Voluntary and community clients - UK Community Foundations

For grant applicants

If you are looking for funding, applications should be made through a local community foundation. Your local foundation's website will show which of these programmes it runs and explain how to apply.

Red Nose Day Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund

Where are the Evening Standard with the Dispossessed Fund?

With the second £1 million cash injection from Comic Relief the Evening Standard have now raised a phenomenal £10.4million to support groups tackling poverty across the capital. This is the most money ever raised by a newspaper campaign outside of war or natural disaster and has been achieved in less than three years. They have already distributed £4.57 million in grants to 649 groups.

What is happening now?

The Red Nose Day Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund grants round has now closed. Details about future grants rounds will be announced on this website later in 2013.

Comic Relief

Community Foundations and other delivery agents have been working with Comic Relief to benefit communities in need across the UK through its grants programmes since 2004.

UK Community Foundations took responsibility for the overall management and reporting of all of the programmes from 2007 and designed a bespoke database to enable regular and comprehensive reporting on grants awarded across the UK.

There are two programmes which during their two-year cycle represent an investment of almost £8 million in community projects identified by Community Foundations which are supporting some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK. These are:

Local Communities (grants of £1,000 to £10,000 a year). Please check with your local community foundation for details of opening and closing dates for applications.
Community Cash (grants of up to £1000). Community Cash is now closed.

The grants managed by Community Foundations range in size from £500 through to £10,000 grants allocated to cities across the UK. The grants are awarded to support work where there is clear evidence of a sustained beneficial impact on people’s lives who are excluded or disadvantaged through low income, rural or social isolation, age disabilities, race, sexuality or gender.

Priority is given to small, locally-based groups or organisations in areas of disadvantage that have a clear understanding of the needs of their community and are undertaking actions as a means of addressing these needs.

If you want to apply for a Local Communities grant, click here

“The Red Nose Day and Sport Relief Community Cash fund gets much-needed small grants out to the groups making an incredible difference in their local communities. The support of Community Foundation Network has helped us create an efficient, effective programme that uses expertise from foundations around the UK to help us make grants that will work really hard to improve lives for local people.”

Sue Wicks, Comic Relief UK Grant Manager

Fair Share Trust

UK Community Foundations is the managing trustee of Big Lottery Fund's Fair Share Trust programme. This £50 million programme tackles disadvantage in areas that have not previously received their fair share of national lottery funds. Runs until 2013 (UK-wide).

"Real change is happening. Groups filled with enthusiasm for the tasks they have taken on and are more confident of their abilities. They have an enhanced sense of their own worth."
The Big Lottery Fund’s independent evaluator of the Fair Share Trust

Other partners include:

Four Acre Trust
Henry Smith Charity
Big Lottery Fund's Basis Programme
Consultancy contract to support the Grassroots programme. in 2008-2011, community foundations throughout England managed the OCS Grassroots Grants and Endowment Match Challenge. UKCF was extensively consulted on the programme's design and contents.