The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) £30 million ‘Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Values’ was due to close at the end of May 2025. NLCF has announced that it will now accept applications until ‘late 2025’ and will ‘share the final deadline ‘soon’.

The funding is for formal partnership working across sectors, led by community and voluntary organisations or public sector organisations for projects that reach more people by either: 

• Linking climate action to the everyday lives and interests of local communities and inspiring them to take action.
• Influencing communities at a regional or national level, for example by linking up groups across locations, or a campaign that inspires change across one country, or the whole UK.

The funding is intended to reach people who are new to climate action by funding other types of organisations and by using other using people's everyday activities and interests as a starting point for climate action.

For example, a project might:

• Involve people who have not had a say. This could be because they are new to climate action, or because they come from communities that experience poverty, disadvantage and discrimination.
• Introduce a climate perspective to a group who came together around another interest or activity.
• Test the best ways to engage different audiences in climate action.
• Spread an exciting local approach to climate action by sharing it nationally.

There is particular interest in projects that involve people, places and communities experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage.

A total of up to 25 projects is expected to be funded. The minimum grant is £500,000. It is expected that most grants will be between £1 million and £1.5 million over three to five years.

The One Stop Community Partnership programme is administered by Groundwork working in partnership with One Stop Stores Ltd.

The programme provides partnership as well as financial assistance. Alongside a grant of up to £1,000, there is also an opportunity to create a long-term tailored programme of support for successful applicants with their local One Stop Store Team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store Team at their local shop to deliver support to the community.

The programme is designed to support community groups or organisations, operating within two miles of a One Stop store, who are working to:

• Tackle food poverty.
• Support the vulnerable.
• Support the elderly.
• Support low income families.
• Running youth sports teams.
• Reducing/recycling waste
• Improving the environment

The following organisations may apply:

• Voluntary and community organisations.
• Registered charities.
• Health bodies.
• Parish/Town councils.
• Social enterprises.
• Community Interest Companies (running for a minimum of two years and limited by guarantee but not those limited by shares).
• Community councils.
• Local authorities.
• Housing organisations.

Applications from organisations such as women's refuges, food banks, hospices, homeless charities, charities supporting the elderly or children are typically welcome. However, this list is not exhaustive and other organisational types will be funded. 

Before starting an application, groups should first use the Store Locator available on the Groundwork website to check the distance to the local One Stop store and whether funding is currently available there. Please note not all stores offer this programme. It is also not available in Northern Ireland.

Groups are encouraged to apply early as applications may close before the deadline.

The deadline for applications is 30 June for decisions in August 2025.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published its Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy and announced £440 million that would otherwise be sitting idle is going to be ‘unlocked’ to benefit communities across England.

The Dormant Assets scheme redirects money from long-unused financial accounts to social causes. To date, over £750 million worth of dormant assets has been allocated to good causes (youth, financial inclusion and social investment wholesalers) across England, and has been delivered by four independent, expert organisations: Better Society Capital, Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, Fair4All Finance and Youth Futures Foundation.

The current amount (£440 million) will be distributed as follows:

• £132.5 million for young people with funding going to services, facilities and opportunities to provide them with the skills and resources needed to succeed.
• £132.5 million for financial inclusion and education, equipping individuals with the tools and knowledge to build financial security.
• £87.5 million for social investment to strengthen the financial resilience of the voluntary sector. This programme of work will be delivered by Access - The Foundation for Social Investment.

• £12 million is to be used to catalyse social investment opportunities for Black and Ethnically Minoritised communities via the Pathway Fund.
• At least £12.5 million is to enable organisations that support improved youth outcomes to build resilience and expand their impact.

• £87.5 million for community wealth funds, which will empower local people to make decisions about their communities, creating stronger neighbourhoods. This funding will be delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund who are also contributing an additional £87.5 million of Lottery funding to the programme. Further details on this new initiative are expected to be shortly.

Any funding opportunities to which groups can apply directly will be reported when the information becomes available.

In the meantime, groups that would like to read the full Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy can find it on GOV.UK.

Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy