What we want to fund

We want to fund work that supports communities to take action on the root causes of inequality across England, regionally or locally. This includes poverty, disadvantage and discrimination.

We’re looking for work that:

supports people with lived experience to lead and organise for change
connects different communities and issues so people can act together in solidarity
helps build knowledge about how to respond to inequality and share what works

This funding is not for delivering services alone. We recognise the importance of this work and support it through other funding programmes.

You will need to share your plan on how you will build on your existing knowledge, relationships and community learnings, and demonstrate how your existing work has met all 5 of the criteria.

Building power

Your work will challenge the systems that create inequality through organising, building strong communities, and developing leadership that can influence the decisions affecting their lives.

Making long-term systems change

Your work should aim to make big and lasting changes to the root causes of inequality. This means thinking beyond the immediate issues people face, and focusing on why those issues happen in the first place.

Improving the conditions leading to inequality could look like addressing how housing systems cause homelessness, the causes of food insecurity, or challenging who holds power and how decisions are made.

Working in solidarity

We also want to fund work that brings people together across different communities, backgrounds or experiences. This could mean working across place, identity or issue, and finding shared solutions.

We’re especially interested in organisations that collaborate and support each other, rather than working alone. This is what we mean by working in solidarity.

Lived experience must be at the heart of your work

To apply, your work must be led by, and accountable to, people with lived experience of the issues you want to change.

By lived experience, we mean personal experience of the issues your organisation is trying to change. This includes when that experience shapes how someone understands the issue, responds to it, or organises to take action.

This might include people who:

are leaders or board members
help set your organisation’s priorities
are members who take part in key decisions

We believe lasting change is more likely when people with lived experience are meaningfully involved and hold organisations to account.

We also recognise that strong leadership is often built on a blend of different kinds of knowledge:

lived experience – personal or community experience of the issues an organisation is working to change
learned experience – insight gained through study, research, or professional practice
expert experience – skills in governance, finance, strategy and organisational delivery

Create, share and use learning

Your work should be informed by the experience of people affected by inequality. You might use that learning to:

influence decisions or change how systems work
support others who are working on similar issues
shift public understanding by sharing stories or insights

Your work can change over time

We understand your work may evolve, especially if we fund you for up to 10 years. We’re comfortable with uncertainty and will be flexible as your plans develop. We want to support you in continuing to respond to your community’s needs.

Working with adults at risk, children and young people

You and any partnership you work with need to have a policy in place that explains how they’ll be safe. If you get funding you’ll need to follow our safeguarding expectations.

The NCVO website has resources and advice on safeguarding.

Funding in your area