Grants & support for London’s charitable sector — January 2026

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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 Access to Justice Foundation has announced the upcoming launch of a new funding programme – Improving Lives Through Advice 2026. 

This programme will award £3.9m in unrestricted three-year funding to organisations delivering free legal advice services across London and other areas with the aim of increasing access to justice for those who need it most. 

The aim of the programme is to increase access to justice for communities that need it most. 

Applications will open at midday on Monday, 16 February 2026 and close at midday on Monday, 16 March 2026, with grants due to start in June 2026. 

There will be an online information webinar at 2pm on Thursday, 19 February. Funded organisations will be expecting to work with The Access to Justice Foundation to demonstrate the impact of this funding. 

Learn more: The Access to Justice Foundation

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is providing a total of £500,000 to fund activities across England.

The Windrush Day Grant Scheme 2026 will focus on bringing communities together, across different ages and ethnic backgrounds, to raise awareness, foster pride, and encourage & inspire young people, about the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants across the United Kingdom.

The minimum amount available for each project is £5,000 and the maximum is £25,000. 

National Windrush Day takes place on Monday, 22 June 2026 and projects must include a lead event or activity on this date. Other events and activities can take place before Friday, 31 July 2026.

If seeking funding of below £5,000, or more than 50% of your annual turnover, organisations should contact their local authority or council for voluntary service (CVS), to explore the possibility of being included as part of a larger bid. Consortium bids will also be accepted. 

Projects should focus on one of the following overarching celebratory aims of the Windrush Day Grant Scheme:

• Raise awareness
• Foster pride
• Encourage and inspire

Projects should achieve all the following outcomes of the Windrush Day Grant Scheme: 

• Greater community cohesion
• Have a lasting impact beyond the funding period
• Increased acknowledgement of the contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants

Application deadline: 11.59pm on Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Learn more here Guidance for applicants and here Windrush 2026

The Matrix Causes Fund prioritises organisations supporting the needs of the vulnerable, such as people (particularly children) with disabilities, women in refuges, refugees and asylum seekers, people with mental health difficulties, and prisoners.

UK charity applicants can apply for one of the following grants:

• 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

Applications are accepted twice a year. The next application deadline is midday on Tuesday, 31 March 2026. 

Learn more: Matrix Causes Fund

The Wise Music Foundation can provide financial support for people experiencing hardship, distress and illness, with a primary, but not exclusive, focus on children, the homeless and people living in poverty.

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

The Wise Music Foundation trustees meet on a quarterly basis, usually in the third month of each quarter, to consider all applications. 

The next application deadline is the end of February – for applications reviewed in March 2026. 

Learn more: Wise Music Foundation

The Foux Foundation is a private charitable foundation which awards a small number of grants each year, designed to support the: 

• The relief of sickness and promotion of good health
• The advancement of education
• The advancement of disadvantaged young people
• The prevention or relief of poverty

Funding is provided internationally. According to the Charity Commission, the Foundation awarded six new grants in 2025 and three additional grants to charities funded in the previous year, totalling £185k.

The grant range was from £2,500 to £26,000. 

Applications are open on a rolling basis. 

Learn more: The Foux Foundation

The Morrisons Foundation can award grants of up to £10,000.

Applications should deliver on at least one of three objectives to be considered for support, these are:

• Tackling poverty and social deprivation
• Enhancing community spaces, facilities and services
• Improving health and wellbeing

This funding is available on a rolling basis, with no deadline for applications.

Find out more at: Morrisons Foundation

The Weavers’ Company Benevolent Fund offers funding that prioritises pump-priming new projects, especially those that are innovative and can serve as a model elsewhere.

The Company’s priority funding areas are: 

• Supporting offenders into work
• Helping specific groups within the criminal justice sector
• Supporting young people involved with the criminal justice system. 

Their Small Grants programme has a cap of £5,000. Their Main Grants programme is uncapped.

The Fund’s Grants Committee meets in February, June and October of each year.

Learn more: The Weavers’ Company Benevolent Fund

Grants up to £5,000 for organisations working to conserve the UK’s marine environment. If your organisation works to conserve London’s tidal environment, this funding may be of interest. 

The Naturesave Trust is inviting grant applications from charities, community groups and organisations working to protect and restore marine environments, including projects focused on (but not limited to):

• Marine habitat restoration
• Species protection and recovery
• Marine litter and plastic pollution prevention
• Marine conservation volunteering
• Influencing local and national marine policy
• Citizen science and monitoring
• Community-led coastal and marine surveys

The Trust operates three funding windows each year, each with a different theme. The application deadline for this funding window is at 12 noon on Thursday, 26 February 2026

Learn more: The Naturesave Trust

The Mercers’ Company welcome applications from not-for-profit, community-led organisations in Greater London that address one or both of the following priorities:

• Combatting loneliness faced by older people
• Combatting poverty faced by older people

They can make awards of between £50,000 to £120,000 in total, for up to three years.

Preference will be given to organisations working with older people who are at high risk of chronic loneliness and poverty. The Mercers’ Company have identified these as those living in Black or ethnic minoritised communities, LGBTQ+ communities, disadvantaged neighbourhoods, as well as informal carers and people living with long-term conditions.

You can apply at any time of the year, with applications considered twice a year.

The Mercers’ Company is a flexible funder and can consider grants that cover core, project or development costs, as well as loans or other social investments.

Learn more: The Mercers’ Company

The National Lottery Community Fund Climate Action Fund is now open, supporting ambitious, large-scale projects where climate and environmental impact are central to the work. 

Funded projects must strengthen food systems in ways that reduce emissions, restore nature and build resilience, while tackling the root causes of food insecurity to deliver lasting change.

This opportunity is suitable for partnerships and organisations that already have the skills, relationships and infrastructure to work at scale to lead transition to food systems that are fairer, more resilient and better for people, climate and nature.

Successful applicants will typically receive between £3m and £5m, for projects running for between five and seven years. The National Lottery Community Fund expects to fund up to 10 projects in the first year.

Application deadline not given. 

Learn more: Climate Action Fund — Food Systems

The CET Small Grants Programme provides grants of £500 to £10,000 to support young people and early-career professionals with the skills they need to excel in their careers and contribute to a more commercially capable society.

Whether you’re pioneering a new project, enhancing an existing programme or deepening your impact in the community, if your work can make a meaningful impact, they want to hear from you. 

The fund supports initiatives in schools, communities, and workplaces, helping young people thrive in productive, fulfilling roles and deepening the understanding of Commercial Ability across the UK.

Applicants must be a registered charity, charitable community group, or another not-for-profit organisation.

Application deadline: Friday, 20 March 2026. 

Learn more: CET Small Grants Programme

The Alliance for Youth Organising welcomes collaborative applications. At least one group or organisation needs to be involved in youth organising and there needs to be a lead organisation or group who will receive the grant.

Five grants are available. The grants will be awarded in April 2026 and grant holders will be expected to share their learning in November 2026.

The Alliance will facilitate connections within its networks and funded community in support of the projects and the sharing of learning.

Application deadline: midnight on Monday, 16 February 2026. 

Learn more: Explore Fund

Now in its third year, this programme will provide unrestricted funding of up to £2,000 to 700 small, local organisations that are making a positive difference in their communities.

Funding can be used for core organisational costs that support the important work organisations deliver in their communities. The funding offered is flexible and can be used where it is most needed, for example: 

• Paying staff or volunteer expenses
• Costs for equipment or materials
• Core, ongoing running costs of your organisation, such as, rent, utilities, and other general running costs
• Training for staff and volunteers
• Consultant time to help develop your organisation or key policies

These grants are only available to organisations whose income was less than £25,000 in the last financial year. The funding must be used within one year. The programme will not fund sports or physical activities-based projects. 

Priority will be shown to organisations which meet the following criteria:

• Supporting communities that rank as being within the top 15% on the English Indices of Deprivation
• Organisations that work with and support communities classed as marginalised or vulnerable

Applications can be submitted until September 2026.

Learn more: Grassroots Grants

We’re inviting tenders for a Programme Design Partner (contract, up to £50k) to help us shape our new Economic Justice funding programme.

In 2025 City Bridge Foundation launched Standing with Londoners 2025–2035, our new funding policy with a focus on social justice, community empowerment & tackling the root causes of inequality. 

We’re now seeking consultancy support to develop a programme that advances economic justice in London – ensuring fair access to resources, opportunities & economic wellbeing for all communities.

We expect the programme to centre community‑led organisations working with those experiencing significant economic injustice.

Application deadline: midday, Friday 6 February 2026

Learn more: Design Partner wanted

Collaboration Circle is building a team to support organisations working on systems change across London through seven-year Propel grants. As part of this, they are seeking two part-time secondees from equity and justice organisations to join the team.

This is not a standard job role. Successful candidates will remain employed by their current organisation and be seconded into the Propel team for two days per week over 12–18 months. The secondment is designed to share power, test new approaches to equitable funding practice, and generate learning that flows back into civil society as well as the funding sector.

Temporarily assigned staff members will benefit from skills development, networks & influence; and their seconding organisations will gain direct insights into equitable funding practice & systems change grantmaking. 

Collaboration Circle will provide a grant of £23k per year to the seconding organisation, to cover salary costs, backfill, or other associated expenses.

Applications close: Wednesday, 11 February 2026. Secondments start: April 2026

Learn more: We’re Hiring

Partnership for Young London produces a free weekly policy update, providing an overview of the week’s policy news for London’s youth sector.

The update includes news on all youth policy announcements, training, funding, and research linked to young people. 

Sign up here: Policy update

The Network of Regional Youth Work Units showcases youth voice across the UK. This includes, research, publications and free training opportunities. 

Learn more: Centre for Youth Voice

Renaisi is leading on research to map out the approaches that organisations are using to sustain deep-rooted, systemic change in their places.

Place-based systems change is a long-term approach to identifying, understanding, and addressing social issues rooted in the experiences, expertise and relationships that exist within a recognised geographic area. 

The research will be used to build a resource for those delivering, funding and supporting place-based systems change — allowing them to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different models, how they are developed and the local conditions that support their success.

Every organisation and individual that participates in the research will have the right to be credited as a contributor to the inquiry in outputs, or have their insights, examples and quotes directly attributed to them or choose to remain anonymous.

Contribute to the five-minute survey here: SurveyMonkey

Trust for London is seeking Expressions of Interest from civil society organisations for two secondees into the Mayor of London’s Migration Team, as part of the Citizenship & Integration Initiative.

Since 2017, 15 secondments from civil society have helped both the GLA and civil society achieve more than either could alone.

Trust for London are interested in a wide range of skills from policy, advocacy and influencing to case work and frontline grassroots support and will look to match secondees with complementary experience. 

They would welcome secondments from people with lived experience of migration themselves. Potential secondees will need to demonstrate knowledge of the policy agenda and the ability to perform at the level required.

The secondee job title is Citizenship and Integration Adviser. Shortlisted organisations will be invited to submit a full application to second a member of staff into the GLA for up to two years.

Each successful organisation receives a grant covering:

• Current salary plus enhancement to GLA level, plus all employers on-costs including pension contributions
• £1000 for the costs of recruiting to backfill the secondee’s role in your organisation
• £5,000 annual management fee

Submit your two-page Expression of Interest by Friday, 30 January 2026.

Learn more: Citizenship & Integration Initiative

This practical lunchtime session from the Ethical Property Foundation is ideal for anyone involved in managing charity or community group premises.

The session will cover key lease terms, rights and responsibilities, and tips to manage property risks effectively.

Join them on Zoom for this engaging and practical session that will strengthen your organisation’s property strategy.

Date: 12–1pm on Thursday, 5 February 2026

Booking Link: Register on Eventbrite

Supported by City Bridge Foundation 

AVOCADO+ Lite is an eight-week executive programme designed specifically for leaders of BAMER-led (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, and Refugee) non-profits supporting underrepresented communities across the UK.

• Expert-led training will cover financial fitness, operations, bid writing, impact measurement, effective leadership, networking, and organisational awareness.
• One-on-one and group coaching, providing high-level technical support to help your organisation grow sustainably and secure funding.
• Direct access to fundraising networks, learning opportunities, and sector events.

Participants are required to attend one 2‑hour online session per week for 8 weeks, running from 13 May to 1 July 2026.

The programme is free of charge, but a £50 administrative fee applies if your organisation is shortlisted. Application deadline: Friday, 20 March 2026. 

Learn more: The Avocado Foundation

This is a 12-month training fellowship to create an employment pathway into the anti-trafficking advice sector for people with lived experience of human trafficking/​modern slavery and migration. 

This programme from the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) involves: 

• 12 months paid work experience alongside experienced solicitors and caseworkers in ATLEU’s immigration and compensation legal teams.
• Work experience in a community or related organisation for six months of this 12 month role.
• Regular training and supervision on client care and advice casework.
• Mentoring support on job skills from a specialist employment organisation.
• Support to access follow on training or employment at the end of the fellowship.

Application deadline: 5pm on Monday, 16 February 2026.

Learn more: Rise and Lead 

Supported by City Bridge Foundation through Propel

London Museum Studios is offering flexible spaces for meetings, workshops, film screenings and other indoor activities such as fitness classes or choir rehearsals.

Tuesday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. Fully wheelchair accessible.

Learn more: London Museum Studios

Third Sector’s Pounds & Purpose event is an opportunity to learn about the finance and tech strategies that will future-proof your charity and strengthen your mission for the long term.

The event will provide practical, strategic guidance to help you navigate financial pressure, regulatory change and rapid shifts in technology. You’ll hear from sector leaders and finance specialists who will share clear, usable actions you can apply today. The day’s agenda includes: 

• Financial leadership in a volatile landscape: How can you steer your organisation through it?
• Why finance teams – and their data – are essential to impact reporting success.
• AI for maximum impact, minimum spend: Governance and guardrails
• Navigating the new landscape: Key SORP 2026 essentials
• Philanthropy’s new frontier: Harnessing public, private and social capital
• Pounds, purpose and pledges: Future-proofing charity finance

Date: Thursday, 12 February 2026 

Learn more: Third Sector’s Pounds & Purpose

Livestream fundraising is one of the most accessible, low-barrier ways to engage supporters.

Perfect for fundraisers, communications colleagues or anyone curious about new, creative ways to engage supporters. No gaming knowledge or technical experience needed — just an interest in fun, community-focused fundraising.

Join Media Trust’s free masterclass on Tuesday, 3 February 2026 between 10–11am to learn how to make livestreaming work for your charity and your community. 

Learn more: A guide to livestream fundraising

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