October Funding Opportunities

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Tesco Fruit & Veg Grants – open now for applications!

Groundworks and Tesco, are helping schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations improve access to fruit and vegetables for children and young people across the UK.

From breakfast clubs and holiday clubs to growing initiatives and cooking projects, Tesco Fruit & Veg Grants offers funding of up to £1,500 to support local projects that help children and young people access healthy food.

Examples include:

  • Breakfast/after school clubs that provide fruit and veg for pupils
  • Sports clubs that provide healthy food as part of the project or a much-needed half time boost
  • Growing initiatives to grow your own fruit and veg or cooking classes using the food to learn
  • Holiday clubs that provide healthy meals and snacks
  • Projects providing SEND provision with healthy snacks/meals
  • Youth clubs that provide a healthy meal/snack
  • Addressing holiday hunger amongst children outside of school time
  • Healthy eating projects that support families to cook healthy meals on a budget
  • Foodbanks to provide food support to families

Cash4Clubs (Flutter UKI)

A £500,000 pot for grassroots sport, shared as flat grants of £2,000 (€2,000 in Ireland). The money is unrestricted and can go on anything that helps a club keep going or grow its sports activities for adults, such as venue hire, utilities, equipment, coaching or insurance.
Where: UK wide. The scheme supports clubs and organisations across the UK and Ireland.
Deadline: Opens Thursday 1 October 2026 and closes Friday 1 January 2027.
Eligibility: Community sports clubs and organisations using sport for social purpose. One grant per club; read the scheme’s FAQ for full eligibility.

Country Houses Foundation

Grants for the repair and conservation of rural historic buildings and structures, their gardens, grounds and outbuildings, and for conserving paintings and sculpture in historic house collections open to the public. Grants run from £1,000 to £250,000, with the top end only in exceptional cases and most under £50,000. The work must be needed within two to three years, be ready to start within one to two, offer public access and show financial need. Routine maintenance, alterations, running costs and most churches are excluded.
Where: England and Wales.
Deadline: Rolling. Applications can be made at any time.
Eligibility: Owners, including charities, institutions, local authorities and private individuals, with legal responsibility for repairing the building, normally through ownership or a full repairing lease with at least 20 years left.

The Tree Council and Defra: Trees Outside Woodland Fund

Grants of £10,000 to £40,000 per application for trees and supporting capital items outside woodland: street trees, parks, playgrounds, hedgerows and orchards. The pot is £2.5 million and applications are reviewed in order of arrival, so apply early.
Where: England only.
Deadline: 31 October 2026, or earlier if all the money has been allocated.
Eligibility: Local authorities and registered charities. Check the fund page for the income threshold that applies to charities.

The Wildlife Trusts Green Community Grants

About Us: The Wildlife Trusts Green Community Grants programme supports grassroots, not-for-profit organisations in England, Scotland and Wales to deliver outdoor nature projects. The programme provides flexible one-year grants aimed at supporting nature recovery, responding to the climate emergency, and improving nature-rich spaces and access to them.
Criteria:

  • Open to not-for-profit organisations in England, Scotland and Wales.
  • Organisations must have been operating for at least 12 months.
  • Main aims must align with one of the two funding themes:
  • Contributing to nature recovery and responding to the climate emergency.
  • Improving nature-rich spaces and access to them.
    Funding can also support wider environmental activities such as recycling, litter picking, beach cleans and sustainable transport.
    Priority will be given to:
    Organisations with annual incomes of £250,000 or less.
    Organisations working in the most deprived communities or supporting marginalised groups.
    Organisations whose governing objectives focus on protecting or restoring habitats or species.
    Grant Size: £10,000–£25,000 for one-year flexible grants.
    Deadline for Applications: 21st October 2026

Great British Energy (GBE) Community Fund

About Us: The Great British Energy (GBE) Community Fund provides £20 million in grants to help community-based organisations develop and build community-owned clean energy projects in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Criteria:

Applicants must be based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Applicants must be legally incorporated as one of the following: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), Community Benefit Society (CBS/Bencom), Community Interest Company (CIC), Co-operative Society, Development Trust, Pre-commencement society, Incorporated registered charity, Registered Social Landlord, Registered Society or Town or Parish Council
Applicants must have a bank account with two signatories.
Joint applications are permitted where all partners are eligible organisations.
Projects developed through the funding must be at least 50% community-owned.
Funding is available through three stages:
Stage 1 – Feasibility: test whether a project idea is viable.
Stage 2 – Development: develop a viable idea into an investment-ready project.
Stage 3 – Capital: support construction-ready projects to address remaining funding gaps.
All grant funding must be defrayed and claimed by 31st March 2028, except Stage 1 projects that have requested payment in advance.
Grant Size:

Stage 1 – Feasibility: Up to £40,000
Stage 2 – Development: Up to £100,000
Stage 3 – Capital: Up to £3 million, or 50% of the total project value
Deadline for Applications: 12th November 2026

Matthew Good Foundation

About Us: The Matthew Good Foundation’s Grants for Good Fund supports small charities, not-for-profit groups and social entrepreneurs working to make a difference for people, communities and the environment. The fund also welcomes innovative ideas from people seeking funding to get new projects started.
Criteria:

Open to small charities, not-for-profit groups and social entrepreneurs.
Applicants must have had an income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months.
Both established projects and new, innovative ideas can apply.
Five shortlisted projects are selected every three months and voted on by John Good Group employees.
Funding can support projects benefiting people, communities and the environment.
Grant Size: £2,000–£5,000
Deadline for Applications: 15th December 2026

The Wildlife Trust- Green Community Grant

Funder: The Wildlife Trusts, with support from Postcode Lottery players. Programme: Green Community Grants Programme. Purpose: To support community-led organisations working to restore nature, tackle climate change and improve access to nature-rich spaces across the UK. Funding available: Grants of up to £25,000. Funding type: One-year flexible funding that can support both project delivery and certain organisational costs.

Geographical area: England, Scotland and Wales. Who Can Apply? Registered charities, Community organisations, Voluntary groups, Other not-for-profit organisations.

Organisations must have been operating for at least 12 months and have signed annual accounts.

Income Eligibility
Organisations must have an annual income between £10,000 and £1 million.

The maximum grant request cannot exceed 25% of annual income shown in the organisation’s latest accounts.

Funding Themes
Organisations must have a primary purpose aligned to one of the following themes:

  • Contributing to nature recovery and responding to the climate emergency.
  • Improving nature-rich spaces and access to them.

Funding Priorities
Priority will be given to organisations:

  • With an annual income below £250,000.
  • Working within communities in the top 15% most deprived areas.
  • Supporting marginalised communities.
  • Supporting disabled people.
  • Supporting communities experiencing racial inequity.
  • Supporting LGBTQ+ communities.
  • Working on habitat and species restoration or protection.

Key Dates
Current funding round opens: 30 September 2026.

Application deadline: 21 October 2026.

This is the final application window for the 2026 programme.

The The Wildlife Trusts Green Community Grants Programme provides flexible grants of up to £25,000 for charities and community organisations working to protect nature, tackle climate change and improve access to green spaces. The programme prioritises smaller organisations operating in disadvantaged communities and those supporting marginalised groups. With funding available for a wide range of environmental and community-led activities, this is an excellent opportunity for organisations delivering practical projects that improve both the natural environment and community wellbeing.

Connecting Communities grants – Morrisons Foundation

The Connecting Communities grants offer up to £20,000 to charities who provide placed-based services to the entire community or specific groups.

Funding is available to support capital projects that:

  • Breathe new life into local spaces: Upgrade and revitalise buildings and outdoor areas.
  • Bring people together: Reduce social isolation and foster a strong sense of belonging.
  • Secure the future: Ensure vital local services remain open and accessible for generations to come.

There is no fixed deadline to apply for a Connecting Communities grant, they process applications monthly.

Let’s Celebrate Towns – Visa and Nationwide

Let’s Celebrate Towns returns in 2026 as a joint initiative between Visa and Nationwide, recognising the communities driving stronger, more vibrant local economies across the UK – reflecting a shared commitment to thriving high streets and local communities. There’s a £20,000 grant for each winner to put toward a community project or initiative.

Five towns will be recognised across the following categories:

High Street Revival
Backing Local Business
Protecting Valued Places
Connected Places
Community Pride
They’re inviting entries from across the UK, from:

MPs and local leaders
Local authorities and town councils
Community groups and organisations
Entries close on 25 October 2026.

Community Gardens grants – National Garden Scheme

The Julia Rausing Trust announced a £1.5 million grant to the National Garden Scheme for their Community Garden Grants programme. Funding began in 2025.

The Community Garden Grants programme focuses on support for community groups to create or improve gardens for the benefit of local communities, many of which play an important health and social welfare role through providing community orchards, food banks and settings for local GP social prescribing.

The funding for the Community Garden Grants programme will aid the development of community garden projects with a purpose focussed on demonstrating the health benefits of gardens, and gardening, not only to health and wellbeing, but also to the environment and communities surrounding them.

Individual grants are between minimum £1500 and maximum £5000. The deadline for applications is 30 October 2026.

Screwfix Foundation

The charity supports projects that improve, repair and maintain buildings and facilities used by people in need throughout the UK.

The Screwfix Foundation currently offers local registered charities and not for profit organisations funding in the region of £5,000.

The types of projects they 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
The next deadline for applications is 10 November 2026.

Improving digital presence grants – Fat Beehive Foundation

The Fat Beehive Foundation awards small grants of up to £2,500 to help charities improve their digital presence.

They support UK-based charities with an annual turnover of under £1 million, offering funding for a wide range of digital projects. Whether that’s building a new website, developing online resources, or improving digital accessibility, our aim is to help you reach more people, raise more funds and deliver more impact.

The Foundation can only support a limited number of projects based on the funding available for distribution in any given year. The Trustees are particularly keen to support traditionally hard-to-fund organisations, such as those supporting prisoners, refugees, or disadvantaged youth.

The next deadline for applications is the end of March 2027.

Stanley Smith (UK) Horticultural Trust grants

Grants are available to individuals, organisations and institutions carrying out projects of significance to horticulture, gardening or botany with a strong horticultural element.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of typical projects.

restoring gardens of historic interest;
developing new gardens, or new garden areas within existing gardens, for public access and enjoyment;
exhibitions, book publications, research and educational programmes relating to horticulture;
expeditions and travel to study, collect and protect plants of scientific and horticultural value;
study-visits by horticulturists or botanists with strong horticultural links, and
gardeners’ training schemes run by appropriate organisations (but not to individuals, see Training and Traineeships).
Grants are normally awarded twice a year, in April and September (following application deadlines of 15 February and 15 August). The maximum grant is £5,000 but some organisations only require modest sums and applicants are welcome to apply for grants of less than £500. Typical grants are usually in the range of £3,500- £5,000.

Thanks to Gecko Fundraising, Slough CVS, Involve, Rural Services Network for the information contained in this article.

Connecting Communities in Berkshire Launches New Strategy for 2026-2030

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Helping Berkshire communities thrive for the next 50 years

Connecting Communities in Berkshire (CCB) is proud to launch our new Strategic Plan for 2026-2030, setting out an ambitious vision for stronger, more resilient and sustainable communities across Berkshire.

For more than 50 years, we have worked alongside local communities, helping people tackle challenges, seize opportunities, and shape their own futures. Our new strategy builds on this legacy while responding to the issues communities tell us matter most today: affordable housing, rising energy costs, social isolation, and access to essential services.

A vision for thriving communities

Our vision is simple: for all communities in Berkshire to be strong, resilient, sustainable, and able to take control of their own futures. [

We believe that most communities already have the knowledge, skills and passion they need to create positive change. Our role is to help unlock that potential, ensuring that nobody is disadvantaged because of where they live. When communities thrive, everyone benefits through better health, stronger connections, safer homes and greater opportunities.

Listening to what communities need

The development of our strategy has been shaped by what communities across Berkshire are telling us. Key concerns include:

  • The shortage of affordable homes for local people and key workers.
  • Increasing energy costs and fuel poverty.
  • Growing social isolation and loneliness.
  • Difficulties accessing healthcare and other essential services, particularly in rural areas.

Over the next five years, we will focus our efforts where we can make the greatest difference, working alongside residents, community groups, partners and funders to develop practical, long-term solutions.

Building on proven success

The strategy builds on the impact we are already delivering across Berkshire.

Through our 21st Century Halls programme, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, we are helping village halls become sustainable, accessible and energy-efficient community hubs. These vital spaces support local activities, services and connections that help communities flourish.

We will continue our work supporting affordable housing solutions, providing independent energy advice, tackling fuel poverty, promoting adult learning, and strengthening community networks across the county.

Five pillars for vibrant communities

At the heart of the strategy are five pillars that underpin thriving communities:

  • Community – creating places where people feel connected and supported.
  • Services – ensuring access to health, wellbeing and essential local services.
  • Connections – improving social connections, transport and digital inclusion.
  • Sustainability – supporting resilient communities and environmentally responsible solutions.
  • Your Role – encouraging volunteering, participation and local leadership.

Together, these pillars provide a framework for creating communities where people can live well, participate fully and feel connected to the places they call home.

Working at every level

What makes CCB different is our ability to work across the whole community system. We combine trusted grassroots relationships with strategic partnerships and policy influence, ensuring local voices are heard and reflected in decision-making.

As part of the national ACRE network, we are also able to connect local issues with wider conversations about rural services, housing, energy and community development, helping Berkshire communities benefit from national expertise and influence.

Looking ahead

As we begin this new chapter, we remain committed to listening, learning and evolving. Over the coming months we will strengthen partnerships, develop innovative approaches to tackling isolation, and build on the success of our village halls programme to ensure community spaces remain vibrant and future-ready.

We look forward to working with our members, partners, funders and communities to turn this vision into reality.

Together, we can help Berkshire communities thrive. To read the full document please click here.

Workshop Helps Trustees Build Stronger Committees for Community Halls

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Volunteer trustees from across Berkshire and west Oxfordshire gathered last month, braving the hottest day of the year so far, at Hermitage Village Hall for a practical training session focused on building effective management committees for community buildings and village halls.

The session was led by Kate Meads, Community Buildings Advisor at Connecting Communities in Berkshire, with support from Tessa Hall of sister organisation Community First Oxfordshire and Louise Beaton OBE, co-author of Halls for All: A History of Village Halls.

During the workshop, participants explored the essential ingredients of a successful management committee, including clearly defined roles, positive values and behaviours, effective governance, well-run meetings, and the importance of keeping community spaces safe, legal and welcoming.

Those attending described the event as a valuable opportunity to strengthen their understanding of hall management while also networking with others involved in running local venues.

The training session was interactive and thought-provoking, generating discussion and practical ideas that trustees could take back to their own organisations. It also highlighted one of the biggest challenges currently facing many community buildings: recruiting and attracting new trustees to help sustain these important local assets into the future.

Volunteers who support village halls and community buildings contribute time, experience and practical skills every week. From maintaining premises and organising events to overseeing bookings and finances, much of their work happens behind the scenes, but it remains essential to keeping these spaces open and active.  As Volunteers Week comes to a close we would like to say a massive THANK YOU to them on behalf of their local communities.

Community buildings and village halls continue to play a vital role in local life, providing welcoming places where residents can connect, take part in activities and support one another.

CCB’s role is to support community buildings and village halls by providing advice and guidance where needed, as well as visiting halls to carry out consultations that help ensure they remain fit, vibrant and sustainable well into the 21st century and beyond. Our next training event takes place later this month and will focus on Martyn’s Law – what the legislation is, why it matters, and how it may apply in community settings.

Book your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1985703839638?aff=oddtdtcreator

Thanks to West Berkshire Council Adult Community Learning Team for supporting these training sessions.

From Oxfordshire to Berkshire: Celebrating Community-Led Housing Intiatives

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By Maria Kelly, Rural Housing Enabler

On Saturday 21st February I attended a meeting of the Oxfordshire Community Led Housing Group, hosted by Stonesfield Community Trust at the cosy White Horse Community Pub, Stonesfield.  Stonesfield Community Trust, established in 1983, it was one of the first Community Land Trusts in the UK.  It owns and manages affordable housing in the village for people with a local connection, and the White Horse pub.  The meeting was attended by representatives from several local Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and other community led housing organisations, all at different stages of the journey and facing different challenges and opportunities.

During the day we explored how groups can work better together to deliver a growing potential pipeline of community -led homes, particularly in rural areas where finding suitable land and traditional Housing Associations to develop homes can be difficult.  We took a walk around Stonesfield to look at some of the homes built and managed by the Trust, which blend seamlessly with the older architecture of the village. We looked at a new area in the heart of the village where a glove factory operated in the 1970s, which will soon be the site of three new affordable rented homes built by the Trust.  The new houses will be adjacent to the picturesque Stonesfield Church and Oxfordshire’s oldest gaol – a listed ‘lock up’ owned by the Blenheim estate! 

Thank you to Fiona Brown and Kay Sentance from Community First Oxfordshire for inviting me along, and to the CLTs attending for making me feel so welcome.

There are many ways that communities can own and lead on the development of community assets such as housing and facilities – just consider the amazing work of village hall trustees and parish councils. One of Berkshires few Community land Trusts is Windsor Ascot and Maidenhead CLT, (Home – Windsor Ascot Maidenhead Community Land Trust) which is being supported by CCB to take on affordable housing and other assets in the Royal Borough. Through freehold ownership, CLTs can ensure that housing and other assets are available to the community in perpetuity and cannot be sold off privately or otherwise lost. 

If you are interested in finding out more about Community Land Trusts, contact maria.kelly@ccberks.org.uk

Understanding the Future of Rural Affordable Housing

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As part of our work to support the provision of affordable housing in rural communities, we have been working with colleagues across the rural Thames Valley region and across England to build a better picture of the condition and future of existing rural affordable housing stock.

Much of the rural affordable housing currently in use was built between the post‑war period and the 1970s. While the need for affordable housing in rural areas has increased, in some areas the supply has declined. Homes have been sold onto the open market and not replaced locally. This trend is concerning for rural communities and presents a significant challenge for Rural Housing Enablers and Local Authorities seeking to increase housing supply to meet growing need.

To better understand what is happening and why, CCB is exploring how housing providers manage their rural housing stock and the factors that influence decisions to sell rural affordable homes.

In November 2025, Sovereign Network Group (SNG), West Berkshire’s main provider of rural affordable housing, gave a presentation to the West Berkshire Council Resources and Place Scrutiny Committee. A recording of the meeting is available to view here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/aDHDdoW76ik

Rural residents across Berkshire have shared concerns about the sale of affordable rural homes, many of which are owned by SNG. During their presentation, SNG explained their approach to stock management and the decision‑making process around property sales. This short film brings together some of the key points from that presentation and highlights the important questions it raised.

🎥 Watch the film:

To find out more about our research into the loss of rural affordable homes, please visit our project webpage:
Research into market sales of affordable rural homes | Connecting Communities in Berkshire

If you are aware of sales of affordable homes in your rural community, please let us know by completing our short survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DNFBXP7

Alternatively, you can contact our Rural Housing Enabler directly at maria.kelly@ccberks.org.uk.