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: none currently.

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, 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.

Kellogg’s Breakfast Club

Kellogg’s has teamed up with Forever Manchester to award grants of £1,000 to school breakfast clubs, to help them provide breakfast to those children who need it most. You can apply for an award at any date and you will hear within one month if you have been successful. A limited number of grants are available so priority will be given to schools that have either 35% and above of children eligible for pupil premium funding (for England) and eligible for free school meals (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), or schools that are based in an area which is classified as falling in the 10% of most deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Deadline: none currently.

Apply here.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Applications are open annually for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Fund Awards, offering six grants of up to £150,000. The fund supports effective arts-based teaching and learning in schools. The fund's priorities include:

• Primary schools.
• Children and young people experiencing systemic inequality and disadvantage.
• Learning through the arts.
• Long-term, inquiry-based projects supporting teachers’ professional development.
• Contributions of school leaders and artists as professional ;earners and supporters of embedded learning through the arts in the curriculum.
• Approaches involving the following art forms: craft, creative writing, poetry, dance, design, film, music, opera, photography, media, drama, the visual arts and cross-arts practices.

Deadline: 13 November

Apply here.

Social Investment Group

First Steps Enterprise Fund (FSEF) is a £300,000 pilot fund to support community organisations managed by Social Investment Group on behalf of the ASDA Foundation. Funding packages of up to £30,000 are available (90% loan and 10% grant). The loan element is charged at 5% (fixed) to be repaid over a period of four years with an optional capital holiday for the first year. The fund can support community organisations (charities and social enterprises) based in England that are looking to take on their first loan to help them grow and become more sustainable. Particular preference is given to organisations that work in the following areas: older people, health and wellbeing, employment for young people.

Deadline: none currently.

Apply here.

STEMettes

A series of events and programmes hosted by Stemettes aimed at young women and non-binary people aged 5-25, who want to help solve real life problems and build skill such as leaning to create an app or website, code and using AI to develop ideas and solutions. Join free Autumn Hacks events across the UK in person and online.

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: rolling.

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 - 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: 8 January 2024 (stage 1)

Apply here.