Criminal justice: building settled lives for those leaving custody or serving community sentences
Funding theme: Criminal justice, better futures for people leaving custody
This funding programme closed to new applications on Tuesday, 8 October 2024
Grant details
- Area: Greater London or for work with beneficiaries that are Londoners
- Open to: No longer open to new applications
- Deadline: Noon on Tuesday, 8 October 2024
- Funding length: Up to 5 years
- Funding size: There is no minimum or maximum limit to how much we will give, however we never give revenue funding exceeding 50% of the applicants turnover/income in any one year
- Average award: Based on grants made to date, we have awarded between £45,000 and £154,000, the average award size has been £87,000*
*These figures are illustrative and we will award more or less than these amounts depending on the applications we receive. You can find out more about our approach to funding here.
Funding closed to new applications
Having committed exceptional levels of funding to London’s charitable sector until 2026, we closed our rolling grants programmes to new applications on Tuesday, 8 October 2024 for one year. This will allow us to manage our existing grants and pre-closure applications, while reviewing and developing our new funding policy, launching in autumn 2025.
Funding closed to new applicationsThis following text is archived and no longer represents an active funding programme
What we fund
We want to fund services which prepare people for release from the custodial system or who are reaching the end of community sentences. By supporting people in this transitional period we hope to reduce the risk of further prison or community sentences.
Examples of projects and organisations we will fund include those that:
prepare and support people for and on release from prison and directly provide or connect them with key services and support, such as safe and secure housing, access to employment and self-employment opportunities
deliver work at specialist premises that support marginalised prison leavers, for example, women who have survived domestic abuse
tackle inequalities in custodial sentencing
advocate for evidence of alternatives to custody
We can support work taking place within prisons and young offenders institute only when that work is in preparation for release and when these facilities are in Greater London or the beneficiary groups are Londoners.
Wherever possible, we seek to support projects and organisations that involve the communities the project or organisation serves in shaping its services and/or that are majority-staffed or run by those with lived experience of the issues they address.
Funding staff costs
We will not usually pay for staff costs beyond one full-time equivalent staff post. For example, we could pay for one full-time staff member, or two part-time staff, both working 17.5 hours a week. We will only fund staff posts that are paid the London Living Wage or above.