Grants & support for London’s charitable sector

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Hear about the latest open funding opportunities and offers of free support for London’s charitable and social enterprise sector.

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The Leeds Building Society Foundation awards grants to registered charities who align with this purpose and work in the housing and homelessness sector.

They offer small grants of up to £2,500 and large grants of up to £75,000 across one, two or three years.

Alongside the purpose of supporting those in need of a safe and secure home, applications must meet one or more of the following funding priorities:

• Financial stress
• Security and refuge
• Quality and suitability of housing

Applications are considered every three months. The next application deadline is Monday, 2 March and the following deadline is Monday 1 June 2026. 

Learn more: Leeds Building Society Foundation

This grant and capacity-building programme can provide £13,000 — £48,000 in multi-year funding to Black-led initiatives that support Black and Mixed Black heritage researchers, their wellbeing, careers, community, skills, leadership and ability to progress in research spaces.

Successful initiatives will also receive practical support to strengthen governance, leadership, operational readiness and long-term sustainability, driving long-term change in research culture.

Organisations are eligible for this opportunity as long as income gained by the funded initiative does not exceed £150k annually.

Eligible initiatives may be registered (charities, community interest companies, social enterprises, limited companies) or sole trader/​unincorporated/​unregistered groups with appropriate governance.

Innovate Now is designed to support researchers, not to directly fund research projects. Application deadline: Wednesday, 25 March 2026.

A second application window will be available between 7 September and 27 November 2026.

Learn more: Innovate Now with Wellcome

Good, relevant financial education isn’t always easy to find. This can keep people stuck in hardship and stop communities from becoming stronger and more financially capable.

Quilter’s Financial Futures Grants are designed to support large‑scale UK programmes that deliver financial education at key life moments (e.g. entering the workforce, financial hardship, retirement planning).

Grants of up to £1m are available over five years.

The grants come with a required sub‑programme tailored to a specific priority group identified by your organisation (e.g. women, disabled people, ethnic minority communities, care leavers, refugees, single parents).

Expressions of interested should be submitted by midnight on Monday, 23 March 2026.

Learn more: Financial Futures Fund

The Our Space Award aims to help Londoners clean and green the city through active community engagement and participation, increasing a sense of community ownership over shared spaces.

The grants support Londoners of all ages and backgrounds, communities and schools in greening their neighbourhoods, making them inclusive places for all to enjoy.

• Small grants of £500 to £2,000
• Standard grants of £2,000 to £5,000

Funded activities could include:

• Tree planting (each project can plant at least one tree)
• Climate resilience and adaptations to climate change
• Improvements to water quality and drainage through planting and reducing hard surfaces
• Ecological and biodiversity benefits
• Climate education alongside physical improvements
• Improving air quality
• Reducing health inequalities and social isolation

Projects should harness existing and new volunteer efforts in improving all types of open space, whilst engendering a true sense of civic pride amongst participants and encouraging a greater sense of ownership felt by communities over their shared spaces.

Application deadline: midday on Monday, 16 March 2026.

Learn more: Our Space Award

The recipients of Wise Music Foundation donations are primarily – but not exclusively – children, the elderly and the disabled.

Their average donation is £1,500 with donations typically ranging from £500 — £5,000.

Alongside areas such as education, cultural activities and arts and heritage, the Foundation often helps with health issues, food banks and other worthy causes.

The Wise Music Foundation trustees meet on a quarterly basis to make funding decisions. Applications received by the end of May will be reviewed in June.

Learn more: Wise Music Foundation

The Youth Music Catalyser Fund offers grants between £30,001 and £300,000 to organisations in England who want to sustain work, scale-up delivery, or create change in sector practice.

Catalyser programmes must support children and young people who face barriers to make, learn or earn in music, and aim to make music activity more inclusive so everyone can access it.

Your work must meet one of these themes:

• Early years
• Disabled, d/​Deaf and neurodivergent young people
• Youth justice system
• Young people facing barriers
• Young adults
• Organisations and the workforce

Expression of interest deadline: 5pm on Friday, 20 March 2026.

Learn more: Youth Music Catalyser Fund

Registered charities, community interest companies, co-operative societies and community benefit societies can apply to the Ofgem Energy Saving Trust for funds to deliver energy-related projects that meet the scheme’s priorities.

Available grants range from £20,000 to £1 million.

The core priority of this funding aims to help people who are most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills. Alongside the main fund, there are opportunities to fund:

• Projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit households.
• Projects that will reduce UK carbon emissions and empower households to reduce their carbon footprint.
• Projects that will develop community renewable energy which will benefit energy consumers in vulnerable situations.

Application deadline: 5pm on Monday, 2 March 2026.

Learn more: Ofgem Energy Redress Scheme

Scale your impact venture with expert mentorship and up to £50,000 in funding.

The CVC DIF–Allia Accelerator Challenge is a six-month programme designed to help impact-driven UK start-ups and social enterprises turn strong ideas into scalable solutions.

The initiative provides bespoke support to help ventures build traction, strengthen strategy, and accelerate measurable social or environmental impact.

Over six months, you’ll refine your go-to-market strategy and product-market fit, strengthen your impact story, test assumptions with real users, sharpen your commercial strategy, and prepare to scale through a combination of mentoring, coaching, and curated connections. The journey culminates in a high-energy Pitch Day celebration.

Apply by Tuesday, 31 March 2026.

Learn more: CVC DIF Accelerator Challenge

The National Lottery Community Fund has removed the application deadlines from its Awards for All – Environment funding stream.

Grants of £300 to £20,000 are available, to support community-led projects that improve the environment and help people connect with and enjoy nature where they live.

Funding can be used to:

• start a new activity or continue an existing one
• help your organisation adapt to new challenges
• run one-off events that have a clear environmental benefit

Applications are now accepted on a rolling basis, with no deadline.

Learn more: National Lottery Awards for All England – Environment

The Access to Justice Foundation’s new funding programme – Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 – is now open to applications.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, this programme will award £3.9m in unrestricted three-year funding to organisations delivering free legal advice services across London and other areas.

The aim of the programme is to increase access to justice for communities that need it most. Available funding ranges from £150,000 to £300,000 over three years (£50k to £100k per year)

Application deadline: Monday, 16 March 2026.

Learn more: The Access to Justice Foundation

The Matrix Causes Fund provides support to organisations which promote access to justice, equality of opportunity, or a sustainable environment.

The Fund prioritises organisations based in London, and / or those organisations who focus is on supporting the needs of vulnerable persons such as people (particularly children) with disabilities, women in refuges, refugees and asylum seekers, people with mental health difficulties, prisoners etc.

UK charity applicants can apply for: a one-off grant of up to £6,500 or a multi-year grant of up to £4,500 a year, for up to three years.

Application deadline: midday on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.

A second application window will be available between 1 July and 30 September 2026. Learn more: Matrix Causes Fund

Funding to support charitable bodies working with young people suffering from depression and mental health issues or who are confronting drug abuse issues.

Typically grants will be up to £10,000 and at most will be for 50% of the total budgeted cost of the proposed project or programme.

Application deadlines: Wednesday, 1 April 2026 and Thursday, 1 October 2026.

Learn more: The Sasha Foundation

The James Tudor Foundation supports charities that help children and young people recovering from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and parents affected by ACEs, mental illness, or addiction.

Grants of up to £25,000 per year are available, with a typical grant value of £10,000 — £15,000.

The Foundation welcomes from charities that:

• Have as their key focus preventing and/​or reducing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences – helping children and young people, and parents and caregivers.
• Use trauma-informed approaches and evidence-based interventions.
• Are actively patient led in shaping, running, and improving their services.
• Can demonstrate real impact through their own evaluations or independent research.
• Have an annual income of less than £20m and at least five years’ audited or independently examined accounts.

Expressions of interest are considered at Board meetings every four months.

The James Tudor Foundation also provides funding for health charities that provide therapeutic interventions, health information, and direct healthcare.

Learn more: James Tudor Foundation

Apply now to join Investec Beyond Business programme to get grant funding, expert support and mentorship from the Bromley by Bow Centre and Investec.

Whether you are starting out or expanding, this programme could help you make a lasting impact in East London. Each year, five new social enterprises are chosen and provided them with an ongoing business support package and funding of up to £24,000.

Chosen enterprises tackle a variety of social issues, including youth unemployment, social exclusion, community cohesion, homelessness, mental health, rehabilitation of ex-offenders and food poverty. They also look to encourage engagement from under-represented groups such as women and ethnic minority applicants.

Application deadline: Sunday 15 March 2026

Learn more: Investec Beyond Business

Aviva has launched the Aviva Foundation, bringing together its existing charitable funds into a single programme to increase the impact of its giving across the UK.

The Foundation focuses on improving financial resilience and supporting community-led climate action, while continuing to fund both local and national organisations. It operates through two funding streams.

The Financial Futures Fund provides multi-year grants to larger organisations tackling financial insecurity. This fund’s minimum grant size is £100,000 with no upper limit. Typical grants range from £250,000 to £300,000, spread over three years. Next application deadline is Wednesday 15 April 2026, with a second round deadline of Wednesday, 7 October 2026.

The Communities Fund supports smaller charities through a matched-funding model. Successful applicants can receive up to £25,000 in match funding per calendar year. That means if you raise £25,000, you’ll receive an additional £25,000 in match funding – bringing the total funds raised total to £50,000. Apply at any time.

Learn more: Aviva Foundation

Supported by City Bridge Foundation, DSC the directory of social change has a range of opportunities for small charities in London.

These include special access to two upcoming conferences:

• The Charity Management Conference 2026 – online conference on Thursday, 5 March 2026
• Ultimate Guide to Marketing your Charity 2026 – online conference on Thursday, 11 June 2026

DSC also offer free access to valuable publications and courses, as well as access to their online platform Funds Online, a database providing information on over 8,000 potential charitable funders.

Learn more: Free resources

This survey is aimed at people working or volunteering in UK charities, community organisations and social enterprises who apply for or receive grants.

Run by IVAR, the Institute for Voluntary Action Research, your insights can help them shape discussions around funding — and enable them to advocate for change across the Open and Trusting community (which includes City Bridge Foundation) and beyond.

IVAR are especially keen to reach people who aren’t always heard in conversations about funding. It’s a chance to shape how the sector supports work that really matters — and to offer real insight to funders who are trying to do better.

The survey takes just 10–15 minutes. All eligible participants who complete the survey can opt-in to a prize draw to win one of ten prizes of £100 for their organisation.

The survey closes on Wednesday, 4 March 2026.

Take the survey now

Be part of a movement of lived experience leaders shaping the future.

Communities with direct experience of social or systemic injustices have the ideas and solutions for change, but are often misrepresented, or left out of conversations in the media and with policymakers and other decision makers.

As a result, communities with experiences and expertise that have the potential to positively influence perceptions, practice and policies go unheard.

Sounddelivery Media’s unique seven-month leadership programme aims to diversify the voices we hear in the media and make it more representative of the society we live in.

This programme tackles the barriers that prevent leaders with lived experience from engaging with the people and platforms that have the power to influence national conversations.

The programme is free and travel expenses will be covered. Application deadline: midday on Friday, 20 March 2026.

Learn more: Spokesperson Leadership Programme

The Go! London Capacity Building Programme is designed to empower grassroots sports and physical activity organisations across the capital, helping them grow stronger, more confident, and more resilient in serving young people in their communities — especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. 

Delivered through four, in-person, expert-led sessions at Bayes Business School, the programme offers three tailored paths to match your organisation’s stage of development, ensuring practical learning you can use right away and a network of supportive peers.

The sessions will run between March and June 2026, at Bayes’ Finsbury Square Campus, in the City of London.

Learn more: The Go! London Capacity Building Programme

Touretteshero has launched Knowledge Builders – a new programme funded by Trust for London’s Disability Justice Fund.

The initiative is open to any disabled person who is interested in creating and sharing knowledge. There are eight places available, and you don’t have to have done a research project before.

Touretteshero will work with you to explore your question in exciting and accessible ways and help share what you learn with others. You will have around three months to do your research, between April and June this year, but they can be flexible if you need more time.

If your application is successful you’ll receive:

• Support and mentorship from disabled professionals to help make your project happen.
• Opportunities to meet other disabled thinkers and share ideas.
• A budget of £750.
• Additional budget for access requirements.

Application deadline: Friday, 6 March 2026. The application form uses videos and text to ask you questions. You can respond using text, audio or video.

Apply online here

The Association of Chairs offers face-to-face peer support group sessions that are designed to offer you support and help you build a network of chairs you can call on for ideas, and encouragement.

The next, in-person event on Tuesday, 17 March 2026 will be facilitated by Maggie Pedder and Rachel Mallows MBE DL, co-chairs of the Network of Women Chairs.

It’s a chance to talk about the challenges of chairing, share insights and ideas, learn from two highly experienced facilitators, and build your peer network.

Supported by City Bridge Foundation, these events are free to attend for chairs who are based in London or whose charity serves Londoners.

Learn more: Peer support group session for London chairs

Many founders and entrepreneurs are confused by the funding options available to them. To help them navigate the funding landscape better, Eagle Labs have designed a programme that helps demystify the funding journey and provides founders with the skills and knowledge they need to fund their business growth.

The programme includes ten weeks of online sessions, taking place every Friday from 10am–1pm, covering:

• Grant funding
• Crowdfunding
• Equity investment
• Debt funding
• Alternative ways of funding your business

The programme will also provide opportunities to have mentoring sessions and to attend in person events.

Application deadline: Friday, 13 March 2026

Learn more: Eagle Labs Funding Readiness Programme

Get a clear introduction to social enterprise and the key building blocks for starting a sustainable social business.

This interactive one-hour webinar introduces social enterprise as a way of doing business for social or environmental good. It is being run by SSE, the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

You’ll explore what it means to be a social entrepreneur, how social enterprises generate income, and how profits are used to create benefit. You’ll also map out the core building blocks for getting started: vision, values, mission, need, your model and timing.

Upcoming dates:

• 2–3pm on Tuesday, 3 March 2026
• 10–11am on Thursday, 2 April 2026

Learn more: Introduction to Social Enterprise

This free, practical lunchtime session is ideal for anyone responsible for managing charity or community group premises.

In this online session, the Ethical Property Foundation’s experienced advisers will guide attendees through the essentials of carrying out a risk assessment, including understanding risk, following a step-by-step approach, meeting legal requirements, connecting risk to insurance, and prioritising improvements.

Attendees will receive a free resource kit and can request expert follow-up advice through our Ask a Property Expert service.

Date: 12–1pm on Thursday, 19 March 2026. Book your free place: Eventbrite

Supported by City Bridge Foundation

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