Welcome to June’s funding update.
This update is split into two parts. Section A features funders with a local or regional focus. Section B features funders who work across England. In both sections, funders are listed in order of deadline date, soonest first. Funders without a deadline date appear after this.
This update can only provide a snapshot of these funders so we recommend visiting the funders’ websites for full details before you apply. Most funders in this list have a website, which you can access by clicking on the name of the funder. Full contact details have been provided for funders that do not have a website.
A. Funders with a local / regional interest
Severn Trent Community Fund
Deadline: 10th July 2024
Who can apply: Registered not-for-profit organisations with a governing document can apply.
This includes but is not limited to:
- Local authority or parish council.
- Organisations registered with the Charity Commission.
- Organisations registered with Companies House that are limited by guarantee.
- Volunteer or community group.
- Foundation school, college or academy.
Both the applicant organisation and the project’s beneficiaries must be located within the Severn Trent region, which stretches from the Bristol Channel to the Humber, and from the West Midlands to the East Midlands.
Projects must benefit Severn Trent customers. A Severn Trent customer is somebody who receives their water supply from Severn Trent, or whose waste is taken away and treated by the company.
Applicants who are unsure if their project is eligible should check the WaterUK water supplier finder.
Organisations applying for more than £10,000 must be either charity registered or company registered (and supply a charity or company number), or an exempt charity, local authority or parish council.
Size of grant available: A total of £10 million is available over a five-year period (2020–25).
Three levels of grants 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.
Applications for more than £10,000 will only be considered from a registered charity, a business registered with Companies House, a local authority or parish council.
Applications for more than £75,000 must have a considerable link to all three of the wellbeing themes: people, place and environment.
NB Severn Trent must be the majority funder of the project, so applicants need to be applying for at least 50% of the total project cost.
Priorities: The funding is for local projects, charities and community groups across the Severn Trent region to improve community wellbeing.
How to apply: Applications are open. The next deadlines for applications are:
- 10 July 2024 for requests of £2,000–£10,000 (for consideration at the August panel).
- 11 August 2024 for requests of £10,001–£200,000 (for consideration at the September panel).
- 13 October 2024 for requests of £2,000–£10,000 (for consideration at the November panel).
- 10 November 2024 for requests of £10,001–£200,000 (for consideration at the December panel).
- 12 January 2024 for requests of £2,000–£10,000 (for consideration at the February panel).
The criteria and full details of how to make an application are given in the guidelines which can be downloaded from the Severn Trent website.
Contact Severn Trent for further information.
National Grid Community Matters Fund – Future Skills
Deadline: 10th July 2024
Who can apply: The following types of organisations may apply:
- Registered charities.
- Non-profit companies limited by guarantee.
- Constituted charitable organisations with no charity number.
Organisations must be based and projects must be delivered in the National Grid’s electricity distribution area in one of the following regions:
- East Midlands.
- West Midlands.
- South West England.
- South Wales.
Applicants can confirm they are eligible by using the National Grid postcode checker
The following funding limits are in place for applicants:
- Registered charities or non-profit companies limited by guarantee can apply for up to £5,000
- Constituted charitable organisations with no charity number can apply for up to £2,000.
Size of grant available: A total of £250,000 is available for this round.
There are two funding levels:
- Grants of up to £5,000 for registered charities and non-profit companies.
- Grants of up to £2,000 for unregistered community organisations.
Projects should start from the week of 5 August 2024 onwards and be completed, with all funding spent, by 30 November 2024.
Priorities: The funding is for not-for-profit organisations who are working to break down barriers and boost employability for people who are underrepresented in the workforce and find it harder to get a job. There is particular interest in ‘unlocking the untapped talent of groups such as 16 to 25-year-olds not in full time education, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and ex-offenders’.
The Community Matters Fund will run one more phase in Autumn/Winter 2024 with the theme to be confirmed at a later date.
How to apply: Applications will be accepted from 19 June 2024 to 10 July 2024.
Full guidelines and an online application form can be found on the Localgiving website.
Contact Localgiving for more information.
Sir John Middlemore Charitable Trust
Who can apply: Not-for-profit organisations working with children and young people are eligible to apply.
Applications will be considered from the following:
- Registered charities.
- Unincorporated charities.
- Social enterprises.
- Community Interest Companies (CICs).
- Community groups that have a constitution and can produce accounts.
- Projects endorsed by social, educational and medical professionals.
The Trustees are particularly keen to support smaller organisations.
Applicants may apply for funding year on year for a maximum of three years.
Size of grant available: Grants of up to £2,000 are available.
Applicants may apply for funding for a maximum of three years.
Priorities: The Trust aims to support not-for-profit organisations working to directly benefit children and young people who are experiencing disadvantage in the West Midlands.
The Trust’s particular areas of interest include the following:
- Disadvantaged children and young people.
- Disabled children and young people.
- Looked after children and young people.
- Looked after children and young people leaving care.
- Young carers.
How to apply: Applications may be submitted at any time and are considered four times a year in March, June, September and December.
Application forms can be downloaded from the Trust’s website or requested by email.
The Trust prefers completed application forms to be returned by email, but will accept postal applications if this is not possible.
For further information contact the Trust. In an effort to reduce administration costs, no correspondence or telephone conversations will be entered into with regard to applications that have already been submitted.
Key Fund
Who can apply: Community and social enterprises in the North Midlands can apply.
Businesses should:
- Be, or plan to form, a legal company.
- Have a direct social aim.
- Have been turned down by other lenders.
The following sectors are eligible for funding:
- Creative.
- Health.
- Digital.
- Housing.
- Eco.
- Education and training.
Applicants must have clear social aims and objectives.
Size of grant available: There are various funding levels available:
Up to £150,000 – Regional Growth Fund
Funding to support the development and growth of economic activity and employment in disadvantaged areas or for disadvantaged groups, by investing in enterprises
Up to £250,000 – Community Business Fund
Support for community businesses operating in the North and Midlands, looking to grow or develop trading activity.
Up to £100,000 – More than a Pub Fund
Funding to support the development of community owned pubs across England, that are incorporated ‘not for profit’ business with clear geography of benefit and be able to demonstrate local engagement in ownership or governance.
Loans are also available for community and social enterprises.
Arrangement fees and other fees may be payable. Security may also be required.
Priorities: To offer accessible finance in the form of flexible loans and loan/grant packages to support the development of new and existing enterprising activity. Once finance is repaid it is re-loaned and re-invested back into the community.
The team works pro-actively across the North England and the Midlands, encouraging and helping to spread the culture of social enterprise.
How to apply: Applications can be made at any time.
Applicants must register to access the online application form.
Platform Housing Group – Community Chest
Who can apply: Applications are welcome from charities, not-for-profit organisations, clubs, constituted groups and informal groups.
Applications from informal groups must come from a Platform customer and the group must include at least 50% Platform customers.
All applications must demonstrate how they will benefit Platform customers.
Size of grant available: The annual budget for Community Chest is £160,000.
Grants of up to £10,000 are available.
Priorities: Platform Housing Group is one of the largest housing associations in the Midlands. Platform owns and manages more than 47,000 homes from Herefordshire in the West to the Lincolnshire coast in the East, and from the Derbyshire Dales in the North to the Cotswolds in the South. Its vision is to ‘make a difference by enabling better lives through building better homes’. Its mission is to ‘build a better future by investing in affordable homes, services and communities’.
Platform Housing Group has an annual Community Chest Fund to support local communities.
The funding is intended to support local not-for-profit organisations with projects that support Platform communities, bringing people together, increasing community safety, improving health and wellbeing, and developing life skills and learning opportunities.
How to apply: Applications are open and must be submitted by one of the following deadlines: 2 July 2024, 22 August 2024, 24 September 2024, 21 November 2024, 23 January 2025 and 25 February 2025.
If an application is being made for an event or activity, then applicants should apply at least three to four months in advance of the planned date. Applicants will be contacted after the panel meeting to be advised of the outcome of their application.
Contact Platform Housing Group for further information.
B. National funders
Steel Charitable Trust
Deadline: 11th July 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities and exempt charities only
Size of grant available: Minimum grant size if £10,000. Grants over £25,000 are rare
Priorities: The trust awards funding in the following five core categories:
- Arts and heritage
- Education
- Environment
- Health
- Social or economic disadvantage
Applications for the Environment category may include measures that improve the applicant organisation’s carbon footprint. However, the applicant organisation’s main business must still be connected to one of the five funding categories listed above. ‘Traditional’ environmental applications, such as to improve habitats and conserve species, remain welcome.
Applications for the Health category, should have a focus on one of the following:
- Programmes and activities that aim to support, maintain and improve mental health in any demographic
- Health care for older people
Applications for the Social or economic disadvantage category, should have a focus on one of the following:
- Disadvantaged children
- Housing and homeless people
How to apply: Applications must be made using the trust’s online application form available on its website
Further deadlines this year: 11th October.
Groundwork – One Stop Community Partnership Programme
Deadline: 26th July 2024
Who can apply: All types of constituted not-for-profit groups including registered charities, CICs (limited by guarantee only) and voluntary and community groups
Size of grant available: Up to £1,000
Priorities: The programme supports 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
- Reduce/recycle waste
- Improve the environment
How to apply: Before starting an application, applicants 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 that not all stores offer this programme. Guidance notes are also available on the Groundwork website. An online application form is available, but organisations must first register with Flexi Grant for an account. Instructions are provided in the guidance notes.
Woodward Charitable Trust – General Grants
Deadline: 26th July 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities, exempt charities and CICs – all with income under £200,000
Size of grant available: Up to £3,000
Priorities: To support core costs in the following areas:
- Children and young people (up to 25 years) who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in antisocial behaviour. This covers gang violence and knife crime, education and mentoring, as well as projects that work to raise self-esteem and employment opportunities and encourage an active involvement in and contribution towards the local community
- Disadvantaged families. This covers parenting support and guidance, mental health, food poverty, refuges and domestic violence projects
- Prisoners and ex-offenders and specifically projects that maintain and develop contact with prisoners’ families and help with the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners and/or ex-offenders after their release
The majority of an applicant’s beneficiaries (more than 50%) must be within at least one of these areas to be eligible
How to apply: An online application form is available to complete on the Trust’s website. All applications must be supported by a current budget for the year, management accounts and safeguarding, child and/or vulnerable adult policies.
Asda Foundation – Investing in Spaces and Places Grant
Deadline: 28th July
Who can apply: Not-for-profits that are well-connected in their local communities, including registered charities, CICs, constituted community groups and voluntary associations – all with income under £100,000
Size of grant available: £10,000-£25,000 with 50% match funding required (10% needs to be confirmed when the application is submitted)
Priorities: Funding is for projects that fall into at least one of the following categories:
- Building repairs: for spaces and places which already exist but are in disrepair and therefore limit the usability, safety or level of expectations for other to use the space. Repairs may be external or internal and may be due to age, vandalism, abandonment. Example include but are not limited to repairs to roofs, doors, windows, replacing central heating, upgrading electrical wiring or repairing/replacing plumbing
- Building improvement or development: to enhance a space already in use. The improvements will enhance the quality of space or give more people/new groups the opportunity to use the space. Examples include but are not limited to new kitchens, improving toilet facilities, extension on a building, developing an unused internal space, improving disabled access and facilities, or security features to keep the space and place secure
- Outdoor Development: to develop outside space for the benefit of the community, particularly outdoor spaces which benefit everyone and can be accessed by large groups of people. Examples include but are not limited to improving access to a community garden, transforming wasteland into usable space, upgrading a local play area development/upgrading safety features or creating an outdoor learning environment
This annual fund is aimed at local groups who are working to improve spaces in the heart of their local community. Applications are encouraged from groups who:
- Are located in an area of deprivation
- Are inclusive and encourage diversity
- Are tackling food poverty
- Are tackling local crime/anti-social behaviour
- Have a positive environmental impact
How to apply: The Investing in Spaces and Places Grant will open from 9 to 28 July 2024 for decisions in September. The scheme may close early if demand for funding is high. Application forms will be available from 9 July 2024 at the Asda Foundation website: applicants can check eligibility and will then be directed to the Foundation’s Grant Management System to complete the application form. Governing documents, safeguarding policies, bank statements and financial accounts must also be submitted.
Ironmongers’ Company
Deadline: 31st July 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities only
Size of grant available: Up to £10,000
Priorities: Projects must meet the following criteria:
- Be for children and young people under the age of 25 who are disadvantaged
- Consist of educational activities that develop learning, motivation and skills
- Have clear aims and objectives to be met within a planned timescale
- Be within the UK
The Company is looking for projects that deliver clearly defined educational benefits to a specific group of children or young people. Items of equipment will be considered only where a full explanation is given of how they will be of use to this activity. Projects could, for example, achieve the following:
- Support special educational needs
- Foster social, emotional or life skills
Preference is given to projects piloting new approaches where the outcomes will be disseminated to a wider audience
How to apply: Applications should be submitted by post to the Charities Assistant. An application form is available to download from the funder’s website. Applicants must also submit a description of the project, of no more than three A4 pages typed on one side of each sheet, including the following:
- Aims and objectives of the organisation
- How the need for the work has been identified and why the project is the best way to address this
- A detailed description of the project and the activities that will take place
- The anticipated outcomes and the methods by which the success of the project will be evaluated
- A full breakdown of the costs involved, explaining how the figures have been calculated.
Pets Foundation – Preventing Pet Relinquishment Grants
Deadline: 31st July 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities and CICs only
Size of grant available: Up to £80,000 per year. Multi-year funding applications, up to a three-year period, will be considered.
Priorities: To support projects that aim to keep pets with their owners and out of rescue. The Foundation will consider applications towards specific projects. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
- Equipment used to care for animals
- Expenditure on animal welfare, including food, vet bills and boarding fees
- Capital projects
- Vehicles used for the organisation’s main charitable activity(ies)
- Salaries of staff directly involved in the provision of activities which aim to keep pets with their owners and prevent pet relinquishment
- The funding of relevant learning and development opportunities for staff and volunteers directly involved in the delivery of the charity’s main activities
- Building renovations or new building work where the building’s main use is the delivery of animal-based activities or animal care and if:
- The property is owned by the charitable organisation, in the organisation’s name
- The property is rented by the organisation, and there are at least 25 years left to run on the lease
Applications must include specific details and the precise amount of funding being sought
How to apply: An online application form is available on the Pets Foundation website
The Fore
Deadline: 31st July 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities, registered community benefit societies and CICs limited by guarantee
Size of grant available: Up to £30,000 spread over one, two or three years
Priorities: The Fore provides unrestricted grants to small charities and social enterprises. The funding is intended to have a transformational impact on the organisations being supported by unlocking exponential growth, sustainability, efficiency or some other major step forward. There is particular interest in grassroots organisations working with underserved communities. The grants are viewed by the Fore as investments in the organisations it supports. The Fore funds work across the following charitable sectors:
- Arts and culture
- Disability
- Economic development and employability
- Environment
- Health and well being
- Housing and homelessness
- Human rights, law and justice
- Poverty and disadvantage
- Sport
- Women and girls
- Youth and education
The funding is intended to help strengthen the organisation internally and help it to take the next step forward in its growth or sustainability. This unrestricted funding can be used for any purpose, including core costs and capital funding. The grant could help, for example, an organisation grow, increase internal capacity, serve new beneficiary groups, become more sustainable or more efficient, etc. Applications for core costs must show how the funding will move the organisation forward rather than enabling ‘business as usual’
How to apply: The forthcoming funding round will open for registration at 12pm (midday) on 24 July 2024 and close at 12pm (midday) on 31 July 2024with confirmation of place on funding round on 1 August 2024. Funding decisions for this round expected in December 2024. Once open for registration, the application process is as follows:
- Register an interest on the Applying for Funding page which takes about two to three minutes
- Registered applicants will receive confirmation that they have been allocated a place on the funding round. Details of how to apply will be included
- If there are more applicants registered than places available, places will be allocated at random
- There follows a three-stage application
- Stage 1 – confirmed applicants have around three weeks to complete their application
- Stage 2 – online meeting for long listed applicants who are invited via email for a meeting with one of the Fore’s Strategic Applicant Consultants
- Stage 3 – shortlisted applications go to the funding panels
- Announcement of successful applicants is typically within 12 weeks of the application deadline
- Unsuccessful applicants are offered feedback and can apply for future rounds
The eligibility quiz, guidelines, frequently asked questions and case studies can all be found on The Fore’s website.
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales – Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations
Deadline: 28th August 2024
Who can apply: Registered charities or CICs limited by guarantee. Applicant organisations must be led by and working for Deaf and Disabled people and they must have annual income between £25,000 and £500,000 in their last accounts
Size of grant available: £75,000 over three years (£25,000 per year). The Foundation can also provide up to £500 of accessibility support to enable groups to apply for this programme, including BSL interpreters, language translation, scribes and dyslexia software. The Foundation will also offer grant recipients a range of tailored additional support to help them to strengthen, be more resilient and develop further
Priorities: This programme is aimed at registered charities and CICs which are led by and working for Deaf and Disabled people. Their organisation will work directly with Deaf and Disabled people over the long term to support them to have more choice and control over their lives, access their rights and entitlements and challenge the barriers they face. This funder uses the term ‘Disabled people’ to refer to the following groups of people: people with physical impairment, visual impairment, hearing impairment, people with long term health conditions, people with invisible impairment, people with learning difficulties, people who experience mental distress and people who are neurodivergent. The term ‘Deaf people’ refers to people whose first language is British Sign Language
How to apply: The guidance notes and all other relevant documents can be found on the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales website and these should be consulted before starting the application process.
Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
Who can apply: Applications are accepted from charitable organisations (including social enterprises, not-for-profit registered companies and voluntary organisations) in the UK. To be eligible, applicants must:
- Have a total annual income under £250,000 to apply for a small grant
- Have a total annual income up to £500,000 to apply for a major grant
- A demonstrable track record of success working to address local issues in communities in areas of extreme urban deprivation (with a population of more than 10,000 people) – applicant organisations’ postcodes must be ranked within the most deprived 15% of the Index of Multiple Deprivation
Size of grant available: Two levels of grants are available:
- Small grants of £2,000 to £10,000 for one year. (Successful applicants can reapply for a further two years. No further applications can be made after the completion of a third grant)
- Major grants of £10,000 to £50,000 for one year or multi-year grants for a maximum of three years not to exceed £100,000 in total over this period. (No further applications can be made for two years after the completion of the grant
The amount requested must not be for more than 50% of the total cost of the project
Priorities: Grants are available to support small and medium sized charitable and not-for-profit organisations based in and carrying out work to improve the lives of people in areas of extreme urban deprivation. Projects should fall into the following two categories:
- Community support – small grants
- Family support – major grants
Funding is available for revenue costs including core costs, salaries, running and projects costs. The Trust’s preference is to support front-line projects working directly with people in need. It will consider new projects which are a logical extension of existing work, but does not support work which represents a significant shift away from an organisation’s existing core aims and experience.
Small grants
Projects will be expected to focus on community support. This could include the following types of activities:
- Community services – information, advice and guidance services; community transport schemes; employability training; volunteering; healthy eating and living; foodbanks which support clients out of crisis into long-term sustainability; intergenerational projects, befriending, community cohesion
- Community centres – salary or running costs for community centres or village halls which offer a range of activities for all ages
- Alternative education – support schemes for young people struggling in mainstream education; homework clubs; supplementary education classes for vulnerable individuals
- Training, mentoring, employment and volunteering opportunities
- Youth – youth clubs and detached youth work; after school and holiday clubs; opportunities for NEETs
- Counselling – for any age in areas where statutory services are unable to cope with demand
- Family support services – early intervention; families coping with addiction; prisoners’ families
- Substance misuse – recovery projects
Major grants
Projects will be expected to focus on family support, in the following priority areas:
- Early intervention – ie identifying and providing effective early support to children and families at risk of experiencing poor life outcomes. The Trust is interested in supporting charities that provide:
- Family support services/family hubs
- Parenting workshops and training, reducing parental conflict
- Engaging parents in their child’s early education
- Supporting mothers’ peri and postnatal mental health
- Supporting attachment between child and caregiver
- Supporting family relationships and lone parents
- Families coping with addiction – the Trust is interested in supporting charities that provide:
- Counselling and peer support groups for families where addiction is evident
- Advice and support for families where addiction is evident
- Befriending and listening services for families where addiction is evident
- Prisoners’ families – the Trust is interested in supporting charities that provide:
- Parenting education and relationship support for offenders
- Counselling and coaching for prisoners’ family members
- Befriending and peer support groups for prisoners’ families
How to apply: Applications are submitted via the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation’s website.
YAPP Charitable Trust
Who can apply: Small registered charities no less than three years old with annual expenditure less than £40,000
Size of grant available: Maximum of £3,000 per year for up to three years
Priorities: Grants are awarded for core funding, which is defined as the costs associated with regular activities or services that have been ongoing for at least a year. Funding is available for work that focuses on one of the following priority groups:
- Elderly people
- Children and young people aged five to 25 years
- People with physical impairments, learning difficulties or mental health challenges
- Social welfare – people trying to overcome life-limiting problems of a social, rather than medical, origin such as addiction, relationship difficulties, abuse and a history of offending
- Education and learning, with a particular interest in people who are educationally disadvantaged, whether adults or children
The Trustees give priority to:
- Work that is unattractive to the general public or unpopular with other funders
- Services that help to improve the lives of marginalised, disadvantaged or isolated people
- Applicants that can demonstrate an effective use of volunteers
- Charities that seek to be preventive and aim to change opinion and behaviour through raising awareness of issues, education and campaigning
- Applicants that can demonstrate (where feasible) an element of self-sustainability by charging subscriptions/fees to service users
Applications that do not address at least twoof the above priorities are unlikely to receive a grant. The Trust prefers to make a grant when other funding is coming to an end
How to apply: Applications may be submitted at any time and are considered at one of the three Trustee meetings each year. Decisions on applications can take up to five months from the date of submission. Applications should be submitted using the Trust’s online application form.
True Colours Trust – UK Small Grants
Who can apply: Registered charities and CICs
Size of grant available: Up to £10,000
Priorities: True Colours Trust’s small grants programme supports registered charities and CICs who work with disabled children and their families. The trust seeks to bring about better lives for children and their families through a broad mix of research, advocacy, service delivery and innovation. Grants can be used for the following:
Projects:
- Activities for disabled children, children with life-limiting conditions and their families
- Activities which support siblings of disabled children or siblings of children with life-limiting conditions
- Bereavement support for children and young people and families bereaved of a child
- Family support / parent-led peer support for parents of disabled children
- Respite which supports the whole family
Equipment and Materials
- Renovation, upgrading and additional equipment for hydrotherapy pools and multi-sensory rooms
- Minibuses
- Specialised play equipment/access to play and leisure for disabled children, children with life-limiting conditions and their families
How to apply: An online application form is available from the True Colours Trust website.
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