ACVO Opportunities

Funding

The UK Fund

Funding available: £500,000 - £5,000,000

Applications close: 31/01/2026

About this fund

The UK Fund is one of our first significant commitments as part of our new strategy, ‘It starts with community.’

We’re looking to fund organisations that want to do more to help communities come together and help make us a better-connected society.

Your project must either work across the UK, or be able to inform, influence or scale across the UK.

We want to fund projects that:

-strengthen relationships between people whose experiences of life have not been the same. For example, relationships between people of different ethnic backgrounds, generations, occupations or geographies
-create connections between online and offline worlds
-help make sure people from all backgrounds can shape the future of their communities.

We’ll fund ambitious projects that aim to create longer-term, transformational change. We’ll take an equity-based approach to tackle inequality. This means we’ll fund where there’s greatest need.

You can read our blog for examples of projects we’re likely to fund.

You must either work across the UK, or be able to inform, influence or scale across the UK.

Funding size: £500,000 to £5m
Length of grants: We expect most projects to run from 2 to 5 years. We may consider funding for up to 10 years.
Application deadline: Ongoing

Looking for support with funding?

Identifying funding opportunities and writing grant applications can seem overwhelming, especially when the future sustainability of your group is dependent on gaining funding support. 

Our supportive Funding Officer, Claire Shaw, can help your organisation with every step of the funding application process, from carrying out funding searches to proofreading your application.

Share this opportunity

The UK Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund

Funding available: £500,000 - £5,000,000

Applications close: 31/01/2026

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