National Lottery Awards for All England | The National Lottery Community Fund

A quick way to apply for smaller amounts of funding between £300 and £10,000.

For now we’re focusing on funding projects and organisations helping communities through the COVID-19 pandemic
We ask organisations who aren't looking for COVID-19 related funding in England to not submit an application at this time. All our resources need to be focused on helping communities through the pandemic.

We are reviewing the situation on an on-going basis and will share any updates or developments on our website.

Learn about applying for emergency COVID-19 funding in England
We have developed a joint response, distributing the government funding alongside our own, to support organisations to continue to deliver services to people and communities affected by COVID-19. Find out more about applying for COVID-19 funding under £10,000 - including Coronavirus Community Support Fund in England.

Area: England
Suitable for: Voluntary or community organisations
Funding size: £300 to £10,000
Application deadline: Paused

Apply
Who can apply
The projects we fund
What you can spend the money on

Apply

Who can apply

Who can apply?

You can apply if your organisation is a:

voluntary or community organisation
registered charity
constituted group or club
not-for-profit company or Community Interest Company
school (as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school)
statutory body (including town, parish and community council).

If you’re a smaller organisation

We’re keen to fund smaller organisations too. So we’ll look at your income when we’re making a decision.

Who we can’t accept applications from:

individuals
sole traders
Companies that can pay profits to directors, shareholders or members (including Companies Limited by Shares)
organisations based outside the UK
organisations that have already sent a National Lottery Awards for All application and are waiting for a decision
organisations that currently have National Lottery Awards for All funding - we can only fund your organisation for a maximum of £10,000 within a 12 month period. And you can only hold one grant, for each different country in the UK, at a time. If you want to apply for a new grant - you’ll need to wait until your last grant with us is coming to an end
organisations that don't have at least two people on their board or committee who aren't married, in a long-term relationship, living together at the same address, or related by blood
one organisation applying on behalf of another. Be careful of businesses or consultants who say they can support you with your funding applications. They might even say they’re acting on the Fund’s behalf, or they’re a preferred supplier of the Fund. They could even offer to write an application for you. We wouldn’t accept applications from these types of businesses or consultants. But you can get support and advice on writing your application from your local CVS (your local council for voluntary services).

If you’re a school or an organisation working in a school

Make sure your project strengthens the community outside of the school too. So it should benefit, and involve, more than just teachers, pupils, and parents of pupils.

The kinds of school projects we don’t usually fund:

projects to improve school facilities or equipment
projects to help with staff training
projects that are part of the school curriculum
projects that involve activities the school should already be providing (like a project teaching literacy during school hours)
projects that take place during teaching times (lunch breaks, or before and after school might be okay).

An example of the sort of school project we could fund

Things that would be seen as extras to the schools normal curriculum activities.

If you’re not sure if you can apply

The projects we fund

A good application should do at least one of these three things:

bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage.

Your project also has to involve your community

We believe that people understand what's needed in their communities better than anyone. So it’s important to us that you involve your community in the design, development and delivery of the activities you’re planning.

This short video explains it well. It might be helpful when you’re putting your application together.

If your project focuses on sports, arts or heritage

We’ve made a few changes around how we fund sports, arts and heritage projects. We’re looking for projects where the main aim is to strengthen your community in some way.

What we mean by strengthening your community

We know most sports, arts and heritage projects are good for communities generally. But we’re looking for projects that do a little more.

An example of the kind of sports project we might fund

Let’s think about a football group for young people. Football is good exercise, so it promotes health (which is great). But we’re looking at how that activity strengthens the other people in the community too.

Maybe it helps the community with social isolation. Or the project might aim to move young people away from anti-social behaviour.

There might be other types of funding for you

If you’ve read through this page and feel like this funding isn’t quite right for your project - have a look on our website to find other funders in the National Lottery family

If your project works with children, young people or vulnerable adults

You need to have a policy in place that explains how they'll be safe. And we might ask to see this policy, if we decide to give you funding. The NSPCC have lots of helpful advice about setting up and following good child safeguarding policies.

Projects that need insurance, qualifications or affiliations to a governing body

Depending on what you want to do, your project might need:

public liability insurance
leaders or instructors with special qualifications
an affiliation to a governing body.

You can ask us to cover these costs when you apply for funding (see what else you can spend the money on).

If you're not sure about the sort of projects we fund

Have a look at what we've funded previously. And you can always contact us too.

We're looking to fund COVID-19 projects and will prioritise:

Organisations supporting people who are at high risk from COVID-19
Organisations supporting people most likely to face increased demand and challenges as a result of the COVID-19 crisis
Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to COVID-19.

Your project also has to involve your community