Community funding
Local and community grants in the UK: where to search by place
Where community groups can find local grants in each UK nation and how to check a funder's geographic rules.
A local funder may care where your organisation is based, where the work happens or where beneficiaries live. Write down all three before searching. OpenGrant can narrow by UK nation or English region; for town and council-level schemes, use the local sources below.
Start with the place you serve
Write down the project's delivery area, the communities it serves and where your organisation is based. Funders can use any of those as a geographic test. Search your town or council area first, then widen to the county, nation or UK-wide opportunities. Do not assume “national” means every local project qualifies; read the funder's location rules.
In England and Wales, GOV.UK's community-project finder directs you to your local council. In Scotland, SCVO explains how to search Funding Scotland; in Wales, WCVA provides Funding Wales. In Northern Ireland, the Community Foundation NI lists its available grants. These are starting points, not a complete list of local funders. The National Lottery Community Fund programme finder also lets you check programmes by nation.
Check your group's legal form
A community group, registered charity and CIC may all serve the same neighbourhood yet face different applicant rules. For example, the Reaching Communities England eligibility page names specific organisation types, including constituted voluntary groups, registered charities and CICs. That is one programme's rule, not a general promise of eligibility. For every opportunity, match the funder's wording to your actual constitution or registration.
Record the boundary each funder uses
Record the funder, source URL, exact area covered, permitted applicant, project theme, costs and application window. A grant restricted to one council area is different from one available across a nation. OpenGrant's geography filter covers UK nations and English regions, not individual towns or councils. Use it for a broad search, then check council and local funder pages for smaller areas. If your project sits on a boundary, ask the funder before drafting.
Questions for a local funder
- Check whether the funder means where your organisation is registered, where the work happens, or where beneficiaries live.
- Confirm that your legal form is listed and that your project's costs are eligible.
- Collect specific local evidence: who asked for the project, what already exists and what gap remains.
- Recheck the original page for current dates and application instructions.