Social connections and community activities are at the heart of creating healthier, happier lives and a flourishing society. That’s why we support amazing community-led projects.
We offer funding from £300 to £20,000. And can support your project for up to two years.
You can apply for funding to deliver a new or existing activity or to support your organisation to change and adapt to new and future challenges.
We can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
Area England Suitable for Voluntary or community organisations Funding size £300 to £20,000, for up to two years Application deadline
Ongoing. Apply at least 16 weeks before you want to start the activities or spend any of the money.
You can contact us if you have any communication support needs. We’re happy to talk about other ways for you to tell us about your idea. For example, EasyRead or accessible PDF.
We're getting more applications than usual, so it's taking us longer to respond. It's currently taking up to 16 weeks to get a decision from us. Before then you cannot spend any of the money or run the activities you need funding for.
We're sorry for the delay and any issues it causes you.
You can only hold one grant, for each different country in the UK, at a time.
If you want to apply for a new grant – you’ll need to wait until your last grant with us is closed. You will not be eligible if you’ve already sent an application for National Lottery Awards for All funding and are waiting for a decision.
If you want to reapply for more money, we can only fund your organisation for a maximum of £20,000 within a 12-month period.
We get a lot of applications, and many of them are for really worthwhile projects. This means we have to make some tough decisions around which projects we can fund, when reading all the applications we’ve received. So there are often lots of projects we cannot fund, even the good ones.
One person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project. The other should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding. Both need to live in the UK.
These two people cannot be related. Related can mean:
Check these details before applying. Also check any registration numbers if you have them – like a charity number or company number. It will slow down your application if these details are not right.
We want to know the date your accounts wrap up each year and how much income you have.
If you do not have yearly accounts because you’re a new organisation (less than 15 months old), that’s okay. We can still look at your application.
And how your project will help and involve your community.
We ask for one bank statement dated within the last three months. So, we can check the account you want us to pay the grant into.
We'll not be able to assess your application if you do not have a bank account and bank statement that meet our requirements below and you’ll need to reapply once you have these set up. If you’re not sure you should contact us to check if your bank account and statement are suitable.
The bank statement (or bank welcome letter if the account was opened within the last 3 months) must be:
If all these details are on one page, just send us that page.
If you have a new bank account opened within the last three months, we can accept a bank welcome letter instead of a statement. The letter must confirm the date the account was opened and all the account details.
If you’re unable to provide a bank statement, we can accept transaction listings, if they include everything we’d expect to see on a bank statement:
To find out how we use the personal data you give us you can read our Data Protection Statement.
The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and are always striving to manage our environmental impact. We encourage and support projects and communities to do the same. Learn more about how you can make your project or event more environmentally sustainable and perhaps save money at the same time in our guidance on reducing your environmental footprint.
Watch BSL interpretation of how to apply to National Lottery Awards for All England (YouTube):
We are more likely to fund groups with smaller incomes.
Due to high demand, organisations that have a large annual income might not be able to get funding.
Related can mean:
All companies who apply must have at least two directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.
Be careful of businesses or consultants who say they can support you with your funding applications. They might say they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, or they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund. They could even offer to write an application for you.
We do not accept applications from these types of businesses or consultants.
They may be able to give you support and advice on writing your application.
You can only hold one grant, for each different country in the UK, at a time.
If you want to apply for a new grant – you’ll need to wait until your last grant with us is closed. You will not be eligible if you’ve already sent an application for National Lottery Awards for All funding and are waiting for a decision.
If you want to reapply for more money, we can only fund your organisation for a maximum of £20,000 within a 12-month period.
We’re less likely to fund projects happening in schools.
We will not fund projects that mainly benefit or involve teachers, pupils, and parents of pupils.
We do not fund activities in schools that:
Watch BSL interpretation of who can apply (YouTube):
You can apply for funding to deliver new or existing activity or to support your organisation to change and adapt to new and future challenges
People know best what’s needed in their communities. It’s important to involve your community from the start - in the design, development and delivery of the activities you’re planning.
We want to fund projects that are connected to local people and their communities, and use their existing skills and experience.
You could do a survey, have a meeting, make telephone calls, or talk to other organisations and people that are important to your community
Think about if the people you help could volunteer with you, join your board or committee, or get a job with you.
When we assess sports, arts and heritage projects, we’re looking for projects where the main aim is to strengthen your community in some way.
We know most sports, arts and heritage projects are good for communities generally. But we’re looking for projects that do a little more.
Let’s think about an online dance group for young people. Dance is good exercise, so it promotes health (which is great). But we’re looking at how that activity strengthens the community too.
Maybe it helps the community with social isolation. Or the project might aim to move young people away from anti-social behaviour.
If you’ve read through this page and feel like this funding is not quite right for your project - find other funders in the National Lottery family.
You need to have a policy in place that explains how they’ll be safe. If you get funding you’ll need to follow our expectations on safeguarding children and adults at risk.
Depending on what you want to do, your project might need:
You can ask us to cover these costs when you apply for funding (see what else you can spend the money on).
Watch BSL interpretation of the projects we fund (YouTube):
