Branching Out Fund – the Tree Council

The Branching Out Fund is now accepting applications towards the costs of community planting projects.

Branching Out supports applications ranging in value from £250 up to £2,500, with specific criteria for those under £500, and those above £500.

Schools, community groups, residents’ associations, Parish Councils, charities and many others are eligible to apply,

The deadline for applications is 3 December 2023.

Branching Out Fund | Grants towards trees and hedgerows (treecouncil.org.uk)

Bernard Sunley Foundation grants

The Foundation offers grants in the categories of Community, Education, Health or Social Welfare.

They offer three levels of grants. These are large grants of £20,000 and above; medium grants of up to £20,000 and small grants of £5,000 and under. Grants can be used for:

Capital projects which include new buildings, extensions, refurbishments and recreational spaces.
New minibuses and other vehicles that provide a vital service to those most in need in their local community.
Churches and other places of worship with a strong, secular community focus.
Charities or CIOs (Charitable Incorporated Organisations) registered in England and Wales.
Certain organisations with exempt status such as specialist schools, scout and guide groups, housing associations, cooperatives, and community benefit societies.
Applications are accepted all year round.

What We Fund – Bernard Sunley Foundation

Small Grants Programme – Sport England

The Small Grants Programme seeks to develop opportunities for communities to get more people physically active. New projects from not-for-profit organisations will be supported through providing National Lottery funding of between £300 and £15,000.

They 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.

They believe that communities that work together and share resources provide a stronger and more sustainable impact. Therefore, Sport England want applications from projects that demonstrate how they connect with their communities, make best use of the existing skills and assets in an area, and will provide the biggest possible impact to those who need it most.

The closing date for applications is 31 March 2024.

Small Grants Programme | Sport England

Football Foundation grants

The Football Foundation provides grants for building or refurbishing grassroots facilities, such as changing rooms, 3G pitches, fencing, portable floodlights, pitch improvements and clubhouse refurbishment. The Fund is available to football clubs, schools, councils and local sports associations and gives grants for projects that:

Improve facilities for football and other sport in local communities.
Sustain or increase participation amongst children and adults, regardless of background age, or ability.
Help children and adults to develop their physical, mental, social and moral capacities through regular participation in sport.
Grants are available for between £10,000 and £500,000.

Looking for funding | Football Foundation

The Million Hours Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Grants are available for not-for-profit organisations, schools and local authorities to provide extra support to young people (aged 11 to 18 years, or up to 25 years with disabilities and special educational needs) who are at risk of anti-social behaviour in eligible areas of England. We 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. Find out more.

McCarthy Stone Foundation

About Us: McCarthy Stone Foundation’s Christmas Connections fund awards grants to support with the running of activities for people over 65 in their community over the festive period.
Criteria: UK registered charities, community groups and CICs (annual income under £250,000)
Grant Size: up to £1,000
Deadline for applications: 30 November 2023

Find out more about McCarthy Stone Foundation

The Ocado Foundation for Good

About Us: The Ocado Foundation is the charitable arm of Ocado Group, working for good in the community. We focus our efforts in three core areas, skills for the future, natural resources and responsible sourcing.
Criteria: Supports charities, CICs and community projects.
Grant Size: up to £1,000
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2023

Find out more about The Ocado Foundation for Good

Gardening with Disabilities Trust

About Us: The Gardening with Disabilities Trust awards small grants to help people continue to experience the joy of gardening, despite disability.
Criteria: Individuals and community groups/gardens supporting people with all kinds of physical or mental abilities, in all parts of the UK, to continue to actively garden are eligible to apply.
Grant Size: £1,000
Deadline for applications: Rolling programme

Find out more about Gardening with Disabilities Trust

Abri Community Fund

We believe the best ideas often come from the people who know and live in our communities. And we’re committed to supporting and investing in our communities. Which is why we have a £90,000 Community Fund available to help make your community a better place to live.
You can apply for up to £3,000 to support a project in one of our communities across the south of England. We know that the rising cost of living is having a big impact on our customers and communities, which is why we’re prioritising projects that focus on this type of support.
We recommend you submit your application as early as possible along with all the supporting documents. Applications will be considered by our funding panel, which is made up of customers and those living in our communities. And we’ll share whether you’ve been successful within four weeks of the closing date.
We welcome applications from local, voluntary organisations and community groups. We can also consider those from small charities and not for profit organisations. Our priority is to support those projects that encourage good use of community assets. The panel are looking for projects that bring communities together to support each other, find companionship, comfort and essential information that will support our communities during the cost-of-living crisis.
We’re proud of the difference our Community Fund makes. It’s one way we can help drive change, transform our communities, and provide opportunities.
It’s what our Community Strategy and five-year £15m community investment is all about – empowering communities, improving health and wellbeing and securing employment opportunities.

Community Funding (abri.co.uk)

Deadline: We open the Community Fund for applications four times a year:
• 1-30 April 2023
• 1 – 31 July 2023
• 1-31 October 2023
• 1-31 January 2024

Adamson Trust

Grants for voluntary and community organisations and charities to help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children (aged 3 to 17 years) with physical, mental, or emotional impairments. Click here for more details.
Application deadline: 31 December 2023

Crowthorne Parish Grants

Applications close on Friday 15th December.
Each year Crowthorne Parish Council considers requests for grants to assist organisations involved in delivering valued services to the Crowthorne community. Organisations which are successful in their application will normally be presented with their cheques at the Annual Parish Meeting of Crowthorne Parish Council held between March and April each year. Applications must be accompanied by a copy of your organisations most recent accounts and if available the budget for the forthcoming year. Find out more.

The Henry Smith Charity – Holiday Grants

About Us: The purpose of the Holiday Grants programme is to provide access to recreational trips or holidays for groups of children who experience disadvantage or who have disabilities. In particular we are interested in contributing to trips that would not take place without our funding.
Criteria: Schools, youth groups, not for profit organisations and charities are all eligible to apply.
Grant Size: £500-£2,500
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2023

Find out more about The Henry Smith Charity – Holiday Grants

Sandhurst Community Grants

Applications close on Sunday 31st December. Sandhurst Town Council wishes to acknowledge and foster a sense of community spirit in the town and wishes to invite non-profits based in the area to apply for our community grants. Please complete the application form fully and return to Sandhurst Town Council before the end of this year to be included in our selection process for 2023/2024.

John Ellerman Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We aim to advance the wellbeing of people, society and the natural world by focusing on the arts, environment and social action. We believe these areas can make an important contribution to wellbeing. Relationships are important to us across every aspect of our grantmaking, and in the ways in which we work with others. We are a responsive funder, listening and responding to what applicants and our wider stakeholder network judge is important. We have well developed and regularly reviewed funding guidelines, enabling us to be discerning in our decisions about whom and what to support.
On our main grants programme, we generally make grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 per year, for up to three years. Learn more.

Thank you to Slough CVS, Volunteer Centre West Berkshire and Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve for the information contained in this article.