Funding for communities
This section provides information for the voluntary and community sector (VCS) on obtaining funding for activities and projects.
County Council grants
District Council grants
South Cambridgeshire District Council
- Community Chest Grants
- Free Energy Surveys for Community Buildings
- Grants and funding
- Zero Carbon Communities Grant
East Cambridgeshire District Council
- Community Facilities Grant
- Community Fund
- Community Land Trusts
- Section 106 Funding
- VCAEC
- Voluntary & Community Organisation Toolkits
Cambridge City Council
Huntingdonshire District Council
- works with umbrella organisations like Hunts Forum and Cambridgeshire ACRE to provide information and organise events directed at the VCS
- works in partnership with local voluntary and community groups to apply for funding
Fenland District Council
- Changing Views Grants
- Glassmoor Local Environment Fund
- Ransonmoor Community Fund
- Whitemill Environment Fund
Local Support Organisations
- Cambridge Council for Voluntary Service
- Cambridgeshire ACRE
- Support Cambridgeshire
- Support Cambridgeshire 4 Communities (Grant Finder Portal)
Local Charitable Organisations
- Cambridgeshire Community Foundation
- Cole Charitable Trust
- Community Covenant for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Huntingdon Freemen’s Trust
- John Huntingdon’s Charity
Charitable Foundations and Trusts
Charities, trusts, foundations and private/business sponsorship are all sources of potential financial assistance. You can find a few listed below. Research on the web or by subscription to one of the numerous funding directories and digests are the best ways of keeping up to date with opportunities.
- Austin Hope and Pilkington Trust
- Baring Foundation
- Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
- Biffa Award
- Charles Hayward Foundation
- Clore Duffied Foundation
- Comic Relief
- Community Radio Fund
- Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
- FCC Community Action Fund
- Funding Opportunities for NGOs | Bond
- Gerald Micklem Charitable Trust
- Grants Online
- Greggs Foundation
- Grocers' Charity
- Henry Smith Charity
- Lloyds Bank Foundation (Invest Programme)
- Lottery Good Causes
- Morrisons Foundation
- National Lottery Community Fund
- Prince’s Trust
- Rayne Foundation
- Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts
- Tudor Trust
- Trusthouse Charitable Foundation (UK)
- UK Research and Innovation
- UnLtd
- Vodafone UK Foundation
- Woodward Charitable Trust
- Yapp Charitable Trust
National Government/European Funding
Big Lottery Fund is matching funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) for projects across England to tackle poverty and promote social inclusion in the The National Lottery Community Fund ESF is part of the European Structural and Investment Fund programme.
Funding for Young People and Families
See also the Funding for Communities section above.
Funding for Culture, Arts and Music
The Council aims to support access to cultural opportunities in the county and involves several initiatives:
- developing work in partnership with Arts Council England, East, the District and City Councils, professional and voluntary arts’ organisations
- general advice on the provision, management and development of arts’ facilities, projects and schemes
- advice and support to locally-based groups and organisations wishing to apply for funding from other sources
Charitable Foundations and Trusts
Charities, trusts, foundations and private/business sponsorship are all sources of potential financial assistance. You can find a few listed below. Research on the web or by subscription to one of the numerous funding directories and digests are the best ways of keeping up to date with opportunities.
Arts
- Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants
- Arts & Humanities Impact Fund
- BFI Funding and Support
- Carnegie UK Trust
- Clore Duffield Foundation
- Fenton Arts Trust
- Fidelio Trust
- Finnis Scott Foundation
- Foyle Foundation
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- Idlewild Trust
- Kelly Family Charitable Trust
- Local Trust – Creative Civic Change
- National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)
- Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF)
- Wingate Foundation
Children and Youth
Crafts
International
Museums and Heritage
- AIM Training Grants - AIM - Association of Independent Museums (aim-museums.co.uk)
- Apply for the Energy Bills Discount Scheme support for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETIIs) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Art Fund
- BFI National Lottery Screen Heritage Fund | BFI
- Charles Hayward Foundation
- Cultural Investment Fund - Arts Council England
- Collections Care and Conservation Grants - AIM
- Designation Scheme | Arts Council England
- Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund - Museums Association
- Find your local Community Foundation | UKCF (ukcommunityfoundations.org)
- Funding | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
- Get funding - Art Fund
- Going Places - Art Fund
- Grants and Funding - Archives sector (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
- Groundwork - apply for a grant
- Henry Moore Foundation
- Home - Museum Development Network (mduk.org.uk)
- Hypercharged Foundation : Apply For Funding
- Jerwood funding
- Know Your Neighbourhood grants | Creative Lives (creative-lives.org)
- MDSE Grants – Collections – Museum Development South East
- MDSE Grants – Finance and Income Generation – Museum Development South East
- Museums (aim-museums.co.uk)
- Museums and Galleries fund (ellerman.org.uk)
- Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) | Arts Council England
- Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) Round 4 | Arts Council England
- National Lottery Project Grants changes: You said, we did | Arts Council England
- National Lottery Heritage Grants £10,000 to £250,000 | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
- National Lottery Heritage Grants £250,000 to £10million | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
- Networks Funding | Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy
- New Interpretations Grant 2024-25 - Application Form
- Our Broken Planet: Community of Practice | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Picture a future for UK nature | The Wild Escape
- Pilgrim Trust - Grant-making across the UK (thepilgrimtrust.org.uk)
- The Constable Trust: Grants
- The Stobart Sustainability Fund | Stobart (eddiestobart.com)
- The Wolfson Foundation
- VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme - Groundwork
- Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund - Art Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is the largest dedicated grant funder of the UK's heritage. It is offering grants of £3,000 to £10,000 to not-for-profit organisations and partnerships for heritage projects through Start-up Grants. Applications can be submitted at any time and will be assessed within eight weeks. The HLF’s Townscape Heritage Initiative is open for application. Grants of between £100,000 and £2 million are available to support schemes that regenerate the historic environment in towns and cities.
- AIM Grants - AIM - Association of Independent Museums
- Beecroft Bequest Museums Association
- Collections Care and Conservation Grants
- Culture Recovery Fund - Arts Council England
- Culture Recovery Fund - Emergency Resource Support
- Dynamic Collections | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
- Grants - SHARE Museums East
- NFU Mutual
- NLPG_InfoSheet_Unlocking_Collections I Arts Council England (opens as a .pdf)
- Reimagine grants - Art Fund
- Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts
- Screwfix Foundation
Music
- BRIT Trust
- Concertina Charitable Trust
- Countess of Munster Musical Trust
- Fidelio Trust
- Hattori Foundation
- PRS Foundation - British Music Abroad
- Wingate Foundation
- Youth Music
Arts Support Websites and What’s On?
Advice, Information and Contacts
Artists in Education
The Council's Code of Practice for artists working in schools is designed to help ensure that all those involved in an artist's residency, short project or even a one-off visit have agreed how the project will operate. Forward planning and putting child safety first helps to make sure the experience is positive for all concerned.
If you are working with young people and/or vulnerable adults you will need to undergo a DBS Check.
Arts Award
Arts Award gives children and young people (aged 7-25) the chance to explore art forms, including performing arts, visual arts, literature, media and multimedia. The award builds confidence, helps young people to enjoy cultural activities and prepares them for further education or employment.
Artsmark
Artsmark is awarded to schools who show a commitment to the full range of arts (music, dance, drama and art and design). The award scheme is open to all schools in England - primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units (maintained and independent) - and is awarded after an application, assessment and validation process.
Arts Advice and Information for Schools
- Access Art
- Artists in Schools
- Arts Works
- Department for Education
- Engage
- National Curriculum
- National Society for Education in Art and Design
Funding for Sports
Local and national funding opportunities for sports projects and activities can be found in this section.
Examples of funding available from Sport England include Return to Play: Small Grants, awards of between £300 and £10,000 to not-for-profit organisations to help more people play sport, and Strategic Facilities Fund for capital grants to refurbish and improve community facilities.
- BBC Children in Need
- Cash 4 Clubs UK
- Cambridgeshire Community Foundation
- Caudwell Children
- Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC)
- Disability Sport Project Grants
- Football Foundation
- Future Champion Grants
- GLL Sport Foundation - Athlete Support Programme
- Living Sport - a one-stop shop that signposts/links to all the main sports funders
- Sport England National Lottery funding
- Swimathon Foundation
- Tesco Community Grants
Funding for Environmental Work
Local and national funding opportunities for environmental projects can be found in this section.
- Bromley Trust
- Community Chest Grants
- Dulverton Trust Fund
- Ernest Cook Trust
- Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
- FCC Community Action Fund
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- Heritage Lottery Fund
- John Ellerman Foundation (Environment Funding Grant)
- Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
- Looker Energy Environmental Fund
- Landfill Communities Fund
- Mick George Community Grant
- People’s Trust for Endangered Species (Conservation Insight Grants)
- Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation
- Tesco Bags of Help
- Thalia Community Fund
- The National Lottery Community Fund
- Waterloo Foundation Environment Grants
- Whitemill Environment Fund