Funding Opportunities in July

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Lloyds Bank Foundation – Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations

This programme is for small and local charities and CICs with an income between £25,000 to £500,000 that are led by and working with Deaf and Disabled people who are experiencing poverty. Organisations can apply for a three-year unrestricted grant of £75,000.We support a wide and diverse range of health charities. In partnership with our grant holders, we contribute to lasting positive change in our society.
This programme is aimed at registered charities and CICs which are led by and working for Deaf and Disabled people. Your 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.

Your work will be based on a social model of disability and you will be able to show how this understanding shapes the work that you do, and enables people to have their voices heard.

Successful applicants will receive a grant of £75,000, over three years (£25,000 per year). The grant will be unrestricted, so organisations awarded funding will be able to use the grant to support any costs that further your organisation’s social purpose.

Deadline: The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday, 28 August 2024.

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grant making for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Using a wide range of research including insight from Motability Foundation grantees, other disabled people and representative organisations, community transport has been identified as a priority area for support.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

To help address this problem now, charities and organisations working in the Community Transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million at any point before March 2025 to improve the impact of community transport for disabled people.

Deadline: March 2025.

Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity

About Us: The MSE Charity gives grants to UK not for profit organisations that deliver activities which make a lasting impact on how people think, behave and manage their money.
Criteria: UK not for profit organisations
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: A new two-stage application process is being introduced with outline proposals accepted from 19 June up to 31 July 2024, or sooner depending on the number of proposals received.

Warm Spaces in Slough

If you run a Warm Space in Slough, where people are welcome to come for a chat and a cuppa, you may be able to get new supplies. SSE has donated £500 for items such as tea bags, coffee, sugar, biscuits, squash and hot chocolate for visitors to enjoy.

Those in charge of operating a Warm Space can contact Mark Clements at office@communitycafe.uk to request items and he can also supply Warm Space posters if needed for display purposes.

The Screwfix Foundation

Grants are available to UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations for projects that improve, fix, and repair buildings, homes and facilities specifically used by people in need across the UK.

Matthew Good Foundation – Grants for Good Fund

A small number of grants are available for local community groups, charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises in the UK for projects that have a positive impact on communities, people, or the environment.

Application deadline: 15th September 2024

2024 Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund (Main Grants)

Capital grants are available for village halls in rural areas across England to enhance, upgrade, extend, improve, and construct halls so that, as a result, new activities can take place bringing communities together.

Application deadline: N/A

Sport England – Movement Fund (with crowdfunding)

Grants are available for formally constituted not-for-profit organisations in England who can raise their initial funding through a crowdfunding campaign for projects that improve physical activity for people and communities who need it most with particular interest in opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity.

Application deadline: N/A

The True Colours Trust

The True Colours Trust provides grants to help support families, children and young people in the UK with complex disabilities and/or life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. The Trust seeks to bring about better lives for children and their families through a broad mix of research, advocacy, service delivery and innovation.

Their grant-making is focused on the following areas:

Improving service delivery and support offered to children with complex disabilities, their families and siblings in the UK.
Strengthening palliative care services for children and their families in the UK.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development / job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience / sustainability.

The Archer Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We are a UK charitable grant-making trust based on Christian values, which give funding to a small UK charities. If your organisation, in one way or another, provides aid or support to a defined group of disadvantaged or marginalised people, and if a grant of between £1,000 and £5,000 will make a big difference to support your work, you may meet our funding criteria. We prefer to support organisations working in areas of high unemployment and deprivation and we favour charities which make good use of volunteers. Find out more and how to apply.

Music & Heritage Funding

Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Funding is available for UK charities, not-for-profit and exempt organisations working in the areas of music, especially chamber music, composition and music education, or in heritage and crafts. The application form will request information about your organisation, the project and your finances, so please ensure that you have gathered this information in sufficient time to submit the application before the deadline.

Baily Thomas Charitable Fund

Applications close on Thursday 1st August.
Grants are available to voluntary organisations, charities and schools in the UK to assist with the care and relief of children, young people and adults with learning disabilities. We also support those undertaking research into learning disability. We offer small grants below £9000 and general grants above this.


Electricals Recycling Fund

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
This fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. We fund two types of projects; those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals (up to £100,000), and those seeking to innovate new collection methods (up to £50,000). If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding.

West Berkshire Veolia’s Sustainability Fund

is back this year offering up to £1,000 worth of funding to help support people across West Berkshire to improve the environment!
Veolia’s Sustainability Fund will support inspirational ideas that aim to make a positive change towards their local communities.
The purpose of the fund is to support non-profit organisations, community groups or individuals that help transform their local community through enhancing biodiversity, promoting sustainable waste behaviours, protecting or preserving resources and the environment, or using recycled, reused or reclaimed materials.
If you have an idea to help improve your local community, apply before 30 September. Find out how you can bring your ideas to life by clicking on the title above.

Newly Opened: Morrisons Foundation – Community Spaces Fund

In celebration of Morrisons 125th Anniversary, the Foundation is delighted to have created the ‘Community Spaces Fund’.

This exciting new fund will see 125 charities receive a share of £1 million with grants of up to £8,000 each to enhance their community space facilities, making a difference for many more years to come.

We know how important it is for communities to have a place to meet, socialise, learn and provide care to others. We also know that funding new equipment, making renovations or creating new spaces can be difficult for local charities.

That’s why we’ve created this new fund and are asking Community Champions in all of our stores to look for opportunities to help charities who provide a community space and will be able to make a real difference with a cash boost of from the Morrisons Foundation.
1. From 17th June to 14th July, Morrisons Community Champions will identify charities that provide a community space that benefits their local area
2. Recommended charities will receive an invite from their Community Champion to complete an online form which must be completed no later than 14th July 2024. The form is for recommendation purposes only and does not guarantee that a grant can or will be awarded
3. Recommendations are verified and reviewed by the Morrisons Foundation from 15th to 31st July 2024
4. Throughout August 2024, together, Morrisons colleagues, Community Champions and the Morrisons Foundation will choose up to 125 charities to receive a grant
5. Successful charities will be notified via email. At this point charities should provide a recent bank statement and letter to confirm the bank details via email to the Morrisons Foundation within 14 days to enable payment by BACS
6. A presentation of the grant will take place at the Morrisons store/site that recommended the successful charity
To be considered, organisations must:
– Be recommended by their local Community Champion
– Be registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales (CCEW) or the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland (OSCR)
– Have submitted their accounts on time to the CCEW or OSCR within the past three years
– Be applying for a grant of no more than £8,000 to fund a project which enhances a space that will have a lasting impact in the local community
– Submit the online recommendation form provided by their local Community Champion by 14th July 2024
– Be applying for a project that will be completed by the end of 2024

Deadline: 14th July

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 (find out more about where we operate here). The rising cost of living is having a big impact on our customers and communities, so we will be prioritising applications that consider the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Although we are keen to support projects that help everyone in the community, it’s important for applicants to demonstrate how you’ll specifically be able to support customers living in Abri homes.
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 window closing. For successful applicants we will aim to make payment eight weeks after the window closes, subject to all supporting documentation being received and due diligence checks being completed.

Community Funding (abri.co.uk)

Deadline: Opening1st-21st July

Leeds Building Society Foundation

About Us: Our focus is to support those in need of a safe and secure home.
Criteria: Grants are only for capital expenditure. Grants to registered charities with a turnover of less than £1 million for projects which address one or more of the following themes:
• Financial stress – projects that help with bills or debt stress.
• Security and refuge – projects that support emergency accommodation.
• Quality and suitability of housing.
• Health and wellbeing support for those experiencing homelessness.
Grant Size: Between £250 and £1,000
Deadline for applications: 9 September 2024

Greenham Trust’s Planting Programme 2024

Local schools, councils, charities and community organisations are invited to apply for free trees and hedging plants for planting in the autumn.

Applications are now open for Greenham Trust’s Planting Project, and will close on 31st July 2024.

Click below for full details of the project and how to apply.

Activity for All

Grants of £1,000 are available to help children stay healthy and active this summer.

Applicants must be a sports or holiday club with a priority on supporting children with access to physical activity, providing more equipment and opportunities and/or providing healthy, nutritious food to keep active.

Tesco Stronger Starts

If you are a school, registered charity or not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for up to £1,500 to fund projects that provide food and support to young people across the UK.

Every three months, three local good causes are selected to be in the blue token customer vote in Tesco stores throughout the UK.

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

Funding News for June 2024

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SPACE Arts and cultural organisations based in England, including museums, libraries, community organisations and local councils with a cultural project, can now apply for a digital commission of up to £15,000 (£8,000 for audio projects). Commissions are for you to develop and deliver a creative digital project. This might be a video or audio project, or an interactive or immersive experience. Deadline 5pm, 13 Jun. Please click here for more details.

Cycling UK – Big Bike Revival Grants Programme Grants are available for voluntary groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations to deliver cycling projects and activities across England (outside of London) for people who do not normally cycle.
Application deadline: 25 June 2024. Click here for more details.

Village Hall Small Grants Fund
Grants of between £2,000 and £5,000 to help make improvements to rural community buildings in England. This is the latest release of the £3 million grant fund announced by the government in May 2022 in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.

Grants are intended to support smaller capital projects in village halls such as boiler replacements, insulation, toilet upgrades and new kitchens.

Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs, up to a maximum amount of £5,000. The balance of funding for the works proposed must be in place, or at least confirmed within 6 weeks of making an application to a small grants fund.

Please read the fund criteria and FAQs before submitting your application. We recommend you only submit this once the project is ready to proceed, and you have everything in place.
Village halls small grants fund – ACRE

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

Hubbub and Starbuck’s ‘Eat it Up Fund’

About Us: We’ve launched the Eat It Up Grant Fund 2024 to fuel innovations that reduce edible food waste, ensuring food serves its purpose – to be eaten.
Criteria: To support innovative ideas to tackle food waste in the UK. The grant must be used within a year. The funding is for initiatives that do one or more of the following:
• Address pre-farmgate waste (the food production process, up to the point where the products have been harvested and prepared as produce for sale).
• Prevent food from being wasted at the manufacturing and processing stage.
• Minimise food waste from retailers.
• Find creative ways to use surplus food in communities or at home.
Grant Size: Six grants of £60,000
Deadline for applications: 5pm on 14 June 2024

Wolfson Foundation

About Us: The Foundation gives major grants for capital work across the fields of education, science and medicine, health and disability, heritage and arts and humanities.
Criteria: The project should be for a new building, refurbishment work or equipment that leads to at least one of the following aims:
• Increased access to services for new and existing users.
• Improved quality and range of services.
• Improved financial stability of the organisation.
Grant Size: £15,000 up to £1million. Match funding is required for projects where the total project cost is above £50,000.
Deadline for applications: 23.59 on 1 July 2024

Clarion Futures Digital Grants Programme

About Us: Clarion Futures delivers a range of grant programmes which support those working to improve the lives of our residents, as well as helping them stay more digitally connected.
Criteria: For not-for-profit organisations seeking to deliver innovative, well-designed projects that support Clarion residents and the wider community to address digital exclusion.
The funding is for projects and activities that focus on:
• Supporting Clarion residents to discover the full scope of how the internet can assist them in their everyday lives, and provide them with the skills and confidence to do so.
• Supporting residents to access the digital resources that meet their individual needs and circumstances.
• Building digital skills and confidence for all.
• Encouraging residents to use the internet with confidence so they are safe and avoid risky and/or illegal behaviour.

Grant Size: Between £1,000 and £5,000
Deadline for applications: noon on 12 June 2024

Arnold Clark Community Fund

About Us: As part of our commitment to give back to the communities in which we operate, we believe that by caring for these communities today, we can help them create a better future.
Criteria:
• Cost of Living Support – funding to any registered UK charity or community group whose work directly supports those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis, such as foodbanks, accommodation, poverty relief and where people/communities in the UK are the primary and immediate focus of investment.
• Our Communities Support – funding to projects embedded in the communities in which Arnold Clark operates and is available to organisations who provide services widely accessible to those within Arnold Clark local communities, addressing the needs of those living within them.
• Gear Up for Sport – 150 sports kits given away each month to support youth sports teams across the UK. Any youth team with up to 30 members aged 4 to 15 years can apply.
Applications are expected to be accepted until the e
Grant Size: up to £2,500
Deadline for applications: End of December 2024

Bright Futures Fund
Wokingham Borough Council has awarded Wokingham United Charities funding to
oversee their extracurricular activities initiative. The Bright Futures Fund is dedicated to supporting children from low-income households providing opportunities to engage in a diverse range of extracurricular activities, including school trips, club memberships, purchasing or hiring of equipment and instruments, and covering participation fees for children and young people. Applications are welcomed from schools, alternative educational providers, youth groups, sports clubs, activity clubs, and relevant local charities. To ensure a streamlined process, applications are exclusively accepted from referring agencies. Online applications
can be submitted via our website.

Regenerative Soil Funding
Applications close on Thurs 27th June.
UK soils currently store about 10 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to 80 years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions. The priority must be to stop further soil degradation and
keep that carbon in the soil. But intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose about 40 to 60% of their organic carbon to the atmosphere. Investing in regenerative soil initiatives is one way to help combat this. We are looking for grant applications from charities, community groups, and organisations that are working to promote a more sustainable approach to soil and land management.

Architectural Heritage Fund Project Development Grants
Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Grants are available for UK not-for-profit organisations to cover some of the costs of developing and coordinating a building project and taking it towards the start of work on site. As the Architectural Heritage Fund, there has to be a historic building involved in whatever we support. We generally look to support projects where there is a change of use or change of ownership involved with the building, such as bringing something disused back into use.

Arts & Culture Project Grants
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
This is our open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. The fund supports thousands of individual practitioners, and community and cultural organisations. Applications are for grants between £1,000 and £100,000, should engage people in England with arts and culture. You can learn whether this is the right fund
for you by taking our quiz.

Matthew Good Foundation
Applications close on Saturday 15th June.
Our Grants for Good are designed to direct funding only to small and growing local charities, voluntary groups or social enterprises that are making a big impact on local communities or the environment. To be eligible, applicants must have an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months. Every three months, five organisations will receive grants between £5,000 to £2,000.

AB Charitable Trust

About Us: The A B Charitable Trust is an independent grant-making organisation, founded in 1990 by Yves and Anne Bonavero to champion human dignity and support the most marginalised and excluded groups in the UK. The Trust has no endowment and is funded annually by the Bonavero family.
Criteria: This programme aims to support and strengthen small to medium-sized charities, and the wider ‘eco-system’, in our priority areas. We usually fund single-focus organisations working solely in our priority areas. For these organisations, we generally give unrestricted grants.
Grant Size: up to £30,000
Deadline for applications: 26 July 2024

The Adamson Trust

About Us: The Adamson Trust is a long-established Perthshire charity based in Crieff.
We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. We can only give help for this purpose.
Criteria: We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. Individual families can apply but we also accept applications on behalf of voluntary and community groups working on behalf of groups of children and families.
Grant Size: Not stated
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024

The Ford Britain Trust

About Us: Working with our local communities to sow the seeds of change. We are committed to supporting the communities that we work and live in. That is why we created the Ford Britain Trust. Since April 1975 we have been able to help fund the education and advancement of our neighbours.
Criteria: We pay special attention to projects focusing on education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities close to our UK locations.
Grant Size: Small grants up to £250 or larger grants up to £3000
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024 (small grants); 31 July 2024 (larger grants)

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grantmaking for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Using a wide range of research including insight from Motability Foundation grantees, other disabled people and representative organisations, community transport has been identified as a priority area for support.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

To help address this problem now, charities and organisations working in the Community Transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million at any point before March 2025 to improve the impact of community transport for disabled people.

The Britford Bridge Trust

The Trust was established by Adrian and Jane Frost in 2014 to formalise their long-standing charitable support. It is intended to be a permanent endowment to enable giving beyond the current generation. To date, the Trust has made more than 200 grants to a wide range of beneficiaries.
The primary charitable purposes of the Trust are the prevention or relief of poverty; the advancement of education; the advancement of health or the saving of lives; and the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage, or science however any applicant must have national relevance.
The trustees have already fully committed to supporting the fields of medicine and related professions connected to the causes, diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer and other malignant diseases and will not be accepting applications for funding in that regard. Similarly, the family donates to African causes through established NGOs. As a result, the Trustees regret that they will not consider applications from these areas of need.

In addition, the Trustees will give due consideration to the amount of any donation that reaches the intended beneficiary and to the existing reserves and resources of the applicant.
The Trustees typically make grants of between £10,000 to £50,000. Larger amounts may be available in exceptional circumstances. Applications are invited from UK registered charities for national or international projects.

One Stop – Community Partnerships Programme

We are extremely proud to be part of the local communities we serve, and that’s why we are even more excited to welcome applications for the One Stop Community Partnership programme.
Local Community Groups can apply for funding to support the group and to develop a new or ongoing project in partnership with their local store. Successful applicants will receive an initial grant of up to £1,000, and begin a partnership with their local One Stop store.
This programme is designed to support community groups or organisations operating within two miles of a One Stop store which are;

  • Tackling food poverty
  • Supporting the vulnerable
  • Supporting the elderly
  • Supporting low-income families
  • Supporting local sports teams
  • Improving the local environment
  • Reducing Waste in the community

The programme provides partnership as well as financial assistance. Alongside a grant of up to £1,000, and the opportunity to create a long-term tailored programme of support for successful applicants with their local One Stop Store Team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store Team at their local shop to deliver support to the community.
The tailored support from the store teams will help community causes to increase or improve their service by assisting in areas such as but not limited to; volunteering support, fundraising and awareness-raising.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development/job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience/sustainability.

Pets Assisting People Grants

Applications close on Friday 28th June.
Funding is available to charities that help children and adults through the provision of specially trained assistance animals, or through the provision of structured animal-assisted learning and therapy. We provide one-off grants or up to three years of funding, to a maximum of £80,000 per year. These funds can contribute towards the costs of animal care, building work, salaries, activities, equipment, vehicles, etc.

Helens Farm Goodness Grants

Applications close on Sunday 30th June.
A small number of grants, up to £5,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations and registered charities to support projects which are doing good in their local communities. These projects might be based around sports, schools, clubs, wellness or tackle social issues. We are offering grants specifically to local organisations which improve the health, places or skills of families in their communities.

Electricals Recycling Fund

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
This fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. We fund two types of projects; those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals (up to £100,000), and those seeking to innovate new collection methods (up to £50,000). If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding.

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

Green Spaces Fund for Rural Communities

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Our network body ACRE is aware of a future government grant fund that may be of interest to rural community groups

In March, the Minister for Rural Affairs Robbie Moore MP announced the government’s intention to establish a new grant fund, “creating and enhancing […] green spaces at the very heart of rural communities to preserve and protect their essential character”.

Up to £7 million will be available to rural community groups to fund projects that aim to create, restore, and enhance green spaces.

It is envisaged that funds will be available for capital expenditure such as landscaping, planting, installation of natural play facilities, paths and seating.

Richard Quallington, ACRE’s Executive Director said, “We welcome the government’s commitment to supporting rural communities so they can make the most of green spaces. The fund has the potential to support a wide range of initiatives that contribute to Net Zero and biodiversity net gain, as well as improving the health and wellbeing of local residents.

We know from our experience of administering recent grants to village halls that the availability of capital funding can catalyse new projects, many of which have had an environmental focus. We stand ready to support this new scheme.”

Rural community groups interested in the fund are encouraged to register their details with ACRE so they can receive more information about the fund when this becomes available. Click here.

May Funding Opportunities

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Barchester Charitable Trust

Barchester’s Charitable Foundation is a registered charity that helps older people and adults with a disability across England, Scotland & Wales. Our focus is on connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community, and we support applications that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged.

We help small community groups and local charities with activities, outings, equipment and materials for members/service users. Our grants range from £100 up to £2,500. Before starting the application, make sure to have a cost breakdown/budget and your latest annual accounts ready to upload.

We do not have a formal definition for a small charity, but if a charity has financial reserves in the hundreds of thousands or millions, it is very unlikely that we would be able to help.

We help groups with:

  • Activity projects
  • Equipment and materials for use by members
  • Member transport
  • Day trips, outings and group holidays in the UK

Our grants for groups range from £100 up to £2,500. It takes us up to 10 weeks to process an application.

Cycling UK – Big Bike Revival Grants Programme

Grants are available for voluntary groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations to deliver cycling projects and activities across England (outside of London) for people who do not normally cycle.
Application deadline: 25 June 2024

Creating A Fairer Society & Healthier Planet

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
The Treebeard Trust is a charitable foundation supporting transformational initiatives that have the potential to create a healthier planet and fairer society. We try to invest time as well as money. We advocate on behalf of causes we are passionate about and try to support our partners, by amplifying their work, or by providing advice, connections or simply a general sounding board. If you think your organisation might be a good fit for the trust, visit our website for more info.

Veolia Environmental Trust

Applications re-open in May 2024.
We award grants towards projects that make improvements to community facilities and the natural environment. Grants are for projects by constituted, not-for-profit organisations and local authorities that are located near a qualifying Veolia site in England.

The Chestnut Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
The TCV Chestnut Fund grant scheme has been designed to support grassroots community groups and initiatives wanting to deliver practical volunteering that improves the natural physical environment and better connections between people and green spaces. Groups must be members of the TCV Community Network prior to applying. Start-Up grants are for groups who have little or no money when they are first set up and are available to groups in their first year of existence. The grant will enable them to begin practical work and will cover administrative expenses, e.g. insurance fees, postage, publicity or hire of meeting rooms. Maximum grant is £200. Support grants are for existing groups who have little or no money for tools, equipment and training. Maximum grant is £500.

SPAR £100k Community Cashback

About Us: SPAR is launching its third £100,000 Community Cashback scheme.Our grant scheme is aimed at supporting and giving back to the communities that we serve.
Criteria: Local voluntary or community organisations and charities.
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: 22 May 2024

Find out more about the SPAR £100k Community Cashback

The University of Reading’s Community Engagement Fund

About Us: The University of Reading’s Community Engagement Fund (CEF) sets aside a total of £30,000 every year to support local charities and community groups’ projects across the Thames Valley region.
Criteria: Local charities and community groups’ projects
Grant Size: The Community Engagement Fund provides one-off, small awards (usually around £1,000 per year), as well as larger awards (up to a maximum of £10,000 per year) on a one-off or multi-year basis, depending on the project.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024

About Us: Eden Projects is inviting communities to tell them how the act of sharing supports their community including their plans for sharing food on The Big Lunch weekend on 1-2 June.
Award: The community receiving the award will receive a specially designed The Big Lunch Sharing Table made by the people at City & Guilds, plus funds towards their community projects and ideas, and a hamper of food and resources for a Big Lunch that are together worth £5,000.
Three finalists will each receive a hamper of goodies to support them to have a Big Lunch, and £500 towards their project or idea to support the local community.
Deadline for applications: 9am, Monday 20 May 2024.

Find out more at www.edenprojectcommunities.com/sharing-tables-award#apply

Persimmon Community Champions

This scheme supports local charities, sports clubs and good causes across the country.
They have 30 offices across the UK that will each make a donation of up to 6,000 every quarter to those local organisations who are the lifeblood of our communities. Smaller donations are also available.

Deadline: ongoing

Women’s Health Community Fund

The Women’s Health Community Fund is designed to support small, grassroots organisations and community groups to deliver health information and support to women, girls and people from underrepresented groups.

Deadline: 19-05-2024

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



Funding Opportunities in April

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The Syder Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We aim to award around eight large grants per year, with a focus on regional charities located in Berkshire and the surrounding
counties. Total large grants awarded annually will be between £3-4 hundred thousand with each grant at around the £50K level. We also set aside around £100k per year from which
small awards may be made. Should you have a project to bring to the Foundation’s attention, applications may be submitted via email (postal applications are accepted if you are unable to access email). Please note that requests for general running / core costs (including salaries) are unlikely to be funded. Find out more.

The Rank Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Pebbles is our small funding stream for UK registered charities and recognised churches which are raising money for projects where the total cost is less than £150,000. This money can be spent on short breaks, equipment, or capital costs. Pebble grant applications are processed on a quarterly basis and can take up
to 4 months for a decision and payment to be made. Grants are awarded on a discretionary basis; the Rank Foundation’s contribution ranges from £250 up to and including £4,000, depending on the total cost of the project. Find out more.

Learning Through Landscapes Nature Grants

Applications close on Friday 26th April. Grants are available to provide outdoor learning training and equipment to schools and early years providers. Up to £500 worth
of products are on offer, plus the potential to receive our additional Climate Curriculum Pack, to help schools to branch out into nature. Find out more.

Schroder Charity Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We are an independent grant-making family trust which supports a wide range of charitable activities. We make grants of up to £5,000 towards core and project costs to charities registered in the UK for work under the categories of arts, culture, heritage education training, employment, environment, conservation, health, wellbeing and overall strengthening communities. More info.

February Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. We make grants to a range of charities and charitable activities in accordance with our grant making policy which is set out in our annual report and accounts. We support project or core / capital costs. Please send us the details and budget of the proposed project, how many people would benefit, how those benefits might be measured, what the estimated cost of raising funds for the project is, and the full cost of raising voluntary income. Our median award is £5,000 and we are happy to part-fund projects. Click here for more.

Big Bike Revival Grants

About Us: The Big Bike Revival is all about helping adults to begin or return to cycling through a programme of FREE activities and services, delivered by local community organisations
Criteria: For voluntary and community cycle groups to deliver projects and activities that:
• Encourage people who don’t cycle to cycle.
• Encourage people to cycle more often.
• Increase short cycling trips.
• Improve the perception of cycling safety.
• Improve people’s confidence to cycle.


For the Summer 2024 funding round, there is a focus on encouraging partners to inspire participants to return to subsequent events, to help sustain increases in cycling, and to help make a much bigger difference through Big Bike Revival.
The Big Bike Revival Grants Programme will support events and activities that use the ‘fix-learn-ride’ model to provide sessions for people groups that are underrepresented in cycling, such as:
• Women.
• People on low incomes.
• People who suffer from poor mental health.
• People who are not meeting physical activity guidelines.
• People who are lacking confidence.
• Unemployed people.
• Military veterans.
• People who are experiencing substance abuse.
• Ethnic minorities.
• Refugees and asylum seekers.
• People who are experiencing transport poverty.
Funding is for activities delivered between 29 March 2024 and 31 October 2024.
Grant Size: up to £3,500
Deadline for applications: 25 June 2024 Find out more about Big Bike Revival Grants

FA Snickers Just Play Support Fund

About Us: Interested in setting up an adult (16+) recreational football session?
Criteria: to individuals, clubs, organisations and community groups to set up a new Just Play football session in their area or to develop an existing session. Just Play is for men and women aged 16+ of all abilities
Grant Size: £250
Deadline for applications: Rolling programme
Find out more about FA Snickers Just Play Support Fund

Tesco Stronger Starts – Footie for All Fund

Grants are available to support grassroot football clubs across the UK with a priority on supporting children up to the age of 18 access sport and physical activity and/or providing more equipment and opportunity for children. Application deadline: 30 April 2024. Click here for more details.

Community Ownership Fund

Grants are available to voluntary, community and charitable organisations in the UK to support them in taking ownership of local assets such as sporting and cultural venues, meeting spaces, community centres, pubs and shops that are at risk of closure. For more detail click here

Youth Music Trailblazers

The Youth Music Trailblazer fund offers grants of £2,000 to £30,000 to organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music. The project should trial work for the first time, test a new way of working, or disrupt the status quo (or all three!).
Your work must meet one of our themes:
• Early years
• Disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent young people
• Youth justice system
• Young people facing barriers
• Young adults
• Organisations and the workforce.
Deadline: 30 August 2024

Rectory Foundation

Registered charities, community groups, social enterprises, community interest companies (limited by guarantee) or other not-for-profit organisations which are based in, or operate for the benefit of residents in the shaded circle areas on the map. This includes parish & town councils where the activity is not statutory in nature. The groups must be formally constituted and operate for public benefit.

To be eligible, groups (and projects) that apply for funding should clearly demonstrate why they meet the vision for “thriving people and places in our local communities”. Additionally, they must have one (or more) of the following areas of focus:
• Helping those most in need within the community, particularly those who are isolated or disadvantaged.
• The improvement of the local environment, accessible community areas or buildings, and green spaces.
Priority is given to projects/groups that best align to our vision of; “thriving people and places in our local communities”. Grant of up to £5,000 are available.

The Helen Hamlyn Trust

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
We are an independent grant-making trust which initiates medium and long-term major projects linked to the shared interests of Lady Hamlyn and her late husband Lord Hamlyn.
Our core ethos is to develop innovative projects, which aim to effect lasting change, improve quality of life and create opportunity for the benefit of the public. Our grant-making
is in the fields of medicine, arts, culture, education, welfare, healthy ageing, and more. Small grants are made to local and regional charities up to £10,000.

John Sykes Foundation

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We support a wide range of organisations and causes within 5 miles of Reading (including parts of the Wokingham Borough such as Woodley, Twyford, Winnersh, Earley and Arborfield)
that make a positive impact. Our grants vary depending on the type and length of support required. Please ensure you read our application guidelines and try our eligibility quiz.

Proud To Pitch In Clubs Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis. The Proud To Pitch In fund by Greene King is open throughout the year and offer grants of up to £4,000 to grassroots and community sports clubs across the United Kingdom. To be eligible for funding, projects must be located in the United Kingdom and project beneficiaries must be aged 18 or over. If you are involved in running a grassroots sports club you can apply online.

Asda Foundation – Cost of Living Grant

Grants are available for local community groups in the UK who are affected by the increase in the cost of living. Volunteer-related costs, rent/utilities expenses and food/essentials are supported by the grant.
Application deadline: 24 May 2024

Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF)

Funding for public bodies, non-government organisations, community groups, charities, individuals and private companies, to support the planting and establishment of large and small trees in urban and peri-urban areas of England.
Application deadline: 30 June 2024

B and Q Foundation

We help charities who are supporting people in need in the UK – those experiencing homelessness, in financial hardship, impacted by health, disability, or other disadvantage or distress. We believe that everyone needs a place to feel at home. So, we are looking to fund projects that decorate, renovate, or create spaces where people can feel at home and have a sense of belonging. This can be both indoor and outdoor. Providing grants for a wide range of charities who are looking for funding to improve or develop spaces that benefit their local communities.
We know that charities are pushed for time and that is why we work with the team at Neighbourly to make the application process as easy as possible. Follow the three-step process below to apply for a B&Q Foundation grant.
We award grants of up to £10,000 for building or indoor projects, and up to £5,000 for garden projects. We want to provide funding that covers the full cost for the completion of the project, so please include an estimated value of staff time required.

Screwfix Foundation

Organisation criteria Project eligibility Your organisation must be a charity or not for profit company based in the UK and:

  • Registered as a charity in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland; or
  • Registered as a Not for Profit company at Companies House or the registered on the FCA mutuals register.

We fund projects which improve a physical building (or land attached to it) that is used by people in need. The types of projects we fund are:

  • Improved energy efficient lighting & heating
  • Installation of new kitchen, bathroom etc.
  • Installation of a sensory room
  • General painting & decorating
  • Improving safety and security of a building.

You will need to provide details on the number of direct beneficiaries that will be impacted by the project, who will benefit from the project and detail what you are requesting funding for. Please think carefully about your project and whether you can accept a partial award and how funding will be raised if the total project is in excess of £5,000. We prioritise applications where we are able to fund the total project amount. To review your application, we will need to have certainty that your project will go ahead.
Screwfix Foundation | Screwfix

Deadline: 10th May 2024

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