Grant Directories

London Community Foundation (LCF) is one of 48 community foundations across the UK. LCF is dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged Londoners. Through the Broadgate Community Fund the foundation provides grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 to registered charities, voluntary or community groups, and other not-for-profit organisations that provide projects or services benefitting the community in the London Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and the City of London with a priority on the wards of Hoxton West, Haggerston, Spitalfields, Banglatown, Weavers and Portsoken. Applications must address at least one of the following themes: Children and young people: improving the lives of children and young people in the area, with a focus on skills development and access to opportunity; Older People: improving the wellbeing of older people in the area; Homelessness: addressing homelessness in the area, with a focus on access to accommodation and housing support.

The Ocado Foundation is the charitable arm of Ocado Group, working for the benefit of communities across the UK. Through the Ocado Foundation for Good programme, the Foundation provides grants of up to £1,000 to charities, community organisations, community interest companies, academic institutions, and local authorities for community projects which focus their efforts on three core areas: skills for the future, natural resources and responsible sourcing. 

The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation is a grant making foundation that give grants to small and medium sized local organisations in the UK with a demonstrable track record of success working to address local issues in communities of extreme urban deprivation and deprived rural districts. Through the small grants programme the foundation provides funding of between £2,000 and £10,000 to charitable organisations with an income of less than £250,000 for projects that focus on Community Support. Examples of the kind of projects that can be funded include: CommunityServices; CommunityCentres; Alternative Education; Training, mentoring, employment and volunteering opportunities; Youth; Counselling; Family Support Services; Substance Misuse.

The Integrated Communities English language programme aims to enhance the English language skills of people living in communities where there is a high proportion of people speaking little or no English. A total of £6 million is available between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020. The aim is to help integrate non-English speakers by building their confidence to engage outside their immediate community and mix with people from different backgrounds alongside improving proficiency in English. The funding is available to partnerships and consortia of training providers operating ...

The Voctech Impact Fund aims to raise the skills level of the UK workforce through digital solutions for vocational learning. The fund will offer grants of £150,000 plus, for projects up to 18 months long. The emphasis of the project must be on new learning tools which use genuinely innovative methods to raise the skills levels for a significant number of learners.

As part of BT's Community Fibre Partnerships programme eligible communities in the final 5% of the UK not covered by fibre broadband rollout plans can apply for a match-funded grant of up to £30,000 toward the cost of their new fibre infrastructure where that new infrastructure could also serve their local school. Community Partnerships must first register to find out if they are eligible to apply.

The Thomas Wall Trust offers grants up to £5,000 towards specific projects or core activities that support literacy, numeracy, digital and additional skills for learning that are likely to assist employment prospects. The Trust recognises that the future of the labour market will become increasingly competitive, with employers placing greater emphasis on transferable skills.

The Jill Franklin Trust is a grant making organisation which supports five areas: Self-Help groups - advice, training, and employment, to support people with a mental illness or learning difficulties , and their carers (parents etc.); Organisations helping and supporting refugees and asylum-seekers coming to or in the UK; The restoration (not "improvement") of churches of architectural importance and occasionally to other buildings of architectural importance, the church should be open to visitors every day; Local schemes to help prisoners to resettle, or to inhibit delinquency; Bereavement counselling. The Trust has about £80,000 a year to spend, however grants are typically between £500 and £1000. Applications may be submitted at any time.

The Sir John Fisher Foundation is a charitable trust; it supports charitable causes particularly in the six categories of Maritime, Medical and Disability, Education, Music, Arts and Community projects in and around Barrow-in-Furness. In the local area community projects involving sick, disabled, children, education, family support, maritime, arts and music will receive priority. Funding is available for both capital and revenue, there is no general limit to the grant for any one project but most grants given are for less than £20,000; urgent grants for up to £4,000 may be considered between trustees meetings which are held twice a year in May and November.

The British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world. Grants will be made for education or training and priority will be given to projects which widen educational access and opportunity and reduce the barriers to achievement, in keeping with the Society’s vision to maximise educational opportunity for all. Applications are expected to address needs for which resources from the state-sponsored education system are not available or adequate. Priority will be given to projects in areas of deprivation or educational disadvantage. This may include areas that have suffered some form of natural disaster. BFSS also has a priority programme to support looked after children and young carers in the UK.

The Portals Trust supports a wide range of educational establishments, special education projects, grants and bursaries in and around the City of London. The foundation supports Individuals, Schools and Organisations with the aim of improving education for disadvantaged children and young people under 25 who live in Inner London. The funding available is in the form of bursaries and scholarships for individuals and grants of between £10,000 and £30,000 for schools and other organisations. The four focus areas for grant giving are: Widening participation in Further and Higher Education; Truancy, Exclusion and Behaviour management; Prisoner Education; and New Initiatives. Initial applications can be submitted at any time.

Established in 1891, the Trust was formerly known as City Parochial Foundation. Trust for London is the largest independent charitable foundation funding work which tackles poverty and inequality in the capital. They are particularly interested in work that develops new and imaginative ways of addressing the root causes of London’s social problems, especially work which has the potential to influence and change policy, practice and public attitudes. The Trust focuses on four areas: Employment, Advice, Social Justice and Violence, plus it has a specific programme for small groups which funds activities that tackle poverty and inequalities and have an emphasis on user involvement and self-help.

UnLtd is the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK and supports individuals who have their social ventures firmly rooted in delivering positive social change. It operates a unique model by investing directly in individuals and offering a complete package of resources; from awards of funding to ongoing advice, networking and practical support. UnLtd resource community entrepreneurs to start-up; support those with more established social ventures to scale up; and are committed to developing an eco-system of support to make it easier for those who need help to find it. UnLtd offers a number of programmes with varying levels of funding and support. Please refer to the funder's website for details.

The Quartet Community Foundation is an independent charity that supports small, community-based charities and voluntary groups in the West of England (Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire) whose work benefits local people. The Foundation gives grants to a broad range of causes and welcome applications from both new and established groups. The Foundation runs its own grants programme called the Express Programme which awards grants of up to £5,000. The Foundation also manages a range of other grants programmes with their own priorities, criteria and closing dates.

Community Foundations support community and voluntary sector activity through grants to local groups and organisations. There are 48 Community Foundations of different sizes within the UK. Although all Community Foundations operate according to common criteria, they vary in terms of size and nature of grants available. Some Community Foundations will fund both organisations and individuals whilst other foundations will only fund organisations. Each community foundation covers a specific geographic area and will not normally be able to support work outside its area.