Aims/priorities: The 2025/26 funding round will support organisations in England that are:
- Tackling the immediate and urgent impacts of being in poverty, including providing essential resources like food, shelter, advice and healthcare. For example, foodbanks, community kitchens, homeless shelters, welfare advice agencies and health outreach projects.
- Working to empower communities to take positive steps to lift themselves out of poverty in the longer term. For example, projects that build skills, increase access to employment, strengthen financial resilience or develop community-led solutions.
Applicants must be based within the area where they are carrying out activities.
Who can apply: To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be based within the area where they are carrying out activities.
- Have local people involved in the running of the organisation as trustees/staff/volunteers.
- Be not for profit.
- Have an annual income of £250,000 or less.
- Have a governing document (e.g. constitution or memorandum and articles of association) which includes appropriate statements on members not benefiting financially from the organisation or its dissolution.
- Have its own safeguarding policy.
- Have at least two unrelated people on the committee.
- Have its own bank account with a minimum of two unrelated signatories.
- Not be a statutory organisation.
The applicant's governing document should also include information about how the organisation specifically supports people at risk of or experiencing poverty. This could include wording along these lines in their aims or objectives:
- To support people in our community experiencing financial hardship
- To address the root causes of poverty, enabling people to build resilience
- To empower those at risk of poverty to achieve long-term financial stability
- To provide support to people experiencing poverty overcome the challenges associated with financial hardship
When assessing applications, Groundwork will also take into account the level of deprivation in the area where the organisation is working. Applications from areas that score higher on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) may be given greater priority.
Grant amount: Grants of up to £5,000 are available.
It is anticipated that around 120 grants will be awarded in the 2025/26 round.
Projects must be completed by 30 September 2026.
Application process: Applications open on 8 September 2025.
The first step in the application process is to complete an online Eligibility Checker. Eligible groups will then be given a link to the online application form.
Full guidelines and the Eligibility Checker can be found on the Groundwork website.
This will be the only funding round for 2025/2026, and it anticipated that it will be highly competitive.
The 2024/25 programme received more than three times as many applications than the number of grants available. Because of this, Groundwork cannot fund every eligible organisation and will be limited in the amount of feedback given to unsuccessful applicants.
Contact Groundwork for further information.
Deadline: Monday 6 October 2025 (noon)
Contact information: Email: comicrelief@groundwork.org.uk
Website: Comic Relief - Groundwork