This week's Funding Bulletin (July 20th - July 24th 2026)
- Meg Atkinson
- Jul 24
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 27
A short summary of funding opportunities that have come to our attention this week.
Easy Fundraising
More than 8,000 retailers, including some of the biggest high street names, will donate to your organisation if you join easyfundraising.
The likes of John Lewis, Tesco and Argos have all donated thousands to community and voluntary led organisations across the country – and yours can get a share of future funding too.
There’s no application process or any extra effort required. These donations are raised when your supporters, volunteers, trustees, staff and community, do their everyday online shopping. At no extra cost to them.
Simply register your organisation as an easyfundraising cause to start getting access to this free unrestricted funding. Join this month and your supporters spending throughout the rest of this year and beyond could help to fund projects, resources, volunteer appeals and more.
Read more: Fundraising | Charity Fundraising Online | You Spend Online, Brands Donate | Easyfundraising
King Charles III Charitable Fund
The King Charles III Charitable Fund has announced that its Small Grants Programme will reopen on 5 August 2026.
The programme provides grants of up to £3,000 a year for a maximum of three years. It supports small UK non-profit organisations working in areas including the environment, countryside, education, heritage, health and social inclusion.
To be eligible, an organisation must:
be a UK-based non-profit with an annual income of between £25,000 and £500,000;
have been operating for at least two years;
hold less than six months’ unrestricted reserves; and
apply for a project with a total cost of less than £50,000.
The programme has three funding rounds each year. Each round focuses on two of the Fund’s six themes.
This round will support projects under the Education and Heritage Conservation themes.
Current deadline: 5th-19th August 2026
To read more: Small grants - King Charles III Charitable Fund
Henry Smith Foundation- Welcome For Newcomers
The Henry Smith Foundation has launched its new Welcome for Newcomers Fund to support organisations and partnerships helping people who are newly arrived in the UK.
The fund will provide around 20 grants of £200,000 over three years to strengthen specialist support and activities that help refugees, people seeking asylum and other migrants rebuild their lives, feel at home and become active members of their local communities.
Registered charities, Charitable Incorporated Organisations, Community Interest Companies (CICs) with an asset lock, and other not-for-profit organisations are eligible to apply.
Organisations should have ongoing, long-term access to safe physical spaces and have a proven track record of providing comprehensive help through three core elements of 'Welcome' work:
Specialist support: delivered directly or through specialist providers, for activities such as immigration advice, help with rights and entitlements, destitution and housing matters, healthcare and therapeutic trauma support, English language education, and employment
Enabling belonging: social and community activities that foster connection and belonging. Activities could involve food, sport or the arts, volunteering or community sponsorship
Influencing work: to help improve local conditions for Welcome. For example, strengthening links with local employers and educators or influencing local authority policies and practices that impact newcomers’ rights and ability to connect with and participate in the community
Current deadline: 26th August 2026, 5pm
To read more: Welcome for Newcomers - Henry Smith
Henry Smith Foundation- Career Ready
The fund will provide grants of £200,000 over four years, usually £50,000 per year, for organisations supporting young people with learning disabilities to move towards paid employment. Funding can cover core costs, including salaries, rent, utilities and staff wellbeing.
Eligible applicants must be UK-based charitable organisations, including registered charities, CIOs, not-for-profit CICs with an asset lock, and other not-for-profit charitable organisations. Applicants must have an annual income of £3 million or less and at least one year of audited or independently examined accounts.
The programme will support work that:
embeds job coaches in mainstream or SEND schools;
provides vocational profiling and meaningful work experience;
builds partnerships with schools, families and employers;
strengthens routes into supported internships, employment and paid work.
Current deadline: 2nd September 2026, 5pm
To read more: Career Ready - Henry Smith
The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust
The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust has announced that Round 3 of its grants programme is open for applications. Grants of £1,000 are available to support projects for unpaid adult carers.
The Trust is a UK charity that gives grants to registered charities working with people whose opportunities are limited.
This round is focused on projects that provide therapeutic support for unpaid carers aged 18 and over. The project must be exclusively for unpaid adult carers and must not include other beneficiary groups.
Examples of projects that could be supported include:
wellbeing sessions for unpaid carers, such as mindfulness, relaxation or therapeutic group activities;
outdoor walking, gardening or nature-based wellbeing sessions for adult carers;
healthy eating workshops for unpaid carers, including cooking, nutrition and practical food education;
structured peer support activities with a therapeutic focus;
short programmes combining outdoor activity with wellbeing support for adult carers.
Applicants must be UK registered charities, or exempt charities, with operating income and expenditure between £100,000 and £1 million. CICs, social enterprises and other non-profit organisations are not eligible. Only one application per charity will be considered.
Staff salaries are not funded unless the role is specifically employed for the project concerned.
Current deadline: 31st July 2026
To read more: How to Apply - The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust
Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation
Registered charities with annual expenditure below £10 million can apply for funding to the Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation’s General Fund for projects supporting disadvantaged communities in England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland.
The Foundation’s priorities include:
homelessness
domestic abuse;
modern slavery
substance misuse;
support for ex-offenders, their families and care leavers;
intellectual disabilities and life-limiting or terminal conditions;
medical research;
disability-inclusive amateur sport; and
community outreach connected with places of worship.
Grants are usually more than £5,000 and may fund the costs of running a specific project for one to three years. Applicants are advised to request no more than 50% of the project’s total cost.
Funding is not available for general running costs or unrestricted expenditure.
Applications to the General Fund are accepted on a rolling basis. Applicants must begin by completing an online eligibility questionnaire. Organisations that meet the eligibility requirements will then be contacted with information about the next steps and when their application may be considered.
The fund may close once the Foundation has received enough applications, so charities are encouraged to apply promptly.
To read more: albertgubayfoundation.org
The Allen Lane Foundation
Small UK charities and charitable not-for-profit organisations can apply for grants of up to £15,000 to support vulnerable, socially excluded or marginalised young people aged 12–21.
The funding is available through the Allen Lane Foundation’s Young People’s Programme. It supports young people facing significant challenges or barriers to accessing support and opportunities, particularly those who might otherwise fall through gaps in care, education or other services.
The Foundation is currently focusing on young people who are persistently absent from school, leave school without qualifications, or are in or leaving care. Other priorities include young people who are disengaged from education or employment, vulnerable to exploitation or high-risk behaviour, involved in or at risk of entering the criminal justice system, or affected by serious mental health concerns, abuse, neglect or difficult family circumstances.
Funding could support proactive youth clubs, activities for disaffected young people, employability initiatives and opportunities that provide structure and stability. Both core and project costs are eligible. The Foundation does not support general youth provision, work taking place in schools or projects primarily focused on neurodiversity.
Applicants may include registered charities, constituted voluntary groups and some Community Interest Companies.
Locally operating organisations must have annual income and expenditure below £100,000, while UK-wide organisations must be below £250,000.
Grants may be awarded as a single payment or spread over two or three years. Most awards are substantially below the £15,000 maximum, averaging approximately £5,000 to £6,000.
Applications can be submitted at any time. Trustees generally consider applications in February, June and October, with decisions usually taking between two and six months.
To read more: Young People’s Programme – The Allen Lane Foundation
Arts Council England
Arts Council England has published details of Round 2 of the Creative Foundations Fund, a capital programme supporting creative and cultural organisations in England to restore, renew, retrofit or revitalise buildings and equipment. Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in arts, museums, libraries and creative and cultural activity across England.
The fund supports projects where investment in buildings or equipment is business-critical. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit cultural organisations based in and registered in England, such as charities, CIOs, CICs, charitable companies, non-profit companies, public bodies that run cultural services, and some community benefit societies.
Funding is available through two strands:
Strand 1: £100,000 to £1 million, covering Building Projects, Equipment purchases or a combination of both
Strand 2: more than £1 million to £10 million, covering Building Projects or combined Building Projects and Equipment Purchases (Equipment-only projects are not permitted in Strand 2).
The funding can be used for capital expenditure linked to cultural assets, including urgent works that prevent organisations from delivering services to the public. Museums, libraries, individuals and profit-distributing organisations cannot apply.
Applications are made through a two-stage process via Grantium.
Current deadline: Expressions of interest are now open and close at noon on 7 August 2026. Applications successful at this stage will be invited to submit a full application by noon on 23 October 2026.
Charles Hayward Foundation
UK registered charities working in the areas of Social and Criminal Justice can apply for funding to deliver projects that prevent people from entering the criminal justice system and to support those already in it to rebuild their lives.
Funding is being provided through the Charles Hayward Foundation’s Main Grants Programme, which supports projects over one to three years with grants ranging from £15,000 to £25,000 per annum.
The Foundation will fund projects in the following categories:
Targeted early intervention programmes aimed at reaching the most troubled and vulnerable families in a community.
Targeted preventative and diversionary projects for young people at risk of offending, including interventions identifying and addressing the particular needs of girls and young women.
Programmes combining prison-based and community interventions dealing with the rehabilitation of offenders, accommodation and support on release, maintaining family relationships, mentoring, and creating pathways to employment.
Schemes offering viable alternatives to custody, in particular for women and young people.
Charities with an annual income of between £350,000 and £4 million are eligible to apply.
Current deadline: 18th September 2026
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has announced that the Good Place to Live: New Beginnings Fund is open for applications, offering unrestricted grants of up to £200,000 over four years to prevent homelessness before crisis point.
The Foundation is an independent charitable foundation backed by Lloyds Banking Group, supporting organisations and communities across England and Wales. The £8 million fund will support charities, CIOs and CICs working with people at key life turning points where the risk of homelessness is higher.
Funding is aimed at organisations supporting people leaving:
prison
the care system
an abusive relationship
the asylum system on securing the right to remain
Support may include housing-related help, immigration, welfare or health advice, and longer-term work that improves stability, wellbeing, connections and opportunity.
The programme will make 40 to 50 grants. Organisations with an annual income below £100,000 can apply for £100,000, while those with an annual income between £100,000 and £2 million can apply for £200,000.
Applicants must be based and working in England, Wales or the Isle of Man, with an annual income of £25,000 to £2 million.
The Foundation will run pre-application webinar with live Q&A on Wednesday 29 July, 10:30am to 12Noon, where they will go through the application process, eligibility, and more (with BSL translation).
Current deadline: 9th September 2026, 5pm
To read more: Good Place to Live: New Beginnings
Our past Funding Bulletins will also have grant opportunities that are still open!
Need support applying to any of the above? Get in touch with us at groups@wcvs.org.uk to access bespoke advice and one-to-one support with grant funding.
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