Funding Announcements 

Generic grants with wide remit and scope

• Funding is available for registered charities that are working to support disadvantaged children and young people, as well as vulnerable older people in England and Wales. The Masonic Charitable Foundation Charity Grants programme awards Small grants of between £1,000 and £5,000, and Large grants of between £10,000 and £60,000 to support projects. Click here to find out more.
• Grants of up to £10,000 to Support Grassroots Charities (UK) Grants between £2,000 and £10,000 are available to support small, grassroots, and local charities that deliver services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged, or general community across the UK. The funding, which is being made available through Foyle Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme, can be used to cover projects, core costs, building projects, or essential equipment to enable ongoing service provision for charities with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum that can show financial stability and a clear need for their services. Competition for funding is expected to be strong. The Foyle Foundation will complete its grant-giving programme in 2025, and the closing date for applications is the 31st of January 2025. Deadline: 31-01-2025  Link: http://www.foylefoundation.org.uk/small-grants-scheme/
•  Funding to Help Local Communities Develop Neighbourhood Plans – Local communities in England can apply for grants and technical support to help them develop neighbourhood plans. A neighbourhood plan is a community-driven initiative that allows residents to shape the future development of their area, including housing. Grants of up to £18,000. Click here to find out more.
• Funding for Rural Community and Education Projects – Grants are available through the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust for initiatives that support charities in the UK working in agriculture and rural development. Grants are available for £1,000 – 50,000. Larger donations support organisations that significantly impact rural communities at a national level. Click here to find out more.
• Co-operative Bank – Customer Donation Fund – Organisations such as Registered Charities, Community Interest Companies, Co-operatives, and Credit Unions that have a Community Directplus account can apply for funding of up to £1,000 from the Customer Donation Fund.Since 2003, the Co-operative Bank Donation Fund has donated over £1,000,000 to over 1,100 local good causes. The money can be used to support special projects and fundraising activities, and all Community Directplus account holders are eligible to apply. The closing dates for applications are March and September each year and they will then be assessed in April and October.. Useful Links: Projects Funded Application Form https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/business/community/customer-donation-fund
• Grants of up to £500 Available to Support Local Good Causes Local retailer Nisa has launched a new funding round for its Heart of the Community initiative. Funded through its Making a Difference Locally Awards Charity, a total of £50,000 is available for Nisa retailers to nominate a local group, school, charity, or good cause. Up to £500 will be awarded to local causes supporting children with back-to-school uniforms and enriching summer experiences such as holiday clubs, fetes, and community trips. Visit your nearest Nisa independent retailer to discuss a nomination. The closing date for applications is 18th June 2024.Deadline: 18-06-2024 Link: https://www.nisalocally.co.uk/community/success-stories/madl-launches-latest-heart-of-the-community-initiative-to-support-brighter-futures-for-children/
• Funding of up to £200,000 Available for Community & Environmental Projects – Local charities, volunteer and community groups, schools, colleges and local authority or parish councils in the Severn Trent Water region can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £200,000 to support new local community projects. The funding supports new projects that link to three critical elements of community wellbeing: People – healthier lifestyles and skills development: Place – create better places for communities, Environment – improve access to and promote a healthier natural environment, including the preservation of water. Three sizes of the grant are available: £2,000 to £10,000 – up to 12 months for project completion, £10,001 to £75,000 – up to 24 months for project completion, £75,001 to £200,000 – up to 24 months for project completion, Match funding is required for applications over £10,000. The next closing date for between £10,001 and £200,000 is the 11th of August 2024. The closing date for applications of up to £10,000 is the 10th of July 2024. Deadline: 10-07-2024 Click here to find out more.
• The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust typically awards grants of between £500 and £6,000 for projects and core costs, with a preference for small-scale, locally based initiatives. Grants are available for UK-registered charities that seek to enhance and improve people’s lives by advancing the arts, health and medical welfare, and the environment. Click here to find out more.

Buildings, housing, and energy saving for organisations

• Funding for Green Social Housing Upgrades – The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is making around £1.2 billion in funding available to improve the energy performance of social housing in England. The funding will be available to: local authorities, combined authorities, registered providers of social housing (including housing associations and arms-length management organisations (ALMOs) that are registered providers), registered charities that own social housing. The Fund supports installation of energy performance measures that: deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions, tackle fuel poverty, support green jobs, develop the retrofit sector, improve the comfort, health, and well-being of social housing tenants. There will be two routes to access funding: The Challenge Fund and Strategic Partnerships Further details will be available in the summer of 2024 when Wave 3 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) opens to applications. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-wave-3
• The Veolia Environmental Trust, which provides grants for community and environmental projects, has announced the opening of its next funding round. Community Grant Scheme and Nature Conservation Grants Schemes.  They provide funding ranging from £10,000 to £75,000, aimed at creating or improving buildings or outdoor spaces for the benefit of the community. The maximum project size eligible for funding is £350,000. Click here to find out more.
• Homelessness charities and hospices in England and Wales can apply for advice, support, and grant funding to help with their construction projects. The grant is being provided by the Construction Industry’s Charity (CRASH), and can be used for a variety of purposes, including refurbishing, or renovating buildings, building new facilities, improving accessibility, and installing energy-saving measures. Click here to find out more.
• Funding to Support Village Hall Improvement Projects – Village halls across England can apply for the Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund will provide capital only grants of up to £5,000 for capital improvement projects. Activities should achieve one or more of the following outcomes; improved health and/or wellbeing and/or reduction in rural loneliness, positive impact on the local environment, contributes towards net zero, support for the local rural economy, promotion of community cohesion. Grants are intended to support smaller capital projects such as: boiler replacements, insulation, toilet upgrades, new kitchens, Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs. ACRE recommend applicants only submit their application once the project is ready to proceed. Deadline: 31-12-2024 Link: https://acre.org.uk/village-halls-small-grants-fund/
• Wolfson Foundation- Funding for Places The Wolfson Foundation has announced that its main grants Programme – Funding for Places – has re-opened for applications.  Through Funding for places a wide range of organisations working across the fields of education, science & medicine, health & disability, heritage, humanities & the arts can apply for capital grants for buildings (new build or refurbishment) and equipment. Click here to find out more.

Business growth support

·       £3 Million Support Package to Scale Up Creative Businesses -registered micro, small, and medium enterprises in the creative sector can apply for a share of £3 million in government funding for innovation projects to grow their businesses. The Create Growth Programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £30,000, alongside targeted business support packages, to help creative businesses scale and become investment ready.  Click here to find out more.

·       The Stelios Philanthropic Foundation is giving disabled entrepreneurs in the UK the chance to win a share of £200,000 to fund the further growth of their business and become Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2024. To be eligible, a disabled entrepreneur must own at least 50 per cent of the applying company. Click here to find out more.

Children and Young people

• Support for Children Living in Severe Poverty Grants are now available to support children and young people in the UK experiencing a crisis or emergency. The grants which are made available through the BBC Children in Need Emergency Essentials programme supports families with children up to the age of 17 who are living with financial, health and social difficulties by providing items that meet children’s most basic needs such as: cookers, furniture, kitchen equipment and small appliances, children’s beds, and bedding (including cots), washing machines and tumble dryers, fridges, freezers and fridge-freezers, baby equipment, clothing. Click here to find out more.
• Funding to Support Disadvantaged Young People Grants of up to £15,000 are available to UK charities and not-for-profit organisations working with young people aged 12-21 who are socially excluded or marginalised, and who are experiencing or may have experienced significant issues within their lives. A particular focus is supporting; children who are considered persistently absent from school, those leaving school with no qualifications, children and young people in/leaving care, The average grant is around £5,000 to £6,000. The funding examples: pro-active youth clubs, activities for disaffected young people, employment opportunities, to provide experience which help young people to find structure. Organisations that work across a local area, such as a village, estate, or town, must have an annual income of less than £100,000 to be eligible. Organisations that work across the entire UK must have an annual income of less than £250,000 to be eligible. Trustees meet to discuss grant applications three times a year, generally in February, June, and October. Applications can be made at any time. Useful Links: Funding Criteria FAQs Link: https://allenlane.org.uk/young-peoples-programme/
• The Happy Days Children’s Charity is inviting applications for funding towards trips, respite breaks and group activity holidays for disadvantaged children and young people with additional needs. The charity awards funding for different types of activities to support families with children aged 3-17 who have a disability, a special need or have been abused. Applications for family activities are accepted from parents, guardians, grandparents, or siblings, as well as GPs, consultants, nurses, or social workers. Applications for group activities are accepted from organisations such as SEN schools and groups, young carers, and women’s refuges. Click here to find out more.
• Grants to Help Children & Young People Make, Learn & Earn in Music (England)24th May 2024 – Grants of up to £30,000 are available to organisations in England for projects that support disadvantaged and disabled children and young people in making, learning, and earning in music. The funding is made available through the Youth Music Trailblazer fund, which supports organisations that want to trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo—or all three. Click here to find out more.
• Funding for Projects that Support the Education and Development of Children and Young People – Schools, colleges, and community groups in England can apply for grants to BlueSpark Foundation to support the education and development of children and young people through educational, cultural, sporting, and other projects. BlueSpark is particularly keen to support projects that will help enhance the self-confidence, teamwork skills, and future employability of children and young people. In most cases, grants will be made on a relatively small scale. The Foundation makes grants of up to £5,000. However, the majority of grants awarded are below £2,000. The funding available can be for physical assets (such as iPads, sports equipment, or lighting for stage productions), services or facilities (such as sports coaching or music or drama tuition), or simply for the provision of experiences (such as theatre visits). These examples are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive as to the funding that BlueSpark may provide to support projects. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis at approximately 8-week intervals. Useful Links: Grant Policy Link: http://bluesparkfoundation.org.uk/ 
• Funding to Support Education in Disadvantaged Areas – Grants are available to support schools and registered charities that wish to undertake educational projects with children and young people under the age of 25 in marginalised communities within the UK and internationally. The British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) normally makes grants totalling about £900,000 in any one year. For UK projects, the focus is on improving the educational outcomes and life chances of care experienced young people. Amount of funding available: grants for UK projects range between £30,000 and £90,000. BFSS will fund between 25% to 100% of the total project costs but will give preference to projects with some degree of matched funding. There is a two-stage application process. Stage 1 applications can be submitted at any time. Applications shortlisted at this stage will be invited to submit a Stage 2 proposal. Stage 2 shortlisted proposals will be reviewed by the Grants Committee which meets every two months. Useful Links: UK Guidance Link: https://bfss.org.uk/home/grants/
• Equipment Grants for Disabled and Disadvantaged Young People – Schools and not-for-profit organisations can apply for funding through the Wooden Spoon Society’s Capital Grants programme. Wooden Spoon is a British and Irish Rugby charity that supports projects that help mentally and physically disadvantaged children under the cognitive age of 25. The funding available is for capital items only and will not support revenue costs such as staffing and other ongoing costs. There is no maximum grant limit, but projects under £5,000 are unlikely to be considered. Wooden Spoon’s contribution may be up to 100% of the cost, though beneficiary organisations will be encouraged, where practicable, to raise a proportion themselves. Click here to find out more.

Digital Divide

• The UFI Voctech Trust has announced that it will launch a new funding round for projects that develop technology to help people most impacted by the digital divide acquire the skills they need for work. Successful applicants will each receive between £200,000 and £250,000 to refine and deploy their solutions. Click here to find out more.

Education and learning

• Funding for Special Schools and Colleges – Special needs schools and colleges can apply for grants between £20,000 and £75,000 for new buildings, refurbishment projects, or equipment. The funding is available through the Wolfson Foundation’s Funding for Special Schools and Colleges grants programme. The funding is available for projects focused on helping pupils at secondary level develop skills that will help them gain employment or live independently after leaving school or college. Click here to find out more.

Families

• Kelly Family Charitable Trust – Registered charities whose activities support and encourage the family to work as a cohesive unit in tackling problems that face one or more of its members can apply for grants of up to £5,000 (but trustees will consider requests for higher amounts) through the Kelly Family Charitable Trust. The Trust will consider both capital and revenue grants. The Trust is happy to support requests for core funding as well as project-based grants, and actively encourages applications from relatively new organisations to help them become established. Click here to find out more.

Fitness and getting active

• The Big Bike Revival Programme will support organisations across England to deliver a summer programme of activity that will encourage people who do not currently cycle regularly (once every two weeks or less) to consider either starting or returning to cycling. Local volunteer led-groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations can apply for grants of up to £3,500 to deliver cycling events to get people back on their bikes this summer. Click here to find out more.

Food waste and provision

• Funding for Innovative Ideas to Tackle Food Waste (UK) – Grants of up to £60,000 are available for initiatives that reduce food waste. https://www.eatitupfund.org.uk/ FAQs EOI Form The deadline for EOI is 5pm on the 14th June 2024. The Eat it Up fund, will support six innovative projects that tackle various aspects of food waste, such as: addressing pre-farmgate waste, preventing food from being wasted at the manufacturing and processing stage, minimising food waste from retailers, finding creative ways to use surplus food in communities or at home. The fund can support ideas that are ready to test or concepts that have been tested and are ready to progress further. Applications are welcomed from UK-registered organisations, including charities, social enterprises, community interest companies, educational institutions (schools, universities, colleges), local authorities, micro/small businesses with a social purpose.

Growing and environmental grants

• The Veolia Environmental Trust, which provides grants for community and environmental projects, has announced the opening of its next funding round. Community Grant Scheme and Nature Conservation Grants Schemes.  They provide funding ranging from £10,000 to £75,000, aimed at creating or improving buildings or outdoor spaces for the benefit of the community. The maximum project size eligible for funding is £350,000. Click here to find out more.
• The International Tree Foundation (ITF) is offering the UK Community Tree Planting Programme Grant for 2024-2025. This grant supports community-based projects in the UK that aim to enhance biodiversity, increase tree cover, and engage communities in environmental conservation. Community hedges and woodland and Community orchards. Click here to find out more.

Health and wellbeing

• Small and local charities in England and Wales led by and working with d/deaf and disabled people experiencing poverty can apply for a three-year unrestricted grant of up to £75,000.  The funding is available through the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales. To be eligible, applicants must be led by the communities they serve, provide advice and/or advocacy on social security, deliver services that meet the individual needs of the Disabled people they support, and have an annual income of between £25,000 and £500,000. Click here to find out more.

Marginalised groups and discrimination

• Funding of Up to £40,000 Available to Provide Advice Services for Marginalised Communities – Grassroots community organisations with annual incomes below £500,000 can apply for grants ranging from £20,000 to £40,000 through the People’s Health Trust’s recently launched Advice for Health Fund. This fund was established to address the pressing advice needs of marginalised communities facing significant financial and social disadvantages and discrimination, aiming to enhance both mental and physical health outcomes. Click here to find out more.
• The Hilden Charitable Fund has reopened its UK funding programme and is now accepting applications. The fund is offering grants ranging from £5,000 to £7,000 and focuses on two key areas: Asylum Seekers and Refugees and Penal Affairs. Click here to find out more.
• The Seven Friends Foundation has reopened for applications. It is offering small grants of between £300 and £3,000 to charities and charitable projects in deprived areas of the UK that are unpopular or do not receive widespread public attention. The foundation has a particular interest in the issue of homelessness and groups of increased risk of homelessness. The programme will primarily support small organisations (annual income up to £300,000), with most grants being under £1,000. Click here to find out more.

 Music and arts

• Funding for Community Radio Stations Ofcom, the UK’s telecommunications regulator has announced that the Community Radio Fund has re-opened for applications until 5pm on the 14th of June 2024. Click here to find out more.

 Veterans and Serving Personnel support

• The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, a grant-giving charity supporting projects that help improve the lives of Armed Forces families, has announced that it is offering grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 to support early years education for children from Armed Forces families.  The funding is being made available through the Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years Programme. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:50804ee6-b03b-48e2-bc78-1aef60c45d8f

Vulnerable and disadvantaged people

• The Leathersellers Company is currently seeking applications from small Charities and Charitable Incorporated Organisations that are providing vital services for vulnerable people in deprived communities across the UK. The Small Grants Programme will award grants of up to £5,000 to organisations with an annual income of less than £200,000. Partnerships are encouraged. The number of applications will be capped and accepted on a first-come, first-served basis e.g. the first 45 applications after each round opens will be able to be submitted. The Committee will meet regularly to ensure charities receive a decision within a month of submitting their application. There are 10 application windows throughout the year and each window will close when 45 applications have been received. https://leathersellers.co.uk/small-grants-programme/
• The Hedley Foundation is inviting applications from small- to medium-sized registered charities that help to improve the quality of life of people in the UK, particularly the disadvantaged and vulnerable. The Foundation typically makes grants of up to £5,000 each year for initiatives that benefit the lives of young people, disabled people, elderly people, the terminally ill and otherwise disadvantaged people, and their carers. Click here to find out more.

Women’s support

• The National Lottery Community Fund has provided £2.2 million in funding for round two of the Women’s Urgent Support Fund. The fund aims to tackle the effect of the cost-of-living crisis on women. Administered by the Smallwood Trust, the Fund will award three-year grants of between £15,000 and £60,000 to enable around 35 women’s-led community organisations to respond to the increase in demand for urgent and basic needs from women in England who are most at risk of poverty due to the crisis. Click here to find out more.