To be eligible for the Communities Fund you will need to be registered in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland as a Charity or a Social Enterprise and listed on Charities Commission, Companies House or the FCA Mutuals Public Register.
To apply to the Fund, project owners must:
• be age 18 or older
• be a UK resident
• be an authorised employee, volunteer, trustee, director or officer of the organisation
• have authority from the organisation to apply to the Fund, and
• use a UK IP address and not use a disposable email address.
Organisations must be one of the following types of organisations:
- Charity*
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO);
- Community Interest Company (CIC); or
- Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG);
And:
• be based in the UK
• have been operating for at least 12 months and have published financial data available
• have an annual income of no more than £1 million (can be averaged over the last three financial years)
• have a UK bank account in its own name
• have a safeguarding policy (if the organisation supports children or vulnerable people)
• have an active board of trustees or directors or management body
We encourage applicants to pay the Real Living Wage, especially when using our funding to support new roles. We understand there may be challenges (e.g. posts funded by multiple sources or internal pay structures), so while we encourage this, applications will still be considered if the Real Living Wage cannot be met.
*Organisations set up as trusts (including charitable trusts) are not currently eligible to participate in the Fund.
The Fund does NOT support projects that:
• benefit a single individual, or
• have an outcome that is only accessible to people of a particular faith or belief