Grant Directories

The Tabhair Trust is passionate about nurturing small to medium sized charities in their aspirations to change communities and restore broken lives through providing opportunities for education, training and personal advancement. The trust provides grants of between £500 and £5000 for both individual projects and core costs to charitable organisations registered and working in the UK and Ireland.

The Royal British Legion Employment grant is available to all ex-serving armed forces personnel and their families, specifically those who are unemployed or under employed. There are two types of grant available: A training, travel, accommodation and equipment grant – Provides applicants with support to address unemployment or under-employment. Childcare and medical costs linked to difficulties around attending training are also considered. The cap for this grant is £1,000; A licences grant – A licence grant is awarded if it will assist applicants to find or continue work. Typically, this is to fund the provision of a professional licence that is needed for the applicants work, for example a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. This is a one-off grant with a cap of £250.

The Royal Society of Chemistry's Travel Grants for PhD Students and Early Career Scientists programme provides funding of up to £500 for travelling to attend RSC-run conferences or workshops. Members may also apply to their Division (excluding the Industry and Technology Division) for a competitive grant to support their participation at any scientific conference or workshop anywhere in the world.

ScreenSkills is the industry-led skills body for the screen industries – film, television (including children's, unscripted and high-end), VFX (visual effects), animation and games. Through the bursaries programme they provide funding to remove the obstacles to getting into the screen industries or progressing a career once in the industry. Funding is available for to pay for most things that relate to work and continuing professional development, such as training fees, accommodation, care, disability access costs, equipment, software and travel.

The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe aims to ensure that Jewish culture and heritage are actively supported, valued and looked after for generations to come. Through the Archives and Libraries Professional Training Programme the foundation provides grants for the training of staff at all levels, including archivists, librarians, conservators, photographers, etc. This may include consultation visits by archival or library experts to European Jewish institutions, as well as learning trips by archival or library staff members seeking to visit experts based at other European institutions. This may also cover visits by professionals to help seek strategic advice for the future of their archive or library.

The Youth Futures Foundation aims to transform the lives of young people by unlocking potential and addressing the root causes of youth unemployment.  With a £90 million endowment from the Reclaim fund, the Foundation will support cutting edge solutions and like-minded people to harness the potential of all young people missing out on meaningful employment.  Through the Impact grants programme the Foundation is looking to find, fund, support and evaluate promising practice. Funding will go to organisations working with young people aged 14-24 to help overcome barriers to finding meaningful work. The Foundations is looking for approaches that can be tested, evaluated and, where proven to be effective, expanded to more young people.

Groundwork is a federation of charities working nationally and locally to transform lives in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. Groundwork is administering the  ESFA Community Training Grants: Dorset programme on behalf of the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund. The focus of these grants will be to fund projects which support participants who are over 16 years of age, eligible to work in the UK and either unemployed or economically inactive. Successful applicants are expected to be able to help move individuals into work, or closer to employment, by providing vocational training, advice, guidance and information.

Groundwork is a federation of charities working nationally and locally to transform lives in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. Groundwork is administering the  ESFA Community Training Grants: Swindon and Wiltshire programme on behalf of the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the European Social Fund. The focus of these grants will be to fund projects which support participants who are over 16 years of age, eligible to work in the UK and either unemployed or economically inactive. Successful applicants are expected to be able to help move individuals into work, or closer to employment, by providing vocational training, advice, guidance and information.

The Wolfson Foundation awards grants to support and promote excellence in education, science & medicine, the arts & humanities and health & disability. Through its Funding for Charities Working in Mental Health funding stream the Foundation aims to support organisations that are focused on mental illness. Grants are awarded towards capital projects with an emphasis on projects which focus on training, employment and supported housing.

The Henry Smith Charity is one of the largest independent grant making trusts in the UK. The Improving Lives grant programme provides grants to charitable organisations that help people in need when other sources of support have failed, are inappropriate, or are simply not available. Funding of between £20,000 and £70,000 per year for a maximum of three years is available to established organisations delivering services directly to beneficiaries. The Henry Smith Charity are looking for services which can demonstrate a track record of success, and evidence the effectiveness of the work.

The Cruach Trust is a small Scottish charity that aims to make a difference with its donations. Although the Trust has a preference for supporting gardeners, retired gardeners and for preserving gardens throughout the United Kingdom, donations can be made to a wide range of organisations with charitable objectives in the UK and abroad. Previous grants have been awarded to support horticultural apprenticeships; gardens, wildlife and the natural environment; music, the arts and cultural charities; medical research and support and to organisations working with children, the elderly and vulnerable.

The Degree Apprenticeships Development Fund (DADF) provides funding to support new degree apprenticeships by: Creating new higher-quality apprenticeships; establishing capacity and expertise to deliver them and making broader educational opportunities available to learners. This funding is available for the development of degree apprenticeships courses only.

Dorset Community Foundation is one of the delivery partners of Comic Relief's Local Communities programme. Through the programme, grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 are available to support projects that will empower local people and enable them to create lasting change in their communities. Projects should be run by people directly affected by the issues they are dealing with and priority will be given to small, locally based groups or organisations in areas of disadvantage that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community. Organisations can apply for funding to improve people's life skills, education, employability and enterprise; maximise people's ability to strengthen community cohesion and build social capacity; and advance people's physical and mental health, wellbeing and safety.

The National Lottery Community Fund is matching funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020 to provide joint investment in local projects tackling the root causes of poverty, promoting social inclusion and driving local jobs and growth. The National Lottery Community Fund expect the funding to be delivered in 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas according to local priorities, which have been set by the LEPs, and will support projects ranging from improving employability for the most disadvantaged, helping those with multiple and complex needs, to improving financial literacy.

Small Enterprises recruiting 16 – 24 year olds can now apply for apprenticeship grants of up to £1,500 the AGE 16 to 24 programme. Priority will be given to small employers with less than 50 employees and the Government expects to support at least 40,000 of these employers to recruit an apprentice for the first time. The £1,500 is in addition to the training costs of the Apprenticeship framework which are met in full for young people aged 16 to 18 and 50% for those aged 19 to 24. It is expected that most employers will want to access AGE 16 to 24 to support the recruitment of one apprentice. However subject to budget availability and the employer’s commitment to support the apprentice to the end of their programme, up to 5 grants can be made to any one employer.

LandAid, the property industry's charity, provides grants to charities seeking funding for projects  that help the young and disadvantaged access the facilities, skills and opportunities to fulfill their potential. The grants are made available to enable charities and other not-for-profit organisations to create new bedspaces for young people aged 16 to 25 who are or have been homeless.