Blue Spark Foundation

Schools, colleges and community groups in England can apply for grants to Blue Spark Foundation for a wide range of projects. The foundation value academic, vocational, artistic and sporting endeavour in equal measure but are particularly keen to support projects which will help enhance the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people. Projects which could be supported include drama, music, sport, art and design, debating, public speaking, academic education, vocational training, community projects, enterprise projects and educational excursions. Many grants will be under £2,000, most will be under £5,000 and only in a few cases will grants exceed £10,000.

Deadline: applications reviewed on a rolling basis at approximately 8 week intervals.

Apply here.

Daiwa Foundation

The Daiwa Foundation offers grants of £2,000-£7,000 to individuals, societies, associations or other bodies in the UK or Japan to promote and support interaction between the two countries. Daiwa Foundation Small Grants can cover all fields of activity, including educational and grassroots exchanges, research travel, the organisation of conferences, exhibitions, and other projects and events that fulfil this broad objective. New initiatives are especially encouraged.

Deadline: 31 March and 30 September annually.

Apply here.

David Ross Foundation

The David Ross Foundation's firm belief is that every child and young person has passions and talents. The foundation aims to help them discover their strengths by offering them a wide range of world class educational opportunities. Their primary interests are in the arts, community, education, music and sport and enabling disadvantaged people to participate fully in society.

Deadline: none currently.

Apply here.

Fair Education Alliance Innovation Award

Do you have an idea that could make education fairer? Win a £25,000 six-month salary contribution and a year of expert support to make it a reality.

Fair Education Alliance's (FEA) Innovation Award, supported by Bloomberg, nurtures new ideas from the public and FEA Members to tackle the root causes of educational inequality in England.

Deadline: 31 May 2024.

If you want to chat through your idea or get support with your application, you can book a 1:1 with Soizic, FEA's Head of Innovation. Find out more and apply here.

John Lewis Foundation

The John Lewis Foundation awards discretionary grants (typically up to £10,000) to registered charities and CICs working with disadvantaged communities to acquire the relevant skills required for meaningful employment. They focus on vulnerable children and young adults in the most disadvantaged communities, both in the UK and overseas where the John Lewis business operates and sources.

Deadline: Ongoing

Apply here.

The Ironmongers' Company

The Ironmongers’ Company wishes to support projects that provide opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people to fulfil their potential. Projects should deliver clearly defined educational benefits to a specific group of children or young people. The company is particularly interested in enabling primary age children to develop a strong foundation for the future. Projects could, for example, support special educational needs, address behavioural problems or promote citizenship, parenting or life skills. Grants range from a few hundred pounds up to around £10,000. The average grant awarded is £4,000.

Deadline: 15 December and 31 July, annually.

Apply here.

The Shears Foundation

The Shears Foundation welcomes applications for grants of £5,000 from registered charities. The Foundation will support core costs, including staffing but will not contribute to capital projects. Charities must be working in one of their priority areas, currently:

• The development of culture and the arts.
• The development and provision of educational opportunities for adults and / or children.
• Protection, preservation or enhancement of the natural environment.
• Creating stronger / better / more sustainable communities.
• Promoting health and medicine, with an emphasis on research or education. They currently don't consider applications from Hospices.

Deadline: applications considered on a quarterly basis. The next deadline is 29th February.

Apply here.

The Yapp Charitable Trust

The Yapp Charitable Trust offers grants to registered charities with a total annual expenditure of less than £40,000 who are undertaking work with:

• Elderly people.
• Children and young people aged five to 25.
• People with physical impairments, learning difficulties or mental health challenges.
• Social welfare – people trying to overcome life-limiting problems of a social, rather than medical, origin (such as addiction, relationship difficulties, abuse, offending).
• Education and learning (with a particular interest in people who are educationally disadvantaged, whether adults or children).

Deadline: rolling.

Apply here.

Thomas Wall Trust

The Trust believes that communication skills are critical capabilities for people who want to improve their employment prospects, self-confidence, resilience, and life chances. The Trust offer grants up to £5,000 to specific projects or core activities that develop these critical life skills for people from disadvantaged groups and welcomes proposals which target people experiencing multiple deprivation or other groups demonstrably facing major hurdles to employment, especially; women, people with physical, mental, or learning disabilities, refugees and asylum seekers. There is a two-stage application process with applicants invited to stage 2. Eligibilty for funding requires being: A UK charity registered with the Charity Commission for at least 3 years.

Deadline: 29 April 2024.

Apply here.

WCIT – IT4Good Grant Programme

WCIT’s IT4Good Grant Programme provides grants of up to £15,000 for IT projects that address one or more of the following priority areas:

• education
• inclusion
• IT for charities
• public understanding of IT

The programme supports registered charities, educational establishments, community interest companies, and organisations with a formal not-for-profit constitution. Grants of up to £15,000 are available and grants over £15,000 may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Applicants must provide documentation proving their charitable status, recent audited accounts, a safeguarding policy, and additional information for larger grants, including references and annual reports.

Deadline: 31 October 2024

Apply here.

Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarships

The Wellcome Trust is a research charity that funds research to improve human and animal health, supporting both biomedical research and research into the public understanding of science. The Scholarship, lasting 6-8 weeks, will provide promising undergraduates with hands-on experience of research during the summer holidays, with the aim or encouraging them to consider a career in research. To be eligible, you must be a student at a university based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

Deadline: end of summer 2024.

Apply here.