Funding News

This page will be updated regularly so please check in when you can. See Latest News section.

Links is here to help you.  Should you need help finding funding or completing an application please fill in a funding questionnaire! 

Upcoming Deadlines

Groundwork - One Stop Community Partnership Programme

Deadline: 26th April 2024

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

The programme provides partnership as well as financial assistance. Alongside an initial grant, a long-term tailored programme of support is created for successful applicants by the One Stop Community Team and One Stop Store Team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store Team at their local shop to deliver this programme.

The programme is designed to create a partnership of support to community groups, 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

Grants of up to £1,000 are available.

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Thomas Wall Trust

Deadline: 29th April 2024

Grants of up to £5,000 are available for UK registered charities for specific projects that improve communication skills for disadvantaged adults and supports NEET people into employment.

The Trust views communication skills as critical capabilities for people who want to improve their employment prospects, self-confidence, resilience, and life chances.

The funding is for registered UK registered charities with an annual turnover of between £25,000 and £500,000 that are working to develop communication skills for people from disadvantaged groups who want to improve their employment prospects. Beneficiaries must gain at least one accredited vocational qualification during delivery.

As an inclusive charity, the Trust welcomes proposals which target people experiencing multiple deprivation or other groups demonstrably facing major hurdles to employment, especially women, people with physical, mental, or learning disabilities, and refugees.

Priority will be given to match funded projects and self-sustainable projects, with a view to becoming less reliant on grants in the future. There is a two-stage application process.

Tesco Stronger Starts - Footie for All Fund

Deadline: 30th April 2024

Tesco and the newspaper, The Sun, have joined together for a second year to provide a total of £150,000 to encourage more children and young people to take up football or improve access to the game.

The grants are part of The Sun’s Footie for All campaign to highlight how financial struggles are forcing young people to give up football.

The funding is designed to provide support to grassroots football organisations working with children under the age of 18 to enable them to continue to deliver activities that allow local young people to take part.

Constituted not-for-profit grassroots football clubs from across the UK can apply for grants of up to £1,000 which will support 100% of project costs.

The funding can be used to assist clubs in improving facilities, purchasing equipment and new kits, and meeting any other needs that can enhance the experience of children and young people, enabling them to access and participate in football within the local community.

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7Stars Foundation

Deadline: 30th April 2024

7Stars Foundation is offering grants of up to £2,500 for registered charities with an annual turnover of less than £1.5 million across the UK to deliver projects and activities that support young people aged 16 years and under across the priority themes of abuse, addiction, child carers, and homelessness.

Project grants of up to £2,500 to cover the costs of projects that:

• Enable young people to have the best start in life and aim high.
• Have a direct impact and respond to a need in an immediate manner.
• Are hosted in geographical areas of deprivation and socioeconomic disadvantage.
• Respond to one or more of the funding priorities of the 7stars Foundation.
• Address a lack of provision (due to a lack of funding from alternative sources).

Funding is also offered across the following steams:

Provide immediate support, not just in the short-term but with long-term benefits too.

Shine Bright grants of up to £1,500 for registered charities to purchase educational, well-being, or recreational items for young people, aged 16 years old or under.

Social Impact funding for three charities across the year for projects that align with various awareness days (such as Race Equality Week, PRIDE month, World Homeless Day or Black History Month).

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Baring Foundation

Deadline: 30th April 2024

Civil society organisations in the UK can apply now for grants of up to £150,000 over three years to use legal action collaboratively to achieve positive social change. It is expected that between 7 and 10 grants will be awarded.

The unrestricted grants can support hub activities which use legal action in all its forms, whether that is to empower individuals and groups, persuade public and private bodies, challenge government, or a mix of all three. The funding can be used for any costs related to the hub work, such as covering lawyers’ fees, towards the salaries of admin staff supporting hub work, or towards management costs to oversee the work.

Applications will be accepted from UK civil society organisations which are a legally registered not-for-profit entity in the UK, preferably a charity, with an annual income of less than £750,000 and whose activities will be delivered in the UK.

There is particular interest in civil society organisations that:

• Have a focus on housing, education and/or social care.
• Are working in Wales or the English regions outside of Greater London
• Focus on less used areas of law, for example labour law or under-utilised areas of equality laws such as race equality provisions.

There is a two-stage application process. Organisations that would like to speak to a member of the Baring Foundation staff before submitting their expression of interest should email the Baring Foundation by midday on 16 April 2024 to arrange a time.

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Latest News

Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Migration Fund

The Fund has reopened after a pause and is now focused on supporting not-for-profit organisations in the UK who are working towards the Foundation’s vision of a world in which everyone is free to move and no is forced to move.

Grants of up to £60,000 per year for three to four years (a total of £240,000) or grants up to £50,000 per year for five years (a total of £250,000) are available to support core costs and specific programme costs.

Applications will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations of any size working anywhere in the UK who are working towards:

• Embedding anti-racist practice across their organisation and work.
• Adopting an organisational culture that centres care and wellbeing.
• Shifting power to migrants and diaspora communities so their interests, perspectives and contributions are centred across the organisation’s work.
• Building solidarity and collaboration across communities, while working towards transformational change that benefits us all.
• Unlearning and challenging the harm, inequity, and oppression within their organisational structures and work.
• Learning, reflecting and being responsive to change.

Newly established and unincorporated groups who meet the Fund’s criteria are welcome to apply.

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Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust

Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust makes around 15 to 20 awards each year and intends to award around £3 million annually to organisations undertaking charitable activities in the UK for projects focused on financial wellbeing. This includes voluntary organisations, think tanks, campaigning groups, research bodies and universities. 

Funding is intended for strategic work that has the potential to improve financial wellbeing for those on low to middle incomes and on a national scale, including:

• Policy work.
• Campaigning.
• Research.

New for 2024, the Trust has launched a Climate Change and Household Finances in the UK programme. The programme aims to support projects focused on the household finances of people on low-to-middle incomes in the UK during the transition to Net Zero and adjustment to climate change. The Trust's general funding criteria apply to the programme, and projects must focus on Net Zero and financial wellbeing within one of the main funding programme themes: income, assets and spending.

There is no minimum or maximum size of grant. Grants typically range between £10,000 and £200,000, with most being between £50,000 and £120,000 in total.

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Benefact Trust - Building Improvement Grants

Benefact Trust is offering grants to support capital works to protect and enhance Christian church and charity buildings, ensuring their continued use and viability, and the safeguarding of their heritage.

The Building Improvement Grants Fund will support direct capital costs relating to the following types of work:

• Essential, one-off repairs or other capital works to ensure the continued use or viability of a building.
• Minor capital works or equipment purchases to meet operational or accessibility requirements.
• Conservation or restoration of historic features that contribute to the preservation and appreciation of a building's heritage.
• Other aesthetic enhancements.
• Energy efficiency/renewable energy measures.

The average decision time for smaller grants (up to £25,000) is two months. Larger grants (over £25,000) are considered at grants committee and board meetings and can take between four and six months.

The programme is open to applications from churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies and Christian charities across the UK.

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Foundation Derbyshire

Grants are available to local voluntary and community groups supporting the most vulnerable in Derby and Derbyshire communities. Applications are accepted from community groups, registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) and community interest companies (CICs). Equipment (capital) and general running costs such as rent and transport (revenue) are eligible. Most funds are generally open all year round with no closing dates. You can apply for up to £2,500.

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Derbyshire Voluntary Action Small Grants

Derbyshire Voluntary Action administers this small grant fund on behalf of the NHS to support the running costs of voluntary and community groups. When necessary, priority is given to smaller groups to support sustainability.

This small grant scheme is to help groups with their running costs, e.g., room hire, postage, advertising, insurance, training, volunteer expenses, insurance, or transport costs of enabling people to get to meetings.  They can also give grants to help groups purchase a much-needed piece of equipment.

Applications for funding must benefit the health & wellbeing of residents in Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover.

Groups may apply at any point of the year, subject to funding still being available. Applications may be made once every twelve months. Grants up to £500 will be considered.

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The National Lottery Community Fund | Awards for All

Grants are available for charities, voluntary groups, schools and local authorities in England to carry out projects that will improve their local community. The funding is intended for projects that support communities to thrive by:

• Bringing people together to build strong relationships in and across communities.
• Improving the places and spaces that matter to communities.
• Helping more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.
• Supporting people, communities and organisations that are facing increased demands and challenges as a direct result of the cost-of-living crisis. Grants of between £300 and £20,000 are available for up to two years. 

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Paul Hamlyn Foundation - Arts Fund

The Foundation is providing grants of between £90,000 and £300,000 to support the core costs of not-for-profit cultural organisations working at the intersection of art and social change within the UK so they can continue the work they are already doing and for programmes which are central to their mission.

The support is for not-for-profit cultural organisations who:

• Use their creative practice to help us engage with the complexity of the world around us.
• Centre the lived experience of those affected by injustice in their programmes, leadership and governance.
• Are exploring how values of care, equity and justice can be embedded in their own organisational culture.
• Have a clear sense of their own role in supporting change as part of a wider ecosystem.
• Are generous with their learning and working with other organisations towards mutual aims.
• Use their creative practice to challenge traditional cultural hierarchies of genre and art form.

The Arts Fund supports the long-term development and transformation of these organisations as a route towards social justice and sustainability.

This fund is focused on supporting organisations to become more sustainable and to deepen the impact of the work. This can include support for specific posts, skills development, underpinning of the strategy or business model and for project delivery which is central to their organisation’s mission and vision.

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Greene King’s Proud to Pitch In

Proud To Pitch In is an initiative from Greene King IPA, paying cash grants to grassroots and community sports clubs across the United Kingdom, project beneficiaries must be aged 18 or over. Grants of up to £4,000 are available.

The aim of this fund is to support sports focussed projects that positively impact their club and/or the local community, and would tangibly benefit from funding. The fund is particularly focussed on sports projects that have a long term impact. 

Examples of projects that have previously received funding include:

• Renovations of a club's facilities making them more inclusive and accessible
• Coaching qualifications and referee courses
• New equipment

The fund is open to applications all year and grants will be distributed regularly.

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Community Green Spaces Fund

The UK Government is launching a new fund £7 million fund to support rural communities across England to create, restore and enhance their green spaces. The Community Green Spaces Fund will provide grants of up to £75,000 to help communities create orchards, kitchen gardens, and wildflower areas around village halls and other green spaces. The funding will also support the development of natural play areas for children and improve accessibility with new paths, seating, and disabled parking spaces. The fund is expected to open to applications in early summer. In addition, the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund is being extended to provide an additional £5 million of funding to support projects such as village hall extensions and Wi-Fi installation. 

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Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Future

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) has launched its new £20 million ‘Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Values’ as part of its wider Climate Action programme.

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.

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Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust

The Trust supports registered UK charities that work with communities in the UK.

The Trust operates a three-year rotation system, with different fields of interests being funded each year. In 2024, round two offers grants of £5,000 for projects that are focused on disability, specifically employment and training for people living with disabilities to ensure better access.

Applications will be accepted during the month of April from UK registered charities or organisations that are exempt from registration in the UK. Charities must have a minimum operating income and minimum operating expenditure of £1 million to apply. There is no maximum income or expenditure.

Applications will not be accepted from CICs or non-profit organisations. The funding cannot be used for capital projects, minibuses or other vehicles.

There are normally four application rounds per year with applications accepted for one month only, usually in February, April, July and September.

The theme for rounds three and four is Food Poverty with a focus on providing nutritious meals, food education, cooking skills, and eliminating food waste.

Charities can only apply for one round per calendar year. 

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Community Ownership Fund

The Government has announced that ahead of the launch of the fourth and final round of the £150 million Community Ownership Fund (COF), it has published a new Expression of Interest (EOI) form.

According to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: 

• The new EOI has been simplified to give applicants a result within minutes, meaning that they will be able to see whether their project could be suitable for COF much quicker than before.
• To enable the move to the new system, EOIs submitted prior to February 2024 will no longer be valid.
• Organisations that wish to submit a full application to COF in a future application window, will need to complete a new EOI.
• Only applicants who submitted an EOI in the new system will be informed when a bidding window is about to open and will receive the link needed to apply to COF.

The Community Ownership Fund helps community groups buy or renovate assets that would otherwise be lost to the community. 

Voluntary and community organisations from across the UK can apply as long as they are an incorporated organisation set up to deliver charitable purpose, social purpose or public benefit and have a viable plan for taking ownership of a community asset at risk and running it sustainably for community benefit. 

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Village Halls Small Grants Fund

Defra funded grant scheme reopens for those managing rural community buildings. This is managed by ACRE who have also announced a new Chief Executive

This round has a lower award threshold of £2,000 to support smaller projects and make it accessible to more groups.

The grant fund has re-opened to new applicants who wish to undertake smaller projects such as disability access, toilet upgrades and new kitchens. Grant awards of between £2,000 to £5,000, and up to 20 per cent of eligible project costs, are on offer. Project expenditure must take place before 31 March 2025.

Deadline: The fund is expected to stay open until December 2024, however it may be withdrawn before this.

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