A selection of funding and signposting resources available for volunteer groups, community groups and charities, as of May 2021. Keep checking Community Rail Network’s Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds, as well as signing up to our e-bulletin, Community Rail News for further funding opportunities.
UK Government community project funding finder
England & Wales
An easy-to-use government signposting portal to enable community groups to find funding specific to their location.
NVO Funding Central
UK wide
A free resource for charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. It lists thousands of funding and finance opportunities, plus a wealth of tools and information to support and develop a sustainable income strategy.
UK Communities Foundation
UK wide
The umbrella organisation for all community foundations, providing philanthropic advice to clients and delivering UK-wide grant-making programmes.
Communities Channel Scotland
Scotland
Resources and funding routes for Scottish community groups.
National Lottery Heritage Fund
National Lottery Grants for Heritage – UK wide
Grants from £3,000 to £5million
For heritage projects that:
- encourage skills development and job creation
- support wellbeing
- create better places to live, work and visit
- improve the resilience of organisations working in heritage
Local Places for Nature – Wales
Grants from £10,000 to £100,000
Local Places for Nature is a capital grant scheme intended to enable areas of highest deprivation, peri urban/urban communities and/or those with least access to nature in Wales to restore and enhance nature ‘on your doorstep’.
The National Lottery Community Fund
UK wide
Grants from £300 to £10,000
The National Lottery Community fund looks to fund projects that:
- continue to deliver activity – whether your community needs crisis response, recovery or business as usual activity
- change and adapt, becoming more resilient to respond to new and future challenges.
And support communities to thrive, aiming to:
- build strong relationships in and across communities
- improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
- help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
The People’s Postcode Lottery
England, Scotland and Wales.
Grants from £500 and £250,000
A fund for smaller charities, community groups and good causes for a range of project activity
Transforming Places through Heritage Grants – Architectural Heritage Fund
England
Grants up to £100,000
This programme is for individual heritage buildings in, or transferring to, community ownership. They will support charities and social enterprises to develop projects with the potential to bring new life to high streets by creating alternative uses for redundant or underused historic buildings in town centres.
A range of grants are available:
- Project Viability Grants: up to £15,000, for early viability and feasibility work, open now for applications.
- Project Development Grants: up to £100,000, for capital project development costs, open now for applications.
- Crowdfunding Challenge Grants: up to £25,000, to match fund crowdfunding campaigns, open now for applications.
- Community Shares Booster Grants: supporting community share offers with development grants and matched investment.