Grant Directories

Foundation Scotland exists to benefit disadvantaged communities by making grants to support relevant charitable or voluntary organisations, which make a difference to their local communities.  Through the Achlachan Wind Farm Community Fund the foundation provides grants of up to £10,000 to support community activity and development in the Halkirk & District Community Council area, with priority given to projects within a four-kilometre radius of the Achlachan Wind Farm (Fund Priority Area). Grants are available to support the charitable activities of constituted not-for-profit groups working to benefit the communities therein.

The Arts & Culture Impact Fund brings together public, private and charitable funding to provide affordable repayable finance to the UK’s arts, culture and heritage organisations able to demonstrate measurable positive social impact. The funding could be used, among other things, to acquire new assets, improve built infrastructure, develop new ventures or scale up existing revenue streams.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by players of the National Lottery to fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. This could include oral history; cultural traditions; nature; natural and designed landscapes; community archaeology; historic buildings, monuments and environments; collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives; etc.  Grants range from £3,000 to £5,000,000.

Localgiving has teamed up with the Postcode Community Trust to provide the Magic Little Grants programme. The fund provides small charities and community groups with grants of £500 for projects that meet either of the following themes: Overcoming barriers to participation in physical activities in creative ways; Increasing social cohesion through developing access to sports and other recreational activities. 

Creative Scotland’s film development and production fund aims to balance projects that have a strong cultural impact with those that have strong economic potential. Priority will be given to the development and production of projects by filmmakers based in Scotland, as well as projects which reflect or promote Scottish culture, creativity and diversity. Projects which offer significant opportunities to people currently under-represented in the sector will also be a priority. Funding will also be available for the production of projects in Scotland from international producers, but only when working with writing and directing talent based in Scotland.

Music for All is a charity that believes that music is an extremely powerful means of communication, can help to break down cultural barriers and that everyone should have the opportunity to learn to play music. The charity provides funding for individuals to help them to access both musical instruments and lessons to help them to fulfil their musical dreams. It also provides funding for community music groups and educational organisations who have projects that aim to bring music to their community. Grants to groups aim to help them to fulfil their potential and become truly sustainable music programmes. Typical grants for groups are normally in the region of £2500, there are no maximum grant amounts detailed for individuals. There are normally three rounds of funding each year.

Tasgadh is a fund devolved from Creative Scotland, managed by Fèisean nan Gàidheal and open to organisations and individuals. Tasgadh is designed to provide support for traditional artists and organisations to create, perform, tour and showcase work. The fund can also support professional development and learning projects. Tasgadh cannot support the purchase of equipment nor can the fund be used to match other Creative Scotland funds. Examples of projects funded are Pipe Band Workshops and Master-classes, Storytelling Sessions and a Gaelic Choir residential weekend

The Shetland Charitable Trust supports through funding a number of charitable organisations and projects, where there is a clear benefit to the Shetland community. The Arts grants scheme is designed to support not for profit community groups and individuals to develop their art form and/or deliver arts related projects and events that meet local needs and make a lasting difference in the community. The scheme can support all forms of arts genres including visual arts, crafts, drama, dialect, film, literature, music, theatre and combined arts.

The Baring Foundation is an independent grantmaking trust that distributes grants to UK charities. The Arts Programme is aimed at promoting the role of creativity in the lives of people with mental health problems The Foundation believes that everyone has a right to take part in cultural activities and that these also bring benefits in terms of personal health and well-being, as well as community development. Grants under this programme are made by invitation, unless an open programme is advertised on the website.

The Frazer Trust makes grants in a wide range of areas including special/primary and secondary schools. In recent years almost a quarter of funding has gone to medical and other research. During 2019/2020 the Trust awarded 360 grants with a total value of £553,350 to organisations in the UK.

P Leigh Bramwell Trust provides grants for the advancement of the Christian religion, education, the RNLI, the advancement of health or saving lives and any other legal charitable institutions. Grants are made across the UK but priority is given to North West of England especially Bolton and Manchester

The Association considers requests for assistance each year, and selects those that are deemed to be appropriate to the aims and objectives of the Association. Grants may be approved by the Trustees where they are considered to advance the future wellbeing of residents of Galloway but are not connected to the advancement of any business project. The Association supports projects for the arts, education, non-commercial groups and individuals.

The Edina Trust provides grants, for state primary schools in certain regions of the UK, to be used to promote the teaching of science and gardening. The Science Grant Scheme provides grants of up to £600 for full-school science weeks; scientific visits - for trips out of, or visits to the school; purchase of science equipment (but not ipads); school gardening clubs; and improving school grounds for science; etc.

First World War: then and now is a Heritage Lottery Fund Scheme (HLF)  that provides grants of £3,000 to £10,000 for communities to mark the Centenary of the First World War. HLF want to fund projects which enable communities to understand more about the heritage of the First World War and benefit a wide range of people. In particular,  HLF would like to help young people aged 11–25 to take an active part in the  Centenary commemorations.

The Armourers & Brasiers' Company is one of the leading charities in the UK supporting metallurgy and materials science, the modern discipline most closely aligned with the Company's ancient trade of working with metal. The Company gives financial support to schools to nurture achievement, enthusiasm and interest in science among primary and secondary schools students. Funding is available of up to £600 for primary schools and £1,000 for secondary schools. The Armourers and Brasiers' Company also work in partnership with universities, the leading scientific institutions and industrial partners to ensure that support for materials science components of the school science curriculum is readily available to teachers and students.

Each year, the JMK Trust provides talented young and emerging theatre directors with awards, guidance and development opportunities. Applicants must be UK residents under 35 years of age, must not have directed more than two professional productions, including fringe, have professional training in performing arts and must not be a student. As the basis of their proposal, applicants must choose one play from a new list of plays available by emailing jo@jmktrust.org. The Award constitutes a production budget of £25,000 plus space for your production at the Orange Tree Theatre. Runner up prizes of £2,000 may also be awarded.

The Alan Babette Sainsbury Charitable Fund Grant provides grants to registered charities that focus on: arts and education projects which help young people to achieve their potential, particularly within Southwark, from where proposals are particularly encouraged; support for UK charities which defend civil liberties and human rights; projects in the developing world, especially Africa, which maximise educational and employment opportunities for young people; areas of scientific and medical research on Type 1 diabetes. The funding amount is discretionary and applications can be submitted at any time.

The Field Studies Council is an independent educational charity committed to raising awareness about the natural world. They work through a network of 17 residential and day Centres in the UK providing courses for schools and colleges at all levels in addition to adult Individuals & Families courses, outreach education, training and consultancy. The Kids Fund aims to bring environmental understanding to disadvantaged young people by attending a course at a Field Studies Council centre. It helps disadvantaged young people to attend a course who may otherwise be excluded due to some form of disadvantage - health, mobility, deprivation or financial. Funding will normally be up to 75% of the cost of your group's course to an FSC Field Centre. Applications can be submitted at any time with decisions being made in February, June and October.

The Edward Gostling Foundation provides grants to other UK charities with the aim of enhancing quality of life for people in need, more particularly those living on very low incomes who have a physical and/or a mental disability or the elderly. Grants are available under the following 4 themes: Health and Wellbeing; Independent Living at Home; Respite; Transition.

Westhill support projects with strong underlying Christian Values that transform peoples lives, foster empathy between communities and build bridges between people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Grants have been made to a very wide range of successful projects in local communities in churches and cathedrals, hospitals and hospices; and in higher and a wide range of further educational institutions both in the UK and overseas. Most grants range between £500 and £20,000. Larger sums for projects running over two years are considered but matching funding is sometimes advised. Applications can be submitted at any time and these are assessed on a quarterly basis.

The charity aims to fight financial and consumer illiteracy and is dedicated to educating and informing adults and children about consumer and debt issues. It provides grants of up to £500 to help individuals to eradicate this illiteracy through self-development or innovative projects. Eligible groups can apply for grants of up to £7,500. Using funding provided by annual donations from the MoneySavingExpert.com website and proceeds from sales of books written by the website's founder Martin Lewis, MSE Charity aims to help communities break the cycle of debt by helping people to become more financially aware.

The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund is a registered charity which provides funding to voluntary organisations, special schools and PTAs working in the field of learning disability. They consider projects concerning children or adults with severe learning difficulties, together with autism. They do not give grants for research into or care of those with mental illness or dyslexia. Funding is available only to organisations within the UK and grants will not normally be awarded to individuals. Grants are awarded for amounts from £250 and depend on the purpose, the total funding requirement and the potential sources of other funds.  Application for funding is normally considered for capital and revenue costs and for both specific projects and for general running/core costs.