Funding is a key issue for projects in our Network, please find a round up below, of trusts and grants who support charities working with a range of cohorts.

The Leathersellers Foundation

The Small Grants Programme is a rolling funding programme for one-off grants of up to £5,000.

Aim to re-open in September 2025 and will publish dates at the end of August 2025.

Please note that they opened their final 2024/25 application window at 10am on 6th May 2025. We reached the maximum number of 40 applications in less than 30mins. 

The Leathersellers’ Small Grants Programme 2024-25 will consider applications from charities and Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) registered and operating in the UK. They will not consider applications from Community Interest Companies (CICs).

Charities and CIOs must meet the following criteria:

  • Deliver activities to meet an identified need for vulnerable members of the community
  • Have a planned expenditure of under £200,000 during the financial year in which you are applying for funding.
  • Demonstrate financial need. Due to overwhelming demand from charities with high financial need, we are unlikely to be able to prioritise applications from organisations holding more than 6 months’ free/unrestricted reserves.
  • Have at least one year’s published accounts

Help the Homeless

Help the Homeless is a grant-giving trust, founded in 1975, to help homeless people off the streets and enable them to live healthy, independent lives. They fund a wide variety of organisations and favour small, grassroots charities working to help the most vulnerable people in their communities.

Funds from Help the Homeless are available to small charitable organisations from across the UK. We fund capital costs with grants of up to £5,000. They do not make donations to individuals.

Stef & Philips Foundation

The Stef & Philips Foundation’s grant funding improves the lives and well-being of individuals and families living in temporary and emergency accommodation.

They offer grants for organisations and individuals provide vital support to Londoners facing homelessness. Grants for organisations supporting those residing in temporary or emergency accommodation, available for up to £2,000.

Garfield Weston Foundation

The Garfield Weston Foundation is one of the largest grant-making trusts in the UK. They provide grants to UK Registered Charities and Schools for Capital Costs, Revenue/Core Costs and Project Costs. Eligible organisations are invited to apply for projects in the following areas:

Welfare

Youth

Community

Arts

Faith

Environment

Education

Health

Museums

Heritage

The Foundation donates around £60 million per year, and there are two levels of funding to apply for:

Regular grants up to £100,000

Major grants of £100,000 or more (your organisation’s turnover should be over £1 million to apply for major grants)

The Woodward Charitable Trust

The Woodward Charitable Trust supports core costs rather than specific projects. Organisations can apply for up to £3,000, but most grants are for £1,000 or less. Woodward’s Trustees fund projects that help families and young people.

A B Charitable Trust

The A B Charitable Trust was founded in 1990 with the aim of defending human rights and promoting respect to others. The Trust are specifically keen to offer grants to charities who work within the areas of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, penal reform and human rights. The Trust encourage applications from Registered Charities that meet their guidelines and criteria, which can be seen on their website.

Yapp Charitable Trust

Yapp Charitable Trust is a grant making charity which supports existing charities in England and Wales to help make grants for running costs and salaries to sustain their existing work. Yapp Charitable Trust offers grants to registered charities who have a total annual expenditure of less than £40,000 and are working with the Trust’s priority groups.

The Beatrice Laing Trust

The Beatrice Laing Trust supports projects that are in the areas of relief of poverty or advancement of the Christian faith. The Beatrice Laing Trust state that they welcome applications from:

Organisations, in particularly Christian organisations, offering practical action to help those in need, offering direct support to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in society.

Charities providing practical services to people with physical, mental and learning difficulties and their families/carers.

Organisations providing opportunities for training and development to young people, in particular those who are disadvantaged or ‘at risk’.

Small-scale overseas development projects aiming to build the capacity of local partners to develop long-term sustainable solutions to local problems in countries in the developing world.

Grants offered tend to be between £1,000 and £5,000 and the Trust will only accept applications from registered charities.

Refreshed Comic Relief Grant Strategy

Following a period of review, during which national Comic Relief programmes were closed for applications, Comic Relief have released details of their refreshed grant strategy.

Their grant making will focus on four key programmes areas, these being:

Investing in children and young people to be ready for the future

Empowering women and girls to be free to lead the lives they choose

Improving the health and wellbeing of vulnerable and disadvantaged people

Building stronger communities in areas of disadvantage, deprivation and poverty

Kelly Family Charitable Trust

The Kelly Family Charitable Trust is a grant-giving body founded in 2004 by members of the Kelly family. They’re interested in funding charities whose activities involve all or most family members, where possible, in initiatives that seek to tackle problems facing one or more of its members. They’ve funded charities working in fields including early intervention, mediation, prison services and services for families affected by sexual abuse, physical abuse and domestic violence, among others. They generally offer grants worth up to £5,000 – though trustees will consider requests for higher amounts. They’re happy to fund charities’ core costs and encourage applications from relatively new charities to help them become established.

Islamic Relief UK

Islamic Relief UK offer grants of £1,000 – £40,000, available for charitable organisations across the United Kingdom to deliver projects and activities that support marginalised people, including women, young people, refugees and help build resilience to poverty. Organisations with charitable purposes can apply, such as:

Local community groups and/or faith-based organisations.

Charities (including local branches of national charities) acting for the benefit of the local community.

Voluntary and community organisations.

Registered charities, including charitable incorporated organisations.

Registered not-for-profit companies.

Registered community interest companies.

Applicants must be constituted and have an organisational bank account.

Rosa's Stand With Us Fund

The  STAND WITH US FUND  was set up to address the critical lack of investment in frontline organisations supporting women and girls who experience male violence. The fund exists to make the UK safer for all women and girls. The fund supports organisations to become stronger and more effective; better meeting the needs of women and girls and influencing wider change for all women and girls across the UK. Organisations can apply for up to £25,000 to fund areas related to organisational development, including strategy, governance, leadership, having a stronger voice within the women’s movement, building alliances, fundraising, impact, systems, and processes. This fund is for organisations that have an income of between £100,000 and £500,000 (from their last set of annual accounts).

St Martin’s in the Field: The Vicars Relief fund

St Martin’s in the Field: The Vicars Relief fund is designed to prevent someone from losing their homes or to help them find a new one, these grants can transform a person’s circumstances within a matter of days. Because the inability to pay a small debt or rental deposit shouldn’t prevent someone from having a safe place to live. VRF grants are issued quickly and efficiently via experienced support workers. Grants for preventing eviction are awarded up to a value of £350, and those for accessing accommodation are awarded up to £500. This is done via experienced support workers who work closely with those experiencing homelessness.

SCN – The Social Change Nest

SCN – The Social Change Nest exist to tear down the barriers that prevent people from creating change. SCN do this by providing impact-led fiscal hosting, grant distribution, grant management, capacity building and infrastructure support to changemakers around the world. Their support enables them to take collective leadership on the things that matter most to them and in doing so, increase civil society space.

The Albert Hunt Trust

The Albert Hunt Trust supports UK registered charities that:

Provide Hospice Care – core funding of hospices is a priority. Typical grant sizes range from £10,000-£30,000. Currently closed to capital funding.

Provide support for the Homeless – typical core funding grant sizes range from £4,000-£7,000. AHT look to support organisations in this category with a total annual income of below £1m. Currently closed to capital funding.

Promote Health and Well-Being – core funding for areas such as family support eg Home Start, children and young people counselling services, suicide prevention, specific carers support, cancer support, prisoner support and rehabilitation, community centres, food banks and debt advice. Typical grant sizes range from £1,000-£5,000. AHT look to support organisations in this category with a total annual income of below £150,000.

The 29th May 1961 Charity

The 29th May 1961 Charity is a Charitable Trust that offers grants for other registered charities working in the UK. Priority is given to organisations working in the Midlands, particularly Coventry and Warwickshire, however groups across the UK are regularly funded. The scheme supports general charitable purposes, and gives out grants of around £5million each year.

Drapers’ Charitable Fund

Grants from the Drapers’ Charitable Fund improve the quality of life and aspirations of people and communities, particularly those who are socially excluded or disadvantaged. DCF give most of their grants to charities in Greater London, where they have our historical roots, for projects in education and social welfare.

LandAid

LandAid help a wide range of charities to find free, high-quality, professional skills, services, and advice; generously provided by their corporate pro bono partners. LandAid provide £1 million of Pro Bono support per year, and help to deliver £4.5 million of Vodafone data to the homelessness sector annually, saving charities vital funding and resources, empowering them to maximise their impact.

To achieve these aims they have a range of grants, and a suite of free professional services available to eligible charities and non-profit organisations.

The Henry Smith Charity

The Henry Smith Charity makes grants for work throughout the UK and has five main programmes that organisations are able to apply to. These are:

Christian Projects

Improving lives

County Grants (open in only specific locations)

Strengthening Communities

Holiday Grants

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation offers a range of funding focussing on young people, migration, new ideas for social change, and art.

The Mercers' Charitable Foundation

The Mercers’ Charitable Foundation distributes approximately £10 million each year across their programmes to charitable causes – focused on relieving disadvantage in London, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the North East of England. They expect to support 180 individual charities annually to improve lives, strengthen organisations and contribute to societal change. Over the past five years they have awarded £49.7 million to over 400 organisations across our people-focused programmes and priority funding areas.

The Mercers’ Charitable Foundation’s people-focused programmes are Young People & Education, Older People & Housing, Church & Communities and recently launched Heritage & Arts.

Benefact Trust

Benefact Trust exists to make a positive difference to people’s lives by funding, guiding and celebrating the work of churches and Christian charities; empowering the most vulnerable and giving people, communities and places a renewed opportunity to flourish.