For now we’re focusing on funding projects and organisations helping communities through the COVID-19 pandemic
We ask organisations who are not looking for COVID-19 related funding in England to not to 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
How to apply
We moved to a new online application form on Tuesday 1 October 2019
You have to set up an account to use this application form - even if you already had an account with us before Tuesday 1 October.
It might take a bit longer than usual to get a decision from us
It could take up to 18 weeks for us to tell you our decision, with a further two weeks to pay your grant if you're successful.
Apply online Continue online application
We only have a certain amount of funding to award
We get a lot of applications, and many of them are for really worthwhile projects. This means we have to make some tough decisions around which projects we can fund, when looking at all of the applications we've received. So there are often lots of projects we can't fund - even the good ones.
If it's difficult or impossible for you to complete an application form
You can contact us if you have any communication support needs. We’re happy to talk about alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea.
What information you need to apply
We ask for the contact details, home addresses and dates of birth of two different people from your organisation. Both contacts need different email addresses.
One person should be someone we can talk to if we have any questions about your project. The other should be a senior member of your organisation, who'll be legally responsible for the funding. Both need to live in the UK.
These two people can’t be:
- related by blood
- married to each other
- in a civil partnership with each other
- in a long-term relationship with each other
- living together at the same address.
We ask for the legal name of your organisation - and its address. And what type of organisation it is
Make sure these are up to date and match up with any information or identity documents we ask for (when you get to the application part).
We ask for information about your organisation’s accounts
We want to know the date your accounts wrap up each year and how much income you have.
If you don’t have yearly accounts because you’re a new organisation (less than 15 months old) that’s okay. We can still look at your application.
We ask for a bank statement from the last 3 months
It should show:
- your organisation's legal name
- address the statements are sent to
- your banks name
- the account code and sort number
- date the statement was issued.
Here’s a handy picture of the kind of bank statement we’re looking for.
We ask you for information about what sort of project you’d like to do
And how your project will help and involve your community.
We also ask you to read and agree to our terms and conditions
You can have a look at the terms and conditions here.
If you’re not sure about the sort of things we ask for when you apply
What happens after you apply?
- You send us your application – we'll get back to you with a decision in around 18 weeks. During these 18 weeks we look at your idea and do our security checks. You can find out more about the checks we do. We might give you a call within those 18 weeks, to talk a little more about your idea, or ask for more information.
- If your application is successful – we'll send you an email with the good news! And we’ll put the funding in your bank account within 14 days.
- You can start spending the funding on your project – you should spend the funding the way you said you would in your application (unless we’ve agreed to something different first). We might check in from time to time – to see how things are going. Find out more about managing your funding.
- Share your story – you can tell your local community, share your good news on social media, or get in touch with local newspapers. There’s some information about how to publicise your grant. We’ll make a press announcement and share your story too. You can also download a logo for you to use to show you have National Lottery Awards for All funding.