Aims/priorities: The Lived Experience Support Grant is intended to fund a single national organisation to lead and coordinate the integration of lived experience across the Changing Futures programme. Its purpose is to ensure that the voices, insights, and leadership of people with lived experience of multiple disadvantage are embedded in system design, delivery, and improvement, ultimately strengthening services and outcomes across local areas.
The scheme focuses on building the capacity of local partnerships to work meaningfully with people with lived experience, supporting co-production approaches and inclusive decision-making. It aims to ensure that lived experience is consistently and effectively incorporated across all aspects of the programme, while fostering collaboration between local areas, the national learning provider, and central government. A key element is enabling lived experience to inform both local service delivery and national policy development, while promoting coordination, shared learning, and reducing duplication across programme activity.
The objectives of the grant are to:
- Embed lived experience across programme delivery, system change, and decision-making.
- Build capacity within local partnerships to support meaningful co-production.
- Support and connect lived experience participants and networks across areas.
- Ensure lived experience insights inform local practice and national policy.
- Work collaboratively with the national learning and support provider.
- Facilitate shared learning and exchange of effective approaches to lived experience involvement.
- Promote inclusive, accessible, and ethical engagement practices.
- Contribute to long-term system change in addressing multiple disadvantage.
Who can apply? Applications are open to voluntary, community or faith sector (VCFS) organisations, operating in England, and established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes.
In addition, applicants must be able to demonstrate:
- That the grant aligns with the organisation’s core purpose, complements the wider multiple disadvantage system, supporting change, learning and improvement at local and national levels.
- A minimum of three years’ experience of working within, or supporting, the multiple disadvantage landscape. This includes experience of applying co-production principles, supporting people with lived experience to shape services and policy, and delivering and coordinating lived experience activity at a national level.
- An understanding of the policy and delivery context for multiple disadvantage, with the ability to adapt lived experience offers under review as policy, evidence and local practice evolve.
- Experience of organising interactive in person learning events and facilitating stakeholder workshops, actional learning sets and mentoring schemes.
Grant amount: Up to £750,000 of revenue funding over three years is available (£250,000 per year).
Application process: The grant prospectus and application form are available on the GOV.uk website.
Deadline: Thursday, 21 April 2026, (2 pm).
Contact information: Email: cfp@communities.gov.uk
Website: Changing Futures Lived Experience Support Grant: prospectus - GOV.UK