Aims/priorities: The funding is for projects that meet both of the following outcomes:
- Those who are underrepresented, or whose voices are seldom heard, within the armed forces community, have equitable access to mental health and wellbeing support which meets their specific needs.
- Awareness of the needs of underrepresented groups within the armed forces community has been raised among organisations supporting them, through mutual learning and knowledge exchange to embed best practice.
The project should be focused on supporting either serving personnel, veterans or their families or carers who are ’seldom heard’, to access defined or bespoke mental health and wellbeing support.
Here, ‘seldom heard’ refers to groups or individuals whose voices, opinions or needs are not frequently or adequately represented in mainstream policies or services. These groups face barriers to participation and may be marginalised or overlooked in various contexts. It encompasses anyone who is under-served and may have barriers to, or specific needs when accessing mental health and wellbeing support services.
Potential beneficiaries may include, for example:
- Individuals from ethnic minorities
- Carers
- People with disabilities
- Members of the LGBT+ community
- Those for whom English is an additional language
- People from Foreign and Commonwealth communities
- Other members of the armed forces community with seldom-heard needs
Who can apply? Applications will be accepted from:
- Charities registered with one or more of the charity commissions for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland for at least one year at time of application. They must have at least three unrelated trustees.
- Community Interest Companies (CIC) with substantial recent experience of supporting Armed Forces communities. CICs must have been registered in the UK for more than one year and submitted one year of accounts to Companies House at time of application. They must have at least three unrelated directors.
- Local authorities.
Charities and CICs which do not have substantial recent experience of working with the Armed Forces community can apply as long their project is delivered in partnership with another organisation or organisations with substantial recent experience of working with Armed Forces communities or are Armed Forces-specific.
Applications will be accepted from:
- Specialist non-Armed Forces organisations working with Armed Forces organisations or Armed Forces units or bases for learning or referrals.
- Armed Forces organisations working with non-Armed Forces specialist organisations in partnership.
Grant amount: Between £3,000 and £25,000 are available for projects being delivered over 12 months.
Application process: The programme guidance, faqs, application questions and online application portal can be found on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust website.
There are two application rounds for the financial year 2025/26.
- Round 1 closed to applications on 1 October 2025. Notification of decisions before the end of November 2025, with a project start date by the end of February 2026.
- Round 2 has a deadline of 21 January 2026 (12 noon) for a decision before the end of March 2026, with a project start date by the end of June 2026.
Deadline: Wednesday 21 January 2026, (12 noon).
Contact information: Email: info@covenantfund.org.uk
Website: Hidden Voices Programme : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust