Join our webinar: Introducing the change makers partnership
20 May 2026
Our upcoming webinars will introduce our new change makers partnership, which opens to applications on 8 July 2026.
We want to work with up to 12 partner organisations to develop the systems and networks community leaders across England need to thrive. Depending on their proposals, organisations could receive between £1 million and £5 million to do this work over the next 5 years.
It's part of our wider £50 million investment in the building blocks of community-led change.
Our strategy - It starts with community
At The National Lottery Community Fund, we're committed to community agency, power, and control. While supporting communities to shape the issues that affect them.
We firmly believe communities have the skills and knowledge to identify and respond to the challenges they face. But we know this does not just happen by chance – it requires long-term investment in the systems and the people that make community-led change possible. This is where our change makers partnership comes in.
The challenges of being a community leader
Community leaders are at the very heart of community-led change, bringing people together to tackle the issues that matter most to communities.
But they face significant challenges.
Many community leaders feel isolated and do not have the supportive infrastructure they need to develop. Managing busy personal lives while working with community issues of growing complexity means some are at risk of burnout. And for others, not seeing themselves as community leaders despite their hugely valuable work can mean they're less likely to seek support.
And community leaders with lived experience of poverty, discrimination, and disadvantage are still underrepresented, and their experience is still undervalued.
What our partnerships will do
We want to change the way community leaders are supported to succeed in England. With our funding, we want our partners to develop systems that really meet community leaders’ needs, making sure they have what they need to develop, to feel supported, and to reach their full potential. We want to make sure future community leaders have the support systems they need to thrive too.
Who the funding is for
We want to partner with up to 12 organisations across England. Our partner organisations will work to build strong support systems for community leaders.
We want to fund a range of approaches and models. Communities and their leaders are unique and there is no set approach to delivering this support. It will be up to our partners to define what the offer should be based on need, working with community leaders to co-design support that works for them.
And we’re especially focused on supporting communities where people feel they’ve had the fewest opportunities to shape the systems and decisions affecting their lives.
Join a webinar
If you think your organisation could be a good fit for this partnership and you’re keen to find out more, sign up for one of our webinars taking place on 18 and 30June. We’d love to tell you more about the partnership and help you explore whether it’s right for you.
You can: