This week's Funding Bulletin (November 3rd - November 7th 2025)
- eloisehallwcvs
- Nov 7, 2025
- 7 min read
A short summary of funding opportunities that have came to our attention this week.
The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Grants are available for UK-registered charities that seek to enhance and improve people’s lives by advancing the arts, health and medical welfare, and the environment.
The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust typically awards grants of between £500 and £6,000 for projects and core costs, with a preference for small-scale, locally based initiatives.
The types of services provided to communities could include:
Arts: Promoting access to the arts, providing performance development opportunities for early-career artists, and supporting charities that engage young people on the fringes of society through music and drama projects
Environment: Conserving the countryside, encouraging voluntary work and active involvement in hands-on activities, particularly those that benefit young people, and supporting rural crafts and skills in heritage conservation
Health and Medical Welfare: Supporting charities that alleviate the suffering of adults and children with medical conditions, providing music and art therapy to improve quality of life, and providing breaks for carers without regular support
Three grant-making meetings are held annually, which occur in March, July, and November.
Projects should have a start date of at least three months after the meeting date.
Current deadline: 21st January 2026
To read more: How to apply – The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
ROSA UK's Voices from the Frontline Fund
Grants of up to £10,000 are available to support the work of grassroots women’s and girls’ organisations in achieving change in the UK. The fund can be used to support campaigning and influencing work that enables women and girls to use their voices in addressing social issues.
This can include:
Campaigning for changes in policy and laws, including activities such as petitions, social media campaigns and lobbying.
National campaigns that address issues that affect women and girls.
Influencing community leaders and power holders about issues that affect women and girls in a particular place or community.
Gathering evidence or producing tools and reports which enable women and girls and women’s organisations to campaign for change.
Video and media campaigns about specific issues facing women.
Training activists in campaigning, advocacy, lobbying or public speaking.
Some examples of Voices from the Frontline grants supported in the past include:
A campaign targeted at national policy makers, commissioners, service providers and funders about the barriers faced by women with complex needs when accessing public services.
A video to raise awareness of honour-based violence to improve the understanding of the issue and influence professionals to encourage reporting and appropriate responses in public services.
Influencing decision makers in government about migrant and refugee girls’ access to schools.
A campaign for period dignity in UK schools .
Organisations must submit an application form and a three-minute video outlining how they plan to utilise the funding.
Potential applicants can participate in one of the ‘How to Apply’ webinars on:
Wednesday 10th November 10.30-11.30am – Register here
Wednesday 27th November 2.00-3.00pm – Register here
Current deadline: 9th December 2025
To read more: Voices from the Frontline - Rosa
GEM Road Safety Charity Grants
Organisations across the UK can now apply for grants of up to £10,000 from the GEM Road Safety Charity to support innovative projects aimed at reducing road crashes and saving lives.
The funding is open to registered charities, road-safety organisations, universities, schools, and community groups working to improve road safety. The charity, which has a long history of championing safer roads, is calling for practical initiatives that can make a measurable difference to road safety in local communities.
GEM Road Safety Charity, established to reduce deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads, provides annual funding to help organisations develop education campaigns, research, and community-focused interventions.
Applications are now open, and interested organisations are encouraged to visit roadsafety.org.uk/grants for full eligibility details and guidance on how to apply.
To read more: Grants - GEM Road Safety Charity
1001 Foundation Grants
Charities that help babies and their families during pregnancy and the first two years of life can apply for multi-year funding from the 1001 Foundation. This funding is designed for services that improve outcomes for babies in their first 1001 days.
The 1001 Foundation offers grants of up to £100,000 per year, for up to five years. Most grants are expected to range from £20,000 to £80,000 per year. Funding is available for organisations delivering services in community-based family hubs or other ‘one stop shop’ settings, aiming to support parents and carers and give babies the best start in life.
The Foundation supports different types of projects, such as:
Help with infant feeding
Parenting programmes
Support for parent-infant relationships
Perinatal mental health support
Support for dads, carers, and non-birthing partners
Help for families facing marginalisation or discrimination
Current deadline: 19th December 2025
To read more: 1001 Critical Days Foundation
The Ford Britain Trust
Registered charities, not-for-profit organisations, and schools/PTAs can apply for grants of up to £3,000 for projects that benefit their local community.
The funding is made available by the Ford Britain Trust to support a range of projects focusing on education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities.
Funding will support capital projects, such as refurbishments, as well as expenditures on items like furniture, equipment, or computers.
Current deadline: 31st January 2026
To read more: The Ford Britain Trust | Ford UK
Fight for Sight's Digital Inclusion Fund
Fight for Sight has launched a new Digital Inclusion Fund to help blind and vision-impaired individuals overcome employment barriers by providing better access to technology and digital skills.
Technology and digital literacy are unlocking opportunities in employment, but too many vision impaired people face barriers and lack the skills and confidence necessary to utilise technology in unlocking these opportunities.
The charity is now inviting UK organisations that support blind or vision-impaired individuals to apply for grants of up to £30,000 for projects addressing the technological and digital divide. Grants of up to £30 ,000 are available per project.
The fund targets four key areas:
Using technology in preparing vision impaired people for work,
Increasing access to technology in supporting job applications,
Using technology in helping vision impaired employees stay and progress in their work roles,
and creating pathways into tech careers. Projects must include input from people with lived experience of sight loss.
Through this Fund, Fight for Sight wants to support practical, scalable solutions—such as digital skills assessments, equipment loan schemes, peer mentoring, or accredited training for future tech trainers. The goal is to give people control over their digital needs and improve long-term employment outcomes.
Eligible applicants include UK-registered charities, CIOs, charitable companies, CICs limited by guarantee and exempt charities like universities.
Current deadline: 6th January 2026
To read more: Fight for Sight - The Digital Inclusion Fund
Youth Music's Shift the Scene Fund
Youth Music has launched a £2.25 million initiative to tackle barriers facing disabled children and young people in the arts. The announcement follows the charity’s Excluded by Design? report, which exposed stark inequalities in creative education and employment.
The new Shift the Scene Fund will support long-term, community-based creative programmes—across music and other art forms—designed by and with disabled young people aged 9 to 30. Funding may include paid employment, bursaries, or micro-grants.
The fund is open to established organisations in England already working inclusively with d/Deaf, Disabled, or Neurodivergent young people.
Eligible projects must be:
Long-term: running three to four years, not short-term or one-off.
Community-based: rooted in and responsive to local needs.
Multi-disciplinary: spanning music, theatre, dance, visual arts, film, digital, or cross-arts approaches.
Co-created: shaped and led with Disabled young people at every stage.
Progression-focused: offering sustained opportunities, such as 1:1 support, mentoring, and career pathways.
Inclusive: embedding the social model of disability, anti-ableist practice, and accessible design.
Applicants must show a proven track record in anti-ableist practice, amplify young Disabled voices, and embed inclusion, diversity, equity, and access across their work.
Grants of up to £200,000 per project are available.
Current deadline: 28th November 2025
To read more: Shift the Scene Fund | Youth Music
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Ideas and Pioneers Fund
Grants of up to £20,000 will soon be available to support individuals, groups, and small organisations in the UK who want to explore new ideas for social change or challenge how things are currently done — before there’s a proven model or track record.
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Ideas and Pioneers Fund provides funding and tailored support to help early-stage innovators test, research, and develop new approaches with the potential for long-term impact.
Applications will be accepted from:
Individuals (aged 18 years or over). Preference is for people between the ages of 18 and 30 years.
Groups or collectives working together (you don't need to be a registered organisation)
Organisations of any legal structure with a turnover of under £150,000 employees.
Examples of activities that could be funded include:
Research and consultation to develop your idea
Gathering evidence for a campaign
Bringing people or communities together to build power
Paying yourself or others to deliver these activities
This list isn’t exhaustive, but it might help you think about what you could use the funding for.
Current deadline: 2nd December 2025
To read more: Ideas and Pioneers Fund | Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Soft Market Questionnaire: Provision of Short Breaks for Adults with Disabilities, Learning Disabilities and/or Autism [TENDER]
Wirral Council is inviting providers to participate in a Soft Market Testing (SMT) exercise to inform the future commissioning of a Short Breaks Service for adults with learning disabilities, autism and/or physical disabilities.
The Council intends to commission a service that provides high-quality personal care and support for people in Wirral who are usually cared for at home by an unpaid family member or friend. Short Breaks offer temporary, flexible care that benefits both service users and carers – giving carers valuable time to rest and enabling service users to enjoy time away from their usual care arrangements.
The purpose of this Soft Market Testing is to gather feedback from potential providers to help shape the forthcoming procurement process and ensure the future service meets local needs, supports carers, and sustains personalised, community-based care.
Current deadline: 24th November 2025
To read more: Soft Marketing Questionnaire
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.
Thank you for the update!