Funding
Below is information which covers both ‘Small Grants’ and ‘Large Grants’. Each grant is for a specific cause, click the links to find out more information and to find out which is most relevant to your organisation.
Alternatively you can also check the Tower Hamlets Council’s website for information about current funding opportunities.
Last updated: 13/09/2023
Get Grants Fundraising Training Courses
Get Grants offers a range of Fundraising Training Courses for fundraisers of all skill levels and organisations of all shapes and sizes. Click here to explore their different training courses, upcoming dates, and to book your place!
City Bridge Trust Grants Reopen
The City of London Corporation’s charity funder temporarily paused taking applications from May 2023 as it switched over to new grant management software, with the aim of making the application journey smoother for organisations applying for funding. That process is now complete, and the trust is once again accepting applications through its new online portal.
The National Lottery Community Fund’s Million Hours Funding opportunity
This funding is for organisations to give extra support to young people in areas where they may be at risk of anti-social behaviour. The National Lottery Community Fund want to fund extra hours of youth work for additional activities that give these young people more places to go and positive things to do. This programme is funded by the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and The National Lottery Community Fund. They can fund work with young people aged: 11 to 18 / up to 25 if they have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Funding size £30,000 to £100,000
Deadline: Friday 24 November @ 12 noon
Ashden and Camden Think & Do launch new funding
Think & Do began supporting local Camden residents in 2021 by establishing ‘Sharing Spaces’ – turning under-used spaces on local estates into community hubs for climate action. Local residents were inspired to participate in refuse, reuse and recycling initiatives. Activities included clothes swaps and sharing surplus food meals, fix it sessions, energy saving advise, craftivism, and much more.
The collaboration with Ashden will support more Sharing Spaces to be established around London. Organisations applying for the grant need to be a registered charity, voluntary group, not-for-profit organisation with the support of a local authority.
Participating groups will receive a grant of £5,760, with additional small amounts of funding available to support ongoing projects.
Deadline: Thursday 30 November
Grants for the Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise sector 2023/24
Grant available: Between £5,000 to £50,000 for 12 months
In recent years, East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) has worked to nurture and grow its partnerships work with Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations across its footprint. ELFT believe that in doing so, they will better connect with our local communities, reduce inequalities of access, experience and outcomes, and collectively enable improved quality of life for people living in local communities.
Deadline: Monday 4 December
Grants for Projects Supporting Children & Young People’s Mental Health in North Central East London!
If you’re part of a Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) in Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Camden, Waltham Forest, Havering, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Tower Hamlets, Newham, City, or Hackney, here’s an opportunity for you. The North Central East London (NCEL) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Provider Collaborative is offering grants:
- Inequalities Fund: Projects involving children and young people that address mental health disparities.
- Early Intervention & Community Support Fund: Initiatives aiming to reduce hospital admissions for children and young people.
From a total fund of £1.5M, grants will range from £5,000 to £50,000. They are especially interested in projects that benefit children and young people with learning disabilities and autism.
Projects should be ready to commence in January 2024 and are expected to run for 12 months.
Deadline: Monday 4 December
Funding for Disability justice
Trust for London want to fund organisations fighting for the rights of Disabled people. This includes work that strengthens the ability of DDPOs to engage in campaigning, policy, advocacy and to push for change. Or projects that enable DDPOs to do behind the scenes work so that they can be better run. They are also keen to fund work that contributes to growing, broadening and diversifying the Disability movement. Trust for London are expecting to give away around £1.2 million in total. There are two strands of funding available:
- development grants of up to £20,000, for new and small organisations
- larger grants for up to £180,000 over a period of 2-3 years
Deadline: 4 March 2024 @5pm
Sport England Small Grants Programme
Sport England Grants Programme seeks to develop opportunities for communities to get more people physically active and we’ll support new projects through providing National Lottery funding of between £300 and £15,000.
Sport England want to support projects that bring communities together and provide sport and physical activities for people who may be less physically active.
They also particularly want to support projects focusing on environmental sustainability.
Deadline: Sunday 31 March 2024
National Databank
The National Databank provides free mobile data, texts and calls to people in need via Good Things Foundation’s network of local community partners. Think of it like a ‘food bank’ but for internet connectivity data. Community organisations can apply to access the databank, enabling them to provide data to people in their communities who need it.
Deadline: Ongoing
One Housing Community Fund
Do you run a community group or any small organisation that supports One Housing or Riverside residents? One Housing have made £250,000 available in 2022/23 through their new Community Fund to help fund projects that promote opportunities and wellbeing and tackle poverty in our communities. If you’ve got an idea that could make a difference, they want to hear from you.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Deutche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs
The 30th year of the Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs (DBACE) gets under way with applications open from Tuesday 31 January. This could be your chance to secure: Up to £20,000 investment to start or grow your enterprise;
Membership to MeWe360’s Incubator programme, including 12-months of business support with MeWe360 and Deutsche Bank’s high calibre industry & business mentors. DBACE offers a range of fantastic resources to support you with your application.
Deadline: Ongoing
National Citizenship Service (NCS) Grants
From 2023, NCS will be awarding two different types of grants to local organisations delivering community-based experiences at a grassroots level, for the first time. The two new grant programmes are Open to All Grants, and Targeted Grants. There are a number of opportunities to find out more about the funds via grant workshops. Check website for details.
Deadline ongoing
Good Things Foundation
Good Things Foundation’s London Digital Inclusion Service, Get Online London, is made up of grassroots organisations in London that are all working to deliver digital inclusion support in their local communities.
If you’re a community organisation based in London that is or wants to support your community to get online and access the benefits of digital – then joining the service will help you do exactly that. It is free to join and offers a range of free benefits, including access refurbished devices such as laptops, computers and SmartPhones, access to the National Databank and training.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Weavers’ Company- Benevolent Fund
The Weavers’ Company is offering grants of up to £15,000 per annum to small UK registered charities working with young offenders, prisoners and ex-prisoners, young, disadvantaged people, especially those at risk of criminal involvement. Grants Committee meets in February, June and October of each year.
BlueSpark Foundation- Educational development
BlueSpark Foundation aims to support the education and the development of children and young people by providing grants for educational, cultural sporting and other projects. BlueSpark aim to support projects by many different organisations that enhance self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people.
The deadline is on a rolling basis at approximately 8 week intervals
BBC Children in Need – Emergency Essentials Programme
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, BBC Children in Need are expanding their Emergency Essentials programme to include a broader range of basic essentials to support children and young people living with severe poverty across the UK. The fund supports families with children who are living with financial, health and social difficulties, by providing items that meet children’s most basic needs such as kitchen appliances, furniture, baby equipment, beds, clothing, and other items and services that are critical to children’s wellbeing. Applications must come through a registered referral agency that is supporting the family or young person. The programme is delivered by Family Fund Business Services.
Deadline: Ongoing
Family Fund
The Family Fund is the UK’s largest charity providing grants for families raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people. Grants are provided for a wide range of items, such as washing machines, sensory toys, family breaks, bedding, tablets, furniture, outdoor play equipment, clothing and computers.
Deadline: Ongoing
Power to Change – Community Business Crowdmatch
Power to Change has teamed up with Crowdfunder to launch Community Business Crowdmatch to support new or existing community businesses responding to the Covid-19 crisis. The scheme will help community businesses, providing services or activities that help local people disproportionately affected due to the crisis, by match-funding each £1 raised, to a maximum of £10,000. Power to Change is keen to support new and existing projects in deprived areas and work with Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities across England. Funding could be used to support new ideas to help local neighbourhoods, help meet increased demand, save a community space or bridge a funding gap.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Foyle Foundation – Small Grants Scheme
Support for smaller, grass roots and local charities, with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations which are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community, either directly or through online support, can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 for core costs or essential equipment, to enable ongoing service provision, homeworking, or delivery of online digital services to charities that can show financial sustainability.
Deadline: Ongoing
Allen Lane Foundation- Asylum Seekers and Refugees Grant
The Allen Lane Foundation is interested in funding work that promotes the inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees, their integration and settling into life in the UK. The fund work with refugees, asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers, including those held in detention. Grants between £5,000 and £15,000 are available. The Allen Lane Foundation funds organisations that work with asylum seekers and refugees regardless of where they originate from, it does not fund refugee community organisations (that work with single nationalities).
Deadline: Ongoing
AB Charitable Trust (ABCT)- Migrants and Refugees
AB Charitable Trust is offering core and project funding to organisations focussing on: Delivering services directly targeting migrant communities and people who are refugees or seeking asylum, Influence policy and/or counter negative narrative, Strengthen the voluntary sector and support organisations delivering work in this area.
Deadline: Ongoing
Merchant Taylor Company – Funding for organisations tackling disadvantage and supporting education
Two streams within the Company’s Disadvantage strategy, which includes a Small Grants Scheme, are for community-based charities operating exclusively in the London boroughs of Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. Charities applying for the above grants need to work with people who are in need on account of age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or through some other form of disadvantage to be eligible.
Deadline: Ongoing
City Bridge Trust – Small Grants for Green Projects
Funding available for up to £10,000 per year, for a maximum of five years, for greening and growing projects which bring communities together and projects which enable disabled people and/or disadvantaged, older people to actively participate in wellbeing opportunities.
ChangeX- UK Community Fund Play
ChangeX has launched the £145,000 UK Community Play Fund, supported by the LEGO Foundation as part of its Build a World of Play campaign. The fund aims to enable communities across the UK to start proven learning through play projects and empower community groups, parents, and caregivers to create more playful experiences for children. Funding ranges from £500 to £4,700 per new project.
Deadline: Ongoing
Nationwide- Community Grants
Nationwide is offering grants of up to £50,000 to charity organisations with solutions to the housing crisis. Proposed projects should be one of Nationwide’s following three aims; 1, Helping people into a home, 2, Preventing people from losing their home, 3. Supporting people to thrive at home.
Deadline for applications is when a set number of applications have been received.
National Lottery Community Fund- Climate Action Fund
The National Lottery Community, Climate Action Fund aims to help communities across the UK to address climate change. The Community fund is looking for projects that focus on the link between nature and climate. The fund aims to bring projects and other important social and economic benefits, like the creation of strong, resilient, and healthy communities or the development of “green” skills and jobs. Grants between £300,000 and £500,000 is available, grants of £50,000 to £150,000 over 12 to 18 months is also available to Constituted group or club, Voluntary or community organisation, registered charity, CIO, SCIO, CIC and more.
Deadline: Ongoing
Little Lives UK – Children’s Community Support Programme
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Little Lives UK are making grants of up to £1,500 available to support London based organisations working with underprivileged children who are in need of support during the crisis. Charitable children’s groups and organisations, such as play groups or sports classes, can apply for funding from the Children’s Community Support Programme to provide a range of initiatives which allow children to access free services and support. Funding could also be used for the purchase of equipment such as sports equipment or to help groups remain sustainable during the crisis. Little Lives UK will also promote successful applicants on their social media and website. Applications from start-up projects are also encouraged.
Deadline is the 1st of each month
The Portal Trust (previously the Sir John Cass Foundation)
The aim of the Trust is to enable young people, particularly those from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds, to experience life-enhancing educational opportunities. There is no minimum or maximum grant amount that can be applied for. Sometimes projects are funded in their entirety while others require match funding. Areas funded include widening access and participation in further and higher education, truancy, and prisoner education.
Applications can be made at any time and will be considered three times a year (usually in March, June, and October)
The 7Stars Foundation – Project Funding
The 7Stars Foundation is offering project grants of up to £2,500 to organisations with a turnover of under £1.5 million supporting young people ages 16 years and under. The 7Stars project grants aim to fund projects that have a direct impact and respond to (one/multiple):
- Abuse
- Addiction,
- Homelessness,
- Child Carers.
Shine Bright Funding
The Shine Bright grants are to provide relief, respite and happiness at a time of anxiety and worry. The grants are awarded to regional charity partners to purchase educational and art materials, such as toys, books and emotional support for young people aged 16 and under who have been challenged by abuse, addiction, homelessness, or those who are child carers. The fund is only for charitable organisations with a turnover below £1.5million.
ASDA Empowering Local Communities Grant
Funding stream designed to support a broad range of activities helping to transform communities and improve lives. Support and funding what is needed and important to your community. Priorities are:
- Building Resilient Communities – supporting community groups with the equipment, essentials and facilities to enable activity to take place. This might be enhancing what is already available, providing core items or enabling an activity to continue.
- Active Lives – supporting participation in group physical activities. Whether low or high impact, regardless of age or ability, encouraging people to lead more active lifestyles and for everyone to feel able to participate.
- Seasonal Celebrations & Festivals – enabling communities to celebrate what matters to them. Helping to bring people together to share experiences & encouraging everyone within the community to be together. E.g. Easter, Holi, Passover, Platinum Jubilee, community garden party etc.
- Leading Healthier Lives – supporting things like cooking and education classes, and enabling positive mental health.
Applications should be submitted to the local ASDA superstore, which has a Community Champion role.
Deadline: Ongoing
BlueSpark foundation
BlueSpark Foundation is a registered charity which supports the education and development of children and young people by providing grants for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects..
They support a wide range of projects initiated by many different organisations and individuals. We value academic, vocational, artistic and sporting endeavour in equal measure but we are particularly keen to support projects which will help enhance the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people. Deadline: They review applications on a rolling basis at approximately 8 week intervals.
The Arnold Clark Community Fund
Up to £1,000 is available for charities & community groups whose work falls into the following categories: food banks, toy banks, housing and accommodation, and poverty relief.
Deadline: Ongoing
Berkeley Foundation – Resilience Fund
Over the next four years, the Berkeley Foundation’s Resilience Fund will invest £900,000 in strengthening the youth voluntary sector. This will provide support for local and grassroots charities to invest in their ability to prepare for and adapt to challenges, building resilience for the future.
Deadline: Ongoing
Community Business Crowdmatch
Up to £10,000 of match funding is available to back community businesses such as community-owned shops, hubs, pubs, sports facilities, local landmarks and more. You will need a crowdfunding project to apply for funding.
Deadline: Ongoing
Connect Fund
The Connect Fund currently has four programme areas: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; Post Covid-19 Recovery; Peer Networks and Challenge Funds. The average grant size varies across the different funding strands.
Deadline: Ongoing
Westfield East Bank – Creative Futures Fund
This five-year programme aims to invest £10 million into the local communities of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. This project will provide new jobs, learning, training and educational programmes through the means of arts, culture, innovation, public realm and creative place making.
The programme aims to transform and catalyse the lives and careers of people in East London by putting funding, resources and support straight into local people’s hands. Capital Grant Scheme has a pot of £100,000. Proposals will be accepted from £3,000 upwards.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Percy Bilton Charity
Organisations assisting disadvantaged youth, people with disabilities and older people may apply for grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards capital expenditure, such as furniture and equipment. Social workers may apply on the behalf of individuals who have a disability or mental health problem, or who are over 65, for grants to purchase basic furniture, equipment, and clothing.
Deadline: Ongoing
Small capital grants are available for grassroots football organisations
The Small Grants programme is provided by the Football Foundation, which aims to transform lives and strengthen communities through the power of football. The Foundation provides funding for smaller capital projects to support grassroots football in England, improving the experience of playing football for everyone involved.
Transforming young lives through sport and education
The Hargreaves Foundation is a grant-making charitable foundation with funding available for projects that give under-18s, those living with a mental health condition, disability, or growing up in poverty, the opportunity to fulfil their potential, improving wellbeing, self-esteem and independence. Online application process and no deadlines.
The Get Out! to get pupils learning outdoors.
The Get Out! Grant is awarded every month to primary, secondary schools, charities or CICs or micro businesses to enable them to purchase equipment; specialist training; travel and resource with the focus on supporting pupils getting outside learning. Applications open on the 1st and close on the 20th of each month.
Funding for organisations tackling disadvantage and supports education
Merchant Taylor has two streams within their Disadvantage strategy which includes a Small Grants Scheme is for Community-based charities operating exclusively in the London boroughs of Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. Any charity needs to work with people who are in need on account of age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or through some other form of disadvantage.
Deadline: Ongoing
Pivot Project 2: open for applications
A £1000 grant and additional business support will be available for Micro and Small Tower Hamlets based businesses.
Barclays Community Football Fund
The Barclays Community Football Fund, in partnership with Sported, is now open offering £500 grants, free training and exclusive ticket offers to help make football more accessible. Deadline: None specified
Screwfix Foundation- Grants
The Screwfix Foundation is passionate about making a difference to communities across the UK. Screwfix Foundation aims to support projects that improve, repair and maintain homes and community facilities used by those in need throughout the UK. Screwfix Foundation is offering grants of up to the region of £5,000, it is reviewed on a quarterly basis – the review dates are in March, June, September and December. Registered charity or not for profit organisations can apply. The types of projects Screwfix supports include, To improve 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,
Deadline: Ongoing
Masonic Charitable Foundation – Funding to Support Vulnerable Older People
Local and national charities in England and Wales can apply for grants of between £500 – £15,000 for projects lasting up to three years that support vulnerable and disadvantaged people over 50. To be eligible the charity needs to have an annual income of below £500,000 per year.
Deadline: Ongoing
Cultural & Creative Grants for people of colour
Grants of £1,000 are available to support people of colour in the UK to develop and deliver a wide range of creative and cultural projects. The funding is made available by the Grand Plan, which awards ten grants every two months to support projects for which £1,000 would make a huge difference, ranging from poetry, paintings, fashion, zines, music, food, flowers, and photographs to workshops or events. It can cover the cost of equipment, courses, your time, materials, travel, whatever your project needs.
City Bridge Trust – Stepping Stones Fund
City Bridge Trust is in the process of reopening funding programmes which were temporarily closed due to Covid-19. The Stepping Stones Fund is a grant-making, social investment readiness facility for charitable organisations London, delivered in partnership with UBS. It aims to provide grants to pilot new ways of creating improved social outcomes.
Deadline: Ongoing
City Bridge Trust – Small Grants for Green Projects
There’s also Small Grants available of up to £10,000 per year, for a maximum of five years, for greening and growing projects which bring communities together and projects which enable disabled people and/or disadvantaged, older people to actively participate in wellbeing opportunities.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
The aim of this foundation is to help raise the quality of life in the UK, particularly for those who are young, disadvantaged, or elderly. Each year grants totalling about 2.5 million are made to a wide range of charities.
Deadline: Ongoing
Jack Petchey Foundation – Funding for Internship programmes for youth charities
Providing funding to Youth charities in London & Essex to hire young interns for a year.
The Foyle Foundation – Small Grants Scheme
support for smaller, grass roots and local charities, with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations which are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community, either directly or through online support, can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 for core costs or essential equipment, to enable ongoing service provision, homeworking, or delivery of online digital services to charities that can show financial sustainability.
Deadline: Ongoing
Support Adoption for Pets – Support Adoption for Pets Grant Programme
Pet rescue organisations can apply for funding to help support pet rescues throughout the short and medium-term impact of the coronavirus. Organisations can apply for funding of up to £10,000, or up to 30% of total annual expenditure, whichever is the lower amount. Funding must have a direct impact on animal welfare. Priority will be given to organisations whose medium-term survival is at risk.
Sport England – Return to Play Fund
Sport England has launched a new fund that will support groups, clubs and organisations that have been impacted by restrictions brought in to tackle Covid-19. The Return to Play Fund includes:
- a £15m Return to Play: Small Grant Fund which will provide grants of between £300 and £10,000 to help sport and activity groups, clubs and organisations respond to the immediate challenges of returning to play in a Covid-19-safe environment
- a £2.5m Return to Play: Active Together fund which is a crowdfunding initiative will help sports clubs and organisations set up their own campaigns to help sustain them through the crisis. Sports England is matching crowd funds of up to £10,000 raised by clubs and organisations hit by the coronavirus crisis. Programme is open to sports clubs and also to charity, community, voluntary or social enterprise organisations that deliver sports or physical activity in the community but are not solely or primarily sports organisations.
Deadline: Ongoing
#LetsPullTogether campaign
“Our Tower Hamlets” campaign
Along with pledges from your local community, there is an opportunity to get up to £10,000 from the council towards your crowdfunding campaign.
Sport England – Active Together Programme
Commitment of £1 million to combat the impact of Covid-19 on sports clubs and community activity groups, in the form of match funding through Crowdfunder. Sports England is matching crowd funds of up to £10,000 raised by clubs and organisations hit by the coronavirus crisis. Programme is open to sports clubs and also to charity, community, voluntary or social enterprise organisations that deliver sports or physical activity in the community but are not solely or primarily sports organisations.
Childhood Trust – Champions for Children Campaign
The Childhood Trust campaigns are run in partnership with The Big Give. Funds raised during Campaign Week are MATCHED from two different pots: pledge donors and Childhood Trust funds. The campaign offers unrestricted funding, as well as the opportunity to increase awareness and build up their donor base, to charities working with vulnerable children and young people across London.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Ideas & Pioneers Fund
Grants of up to £15,000 to support people with a vision of a better society to explore their ideas for change. Applicants can be individuals or groups of up to three people to charities, social enterprises or limited companies of up to five employees.
The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Funding for charities in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.
All Churches Trust – Hope Beyond Fund
Grants of up to £50,000 to support churches and Christian charities to meet changing needs within their communities, helping them and the communities they support to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the Coronavirus pandemic. In addition to funding capital projects, such as adaptation of buildings and the purchase of equipment, the programme will also fund project-related salaries and some other revenue costs (to the end of 2021), such as training of staff and/or volunteers.
BBC Children in Need – Emergency Essentials Programme
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, BBC Children in Need are expanding their Emergency Essentials programme to include a broader range of basic essentials to support children and young people living with severe poverty across the UK. The fund supports families with children who are living with financial, health and social difficulties, by providing items that meet children’s most basic needs such as kitchen appliances, furniture, baby equipment, beds, clothing, and other items and services that are critical to children’s wellbeing. Applications must come through a registered referral agency that is supporting the family or young person. The programme is delivered by Family Fund Business Services.
Comic Relief – Capacity Building Grant
Grants of up to £1,000 to support small community organisations to become stronger and more robust and improve their ability to deliver, both during and after the Covid-19 crisis.
Arts Council England – Culture Recovery Fund
The UK Government has announced an additional £400 million will be awarded to arts, culture and heritage organisations across England in the form of grants and loans from the Culture Recovery Fund. Funding, which was held back in previous rounds, will be available for Cultural organisations that were financially stable before Covid-19, but are now at imminent risk of collapse. £300 million in grants and £100 million in loans will be offered to support organisations’ transition back to their usual means of operating from April 2021. The Fund will be administered by the Arts Council England.
The Foyle Foundation – Small Grants Scheme
Support for smaller, grass roots and local charities, with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations which are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community, either directly or through online support, can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 for core costs or essential equipment, to enable ongoing service provision, homeworking, or delivery of online digital services to charities that can show financial sustainability.
Big Society Capital – Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund
A new fund for social enterprises and charities that are improving people’s lives across the UK who are experiencing disruption to their normal business model as a result of COVID-19. It has been established to make an existing government scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, more easily accessible to charities and social enterprises.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – Culture Recovery Fund
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has launched the third and final round of the Culture Recovery Fund to help the cultural, heritage and creative sectors move towards reopening at full capacity. Approximately £220 million in funding will be available via two funding streams: the Culture Recovery Fund: Continuity Support programme will help organisations that have already received funding from the Culture Recovery Fund; and the Culture Recovery Fund: Emergency Resource Support programme will provide support to organisations which haven’t received funding and are at imminent risk of failure. Funding will be distributed by Arm’s Length Bodies, including the Arts Council England. Guidance for each funding stream will be published shortly.
Little Lives UK – Children’s Community Support Programme
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Little Lives UK are making grants of up to £1,500 available to support London based organisations working with underprivileged children who are in need of support during the crisis. Charitable children’s groups and organisations, such as play groups or sports classes, can apply for funding from the Children’s Community Support Programme to provide a range of initiatives which allow children to access free services and support. Funding could also be used for the purchase of equipment such as sports equipment or to help groups remain sustainable during the crisis. Little Lives UK will also promote successful applicants on their social media and website. Applications from start-up projects are also encouraged.
The Triangle Trust 1949 Fund – Development Grants
Triangle Trust’s Development Grant scheme enables organisations supporting young carers or the rehabilitation of offenders and ex-offenders to undertake a progressive development to improve future resilience. This might be a short piece of work requiring investment over a few months or a more significant programme of work requiring dedicated support for up to 3 years. Grants are available from £10,000 up to £80,000 for a duration of 6 months to 3 years.
The Clothworkers’ Foundation – Open Grant Programme
Grants to UK registered charities, CICs, and other registered UK not-for-profit organisations (including special schools). Grants are awarded towards capital projects defined as:
- Buildings: purchase, construction, renovation, or refurbishment.
- Fittings, Fixtures, and Equipment: this includes but is not limited to office equipment/furniture, sports/gym equipment, digital/audio visual equipment, garden equipment, specialist therapeutic (excluding medical) equipment. It does not include equipment for one-off use, or which will be given to service users for personal use on a permanent basis.
- Vehicles: This includes a minibus, car, caravan, people-carrier, or 4X4. We are unlikely to fund the total cost of a new vehicle and do not provide grants towards vehicle leasing.
Masonic Charitable Foundation – Funding to Support Vulnerable Older People
Local and national charities in England and Wales can apply for grants of between £500 – £15,000 for projects lasting up to three years that support vulnerable and disadvantaged people over 50. To be eligible the charity needs to have an annual income of below £500,000 per year.
The Wakeham Trust
The Wakeham Trust provides grants to help people rebuild their communities. They are particularly interested in neighbourhood projects, community arts projects, projects involving community service by young people, or projects set up by those who are socially excluded. They favour small projects – often, but not always, start-ups and they try to break the vicious circle whereby you have to be established to get funding from major charities, but you have to get funding to get established. Apply at TheWakehamTrust@icloud.com.
Wooden Spoon Charity
Projects must fall within Wooden Spoons Vision Statement: Our aim is to make a positive impact on the lives of children and young people through our commitment to quality charitable work.
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Small and local charities in England and Wales helping people overcome complex social issues can now apply for two-year unrestricted grants of £50,000 from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales. The funding will be open year-round, meaning charities can apply at a time that suits them and will not be restricted by deadlines. Successful charities will also get support from a regional manager who will work with them to access a wide range of organisational development support to help meet identified needs.
The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
The aim of this foundation is to help raise the quality of life in the UK, particularly for those who are young, disadvantaged, or elderly. Each year grants totalling about 2.5 million are made to a wide range of charities.
True Colours Trust – UK Small Grants
The UK Small Grants programme supports local organisations and projects that work to improve the lives of disabled children and young people, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Grants of up to £10,000 are available, although many grants are smaller than this.
Asda Foundation – Healthy Holiday Grant
These grants are designed to support groups that typically would be holding summer holiday activities to ensure children are provided with a hot meal. If social distancing hasn’t been relaxed, the Asda Foundation will provide grants for groups to deliver provisions to children at home. The maximum grant available is £500.
Peter Cruddas Foundation
The Foundation gives priority to programmes designed to help disadvantaged and disengaged young people in the 14-30 age range to pursue pathways to education, training, and employment, with the ultimate aim of helping them to become financially independent. Past grants have been in the range of £2,000 to £20,000.
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Applications are now open for projects that improve the natural world, secure a fairer future, and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK. Esmee’s new strategy will focus on the following three interdependent aims: Improving our natural world; Tackling injustice to deliver a fairer future; Nurturing creative, confident communities.
The Archer Trust
Supports organisations working in areas of high unemployment/deprivation and who make good use of volunteers. Funding of up to £4,000 is available.
The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts
The Sainsbury family. It exists to provide economies of scale in the management of the trusts’ activities. Each trust is an independent legal entity with its own separate and autonomous board of trustees, actively led by an individual member of the Sainsbury family. Each trust’s charitable giving follows the family member’s own interests, priorities, and ways of working. The trusts only fund registered charities or activities with clearly defined charitable purposes. They do not make grants directly to individuals.
Tesco – Bags of Help 2021
Community groups and schools can now apply for funding of up to £1,000 for projects in England, Wales and Scotland that benefit their local community. The funding has been made available by the Tesco Bags of Help programme and can cover a broad range of projects. It can be used to purchase sports kit, litter pickers, camping equipment; improvements to buildings; the development of outdoor spaces such as a play areas or woodland; running community events, or supporting seasonal activities. A public vote determines which groups will receive a grant. Following the vote, the project that received the most votes in its area will receive a grant of up to £1,000.
Marsh Christian Trust
The Trust focuses on providing funding which could help small organisations pay for various running costs, such as volunteer expenses, training days, equipment maintenance and other core outgoings. Areas include arts and heritage, education and training, environmental causes and animal welfare, healthcare, and social welfare. Grants of between £300 and £2,000 are available.
National Lottery Community Fund
Mainstream National Lottery Community Fund’s priorities for funding are projects and organisations supporting communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will be prioritised for organisations who are:
- supporting people who are at high risk of Covid-19
- supporting communities most likely to face increased demand and challenges as a direct result of COVID-19
- support communities with the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19.
National Lottery Community Fund – Reaching Communities
Large grants over £10,000 (grants are available for up to five years) are available to voluntary and community organisations in England for projects that make positive changes in their communities. The aim of the programme is to support communities to thrive by funding projects that:
- Build strong relationships in and across communities.
- Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities.
- Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.
National Lottery Community Fund – Partnerships
Grants of at least £10,000 are available to voluntary and community organisations in England which work together with a shared set of goals and values to help their community thrive. The aim of the programme is to encourage organisations to work in partnership to help their communities thrive by focusing on the bigger picture, rather than just what their organisation can do on its own. The funding can support different types of partnership, including:
- Cross-sector partnerships.
- Local place-based collaboration.
- Local and national organisations working together around a particular theme.
National Lottery Grants for Heritage
Grants of between £3,000 and £100,000 for organisations working with heritage to adapt and respond to the changing environment they are now operating in due to the coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. The funding is intended to help the UK’s heritage sector respond to the impacts of coronavirus/COVID-19 and to adapt and thrive again. This funding is designed to focus on organisational resilience or on projects that deliver inclusion in heritage.
National Lottery Awards for All
Grants of between £300 and £10,000 are available for charities, voluntary groups, schools, and local authorities in England to carry out projects that will improve their local community. The aim of the grants programme is to support communities to thrive by funding projects that:
- Build strong relationships in and across communities.
- Improve the places and spaces that matter to communities.
- Help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.