people from culturally diverse communities, pregnant women and parents with very young children, girls aged 5-16, LGBTQ+ people and people in foster care.
The Anchor Foundation
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: £500 – £12,000
Grants are on offer for Christian charities working to tackle social exclusion. The foundation has a particularly interest in charities working within “healing and the arts.”
Grants are only offered to registered charities. Applications for building work are rarely supported and charities are asked to apply for funds towards a specific project.
Walney Extension Community Fund
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: Discretionary
Due to the extension of Walney Wind Farm, areas of Cumbria are eligible for funding from Orsted. The renewable energy giant has two funds available to charitable initiatives: The Walney Extension Community Fund and the Walney Extension Skills Fund.
Orsted’s Community Fund has two funding rounds each year, with its next deadline in January and is open to organisations in parts of Copeland, Barrow-in-Furness, the Walney islands and South Lakeland.
Calisen Impact Charitable Trust
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: Discretionary
Grants are available for charitable initiatives in the UK that “champion sustainable energy solutions and foster inclusive, safe and diverse educational and work environments within the UK.” The funding is administered by Calisen, a British energy firm.
UK registered charities can apply for the funding to cover project costs. The fund’s objectives include achieving net zero and promoting inclusive workplaces.
Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust
Deadline: Rolling
Amount available: £1,000 – £10,000
Animal welfare charities in the UK can apply for funding to cover projects that benefit and protect animals; relieve the suffering of animals, address the conservation of wildlife and encourage a greater understanding of animals.
The funding is available from the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust and can be used for: general running costs associated with the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of animals, donations towards capital purchases and assistance with vets fees.
Motability Foundation: organisation grants
Amount available: £50,000 to £150,000 for small grants; £150,000 to £1m for large grants.
Deadline: Not specified.
Charities and organisations can apply for grants to enhance existing services or launch new initiatives that improve transport access for disabled people. Funding can be used for staffing, vehicles, operational costs, and infrastructure. The foundation is welcoming applications from organisations that have been active for least three years and have a turnover of £50,000 or more.
Worshipful Company of Innholders: charity grants
Amount available: One-off awards of between £500 and £5,000
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who is the funding for? Smaller charities in England and Wales, with a preference for London, for work with the young, the elderly, and the hospitality industry. The funding committee meets in March, June and December of each year.
CiFR Community Flood Resilience Fund
Deadline: n/a
Amount available: up to £12,500
Grants for groups across Cumbria supporting communities to build resilience to future flooding.
The purpose of the fund is to (1) provide support, resources, and equipment to specified communities at risk of flooding; (2) to enable those communities to test and trial ways to become better prepared for flooding; and (3) be better able to respond to and recover from flooding, by building assets within their community.
Funds managed by Cumbria Community Foundation
Our funds have been created by our donors and each have their own criteria or area of interest. Most support locally based community and voluntary groups and some also support individuals.
To apply for a grant, you will need to complete an application form and send it to us with the supporting documents indicated. We encourage you to read the guidance of our funds before applying, but if you’re unsure about the eligibility of your application, give our grants team a call on 01900 825760.
Find out more about the funds available here
Eden Funding Fair
Wednesday 22nd April, Penrith. An opportunity for small local voluntary and community groups to speak directly to Funders about their project to obtain funding.
Find out which local and national funders are attending and network with other organisations.
Its free to attend and you can book a morning or afternoon slot.
Get Grants Showcase: Working with Funders
Tuesday 28th April, online. Introducing Get Grants Working with Funders Services: We know that the grant funding sector is a rapidly changing landscape.
Our Services for Grant Makers build on our knowledge and experience to help grant makers of all shapes and sizes maximise the potential of their funding programmes.
Our practical support ranges from helping funders articulate the difference you want to make and raising awareness of opportunities, to producing user-friendly application forms and helping funders choose the right grantees.
We provide a range of free and paid-for services, all tailored to individual needs and funders of all sizes.
Join us and Chalotte Othen, Head of Client Services, to learn more about how this service works, what it provides, and whether it is right for you!
West Cumbria Funding Fair
Tuesday 2nd June, venue TBC. Save the date! Details to follow soon…
Winning Grants From Trusts & Foundations
Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July, online. You will be guided through a five-stage process to winning more grants: clarifying and prioritising your funding needs, building a strong pipeline of funders, shaping a compelling central case for support, writing bids that stand out, and managing reporting and relationships well.
The session will also explore what funders are thinking and prioritising as the sector continues to rebuild after a pandemic and through a cost-of-living crisis, and how to tailor your applications accordingly.
