How to apply to the Henry Smith Foundation: programmes open now, typical awards and dates

The Henry Smith Foundation, the operating name of the Henry Smith Charity since its 2025 to 2030 strategy, awarded £61.9 million to over 900 UK organisations in 2024 and now funds through named programmes with their own windows rather than a single open door. On 26 October 2026 only the Clergy programme was open to general applications, with Enterprise Gateway opening on 28 October 2026 for intermediary organisations. New 2026 programmes are being announced through the foundation's mailing list.

Who the Henry Smith Foundation funds

The strategy sets three priorities, each described as a life transition: "getting started" (families in pregnancy and a child's first five years), "building independence" (young people moving into adulthood) and "safer futures" (people rebuilding their lives after abuse, displacement or prison). The foundation says it does not deliver frontline services and instead backs "the people and organisations who do", including work to change the systems around them. Its register entry records purposes across health, disability, poverty, housing and community development, and beneficiaries from children to older people and people of particular ethnic origins.

The funder facts page shows 8,065 grants worth £460 million published to 360Giving. In the 100 most recent, 66% went to registered charities and 22% to companies or CICs, and the most-used programme names were Holiday Grant, National Insurance Uplift and Transition Fund. The homepage also lists programmes from its 2025 funds, including a Maternity Equity Fund, Career Ready Fund, Welcome for Newcomers Fund, Equity in Justice Fund, Early Years Parenting Fund, Proud Homes Fund, Domestic Abuse Fund, Together We Begin and Shout!, none of which appeared in the open list on 26 October 2026. Treat them as the shape of future rounds, not as live opportunities.

What it funds and what it will not

Within each priority the foundation runs programmes "with clear aims and criteria", and the criteria change with each one. The three programmes listed on 26 October 2026 were:

• Clergy: grants of £10,000 or more a year, usually for up to three years, to churches, charities and not-for-profits with income up to £1 million, for services that support Anglican clergy wellbeing such as peer support, retreats, mentoring and pastoral care. Not capital projects, sabbaticals or overseas work.
• Enterprise Gateway: a £6 million, three-year fund paying at least four intermediary partners £500,000 to £1.5 million each to run onward grants and enterprise development support for small VCSE organisations and social entrepreneurs. The foundation states that small organisations "cannot apply directly". Of the £6 million, £4 million is ring-fenced for asset-locked organisations in England and £2 million for non-constituted organisations and individuals across the UK.
• Kindred: financial, emotional and practical help for eligible descendants of Henry Smith.

Holiday Grants, a long-standing programme, offers £500 to £3,000 per recreational day trip or residential of up to seven days for children aged 13 and under, from schools, youth groups and non-profits with income below £2 million. The page says applications for trips between 1 October and 31 December 2026 are open between 20 August and 19 November 2026, but the programme was marked "now closed" at the top of the same page and did not appear in the open list on 26 October 2026, so check the page before relying on it. The Opportunity Fund is invitation-only and the foundation asks not to be contacted about it.

Typical award

There is no single typical award because the programmes differ by two orders of magnitude. The 360Giving median of £2,180 across the 100 most recent grants is pulled down by Holiday Grants and the National Insurance Uplift payments to existing grantees. The programme bands are the better guide: £500 to £3,000 per holiday trip; £10,000 a year upwards for Clergy, with totals over £100,000 "unlikely"; and £500,000 to £1.5 million for Enterprise Gateway intermediaries. Across all published grants the range is £125 to £2 million.

Deadlines and rounds

On 26 October 2026 the dates were:

• Enterprise Gateway: expressions of interest open 9am on 28 October 2026 and close 5pm on 25 November 2026. Invited full applications open 11 December 2026 and close 5pm on 22 January 2027. Partners are appointed in the first week of April 2027. OpenGrant's record, Enterprise Gateway, carries the 25 November deadline and sits on the November 2026 deadlines page.
• Clergy: no deadlines; applications accepted year-round. Record: Clergy.
• Holiday Grants: apply at least six weeks before the trip within the stated window.
• New 2026 programmes: "More will be announced over the coming weeks and months."

For a wider view of what closes this month, see UK grants closing this month.

How to apply

Every programme starts with an online eligibility checker that unlocks the application form on the foundation's grants portal. For Clergy: complete the quiz, read the guidance, submit online, and expect a response within five months; the foundation welcomes a phone call while you draft and may review drafts. For Enterprise Gateway: complete the checker, submit an expression of interest by 25 November 2026, and if invited submit a full application by 22 January 2027, followed by a phone conversation in late January or February. The foundation ran 20-minute application surgeries in October 2026 and publishes sample forms and budget guidance. Its grants page is the place to check which programmes are open and to join the mailing list.

Common reasons applications fail

The foundation's FAQs give specific rules that catch applicants out: organisations can only have one active grant or application at a time; declined Clergy applicants must wait at least 12 months before reapplying; work outside the UK is never funded; Holiday Grants will not fund trips less than six weeks away, trips for children over 13, families, high-cost destinations or trips with educational or religious aims. For Enterprise Gateway, applying as a small organisation rather than an intermediary is an automatic no. More generally, applying to a programme because the funder is large, rather than because the work fits a stated transition, wastes a slot; the due diligence checks guide is about avoiding that.

Comparable funders

Organisations that would once have applied to the Henry Smith Charity's main grants should look at:

• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: rolling, £30,000 minimum, multi-year core funding; see the Esmée Fairbairn guide.
• Garfield Weston Foundation: rolling and broad; see how to apply to the Garfield Weston Foundation.
• Tudor Trust: invitation-led multi-year core grants.
• BBC Children in Need for work with children and young people, open and rolling at £1,000 to £40,000.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales for small and local charities.

For the foundation's health-related history and the funders now active in that space, read which trusts fund mental health charities.