Funding opportunities in September 2025
Howard Lake | 22 September 2025 | News
The Hays Travel Foundation, the Corra Foundation’s Boost Fund, Philanthropunks in Newham, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund all feature in this month’s funding update. As does the Millions Hours Fund from the National Lottery Community Fund, which closed a month earlier than it originally expected to.
The Hays Travel Foundation – helping young people achieve their potential
Founded in 2015 the Hays Travel Foundation is dedicated to helping children and young people in its local communities overcome barriers and reach their full potential.
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Their grants help provide essential resources and create opportunities for success — supporting initiatives in education, health, sports, arts and culture, and the prevention and relief of poverty.
Over the last 10 years the Foundation has donated £2,076,207.
There’s no indication of application deadlines on the foundation’s site, so it appears they accept them via their online application form on an ongoing basis.
Local branch support
Each branch also has an annual budget that they can use to sponsor any fundraising activities they want to organise or be part of. While the Hays Travel Foundation primarily focuses on supporting young people, the company’s branches have the freedom to make their own decision about who and what they would like to fundraise for.
You can find your local Hays Travel branch here.
The Boost Fund’s £750,000 is open to community-led organisations across Scotland
Corra Foundation has announced the Boost Fund, offering grants of up to £3,000 for constituted groups/charities and up to £1,500 for unconstituted groups.
Boost is open to community-led organisations across Scotland who support local people affected by poverty or disadvantage.
Boost is delivered by Corra and is a partnership programme between the STV Children’s Appeal, Comic Relief, Foundation Scotland, Corra and supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Thanks to support from these funding partners, a total of £750,000 is available until March 2026.
Carolyn Sawers, CEO of The Corra Foundation, said:
“We know the importance of accessible, small pots of funding for groups and have designed Boost with a simple application process, quick funding decisions and being open to unconstituted groups, as well as small community organisations and charities.”
Philanthropunks funding in Newham
PhilanthroPunks‘ next round of funding for Newham (London) groups opened for applications on 1 August.
The Newham-based grassroots organisation is driven by the punk ethos of defiance, DIY spirit, and unity. Its mission is to challenge inequality, break down barriers, and create a more inclusive society. They “stand in solidarity with marginalised communities, championing equal opportunities and amplifying the voices of the unheard”.
They fund initiatives that embody the punk spirit, fostering creative and rebellious approaches to social change.
Expressions of interest are open until Friday 26 September 2025.
Million Hours Fund part 3
The third phase of the National Lottery Community Fund’s Million Hours Fund was been launched to provide extra support to young people in areas with higher rates of anti-social behaviour. It is co-funded with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
It is, however, another example of a fund that closed earlier than its original deadline, doubtless causing difficulties for some would-be applicants. About the only good news at this point is that “If you’ve started an application already, you can still submit it until midday on Tuesday 30 September“.
So, for the record, here is what the NLFB announced about the fund when it launched.
To benefit projects must be in a targeted set of places in England. Projects must also benefit young people aged 10 to 18, or up to 25 if they have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND); deliver more hours of youth work than they provide now; effectively engage with young people at risk of taking part in anti-social behaviour; and involve young people in deciding how you work.
Grants of from £30,000 to £100,000 are available to incorporated voluntary or community organisations and public sector organisations.
The NLCB recommend applying promptly as, if they receive applications from more organisations than they expect, they may have to stop accepting applications before their deadline of 22 October 2025.
This new round is co-funded, with £12 million of Government funding, to be spent by 31 March 2026 and £7 million of National Lottery funding, to be spent by 31 March 2027.
The Million Hours Fund first opened in summer 2023 to provide extra youth work hours and activities over the summer holidays.
Over £3.7 million was awarded from the first round over summer 2023, enabling more than 400 youth services to support young people in antisocial behaviour hotspots as the school gates closed for the summer.
How to apply for £10,000–£250,000 funding for a heritage project
A four and a half-minute guide to applying for funding for a heritage project to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Cambridge Building Society donates more
As part of its 175th anniversary year of celebrations, The Cambridge Building Society has awarded £32,594 in new grants to local charities through its Community Fund.
Four local charities working to address key issues across the community, from homelessness and housing to environmental sustainability have received a funding boost from the building society. These are:
- Cambridge Carbon Footprint
- Cambridge Cyrenians
- Citizens Advice Rural Cambs
- Turtle Dove Cambridge CIC
These grants reflect The Cambridge Building Society’s pledge to donate more money than ever before during its 175th anniversary year, providing vital support for local charities and helping to make a long-lasting difference in the community.
Community Wealth Fund doubled to £175 million
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have confirmed that the Community Wealth Fund will be targeted at the doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England most in need of investment in civic capacity building.
The decision follows seven years of lobbying and research by the Community Wealth Fund Alliance. It has advocated for a targeted approach that addresses the needs of doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods – areas that have historically missed out on their fair share of investment alongside facing the highest levels of deprivation and the weakest social infrastructure.
Predominantly located in housing estates on the outskirts of former industrial towns and cities, as well as in coastal areas, many of these neighbourhoods are found outside small towns and were at risk of missing out on vital investment under previous proposals for the funding.
The funding will be distributed over a long time, with residents in charge of decisions on how to improve their own areas.
The CWFA is a group of more than 800 organisations from across civil society and the public and private sectors. The CWF proposal is supported by leading regional mayors, business leaders from across banking and finance, and more than 50 local and combined authorities. Its secretariat has been provided by Local Trust, a founding member.
Rachel Rowney, Chief Executive at Local Trust, founding member and secretariat to the Community Wealth Fund Alliance, said:
“Today’s announcement is a welcome culmination of the Alliance’s seven-year campaign for the Community Wealth Fund. We are pleased that the principles we advocated for, including the importance of working at a hyper-local level, where residents lead decisions over the long-term on how resources are used are central components of the response.
“We know this has the potential to shift the dial in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and we are hopeful that the Community Wealth Fund will help build vital social and economic capital, laying the foundations for lasting positive change in these areas”.
Using initial funding of £87.5 million between 2024 and 2028 from the expanded Dormant Assets Scheme, the Community Wealth Fund (CWF) will support the rebuilding of social infrastructure in some of England’s most deprived areas. As the Scheme’s named distributor, the National Lottery Community Fund will deliver the CWF and has committed an additional £87.5 million towards the initiative, taking the total funding to £175 million.
David Knott, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“No one knows more than local people about what their community needs – and I know not every community has had the same starting point. At The National Lottery Community Fund, we meet communities where they are and support them to build on their strengths…
“I’m grateful to the communities and sector partners who’ve shared their insight, experience and challenge to help shape this work. We’re determined to do justice to their passion – and to help bring about real, lasting change.”
Community Wealth Fund – how will it work?
The Community Wealth Fund will deliver targeted local investment across England and is NOT open to applicants like regular National Lottery funding programmes. To reduce inequalities, funding will be allocated to communities that have the highest level of need across England: places experiencing the challenges of both high deprivation and low social capital and infrastructure, making them “doubly-disadvantaged”.
To improve social infrastructure in the places that need it the most, the Community Wealth Fund will allocate between £1 million and £2.5 million to each beneficiary community to invest directly in the spaces and activities that underpin happy, healthy communities. This will be available over ten years to be used to address the priorities determined by local people.
The National Lottery Community Fund is currently designing the detail of the programme and developing the methodology for selecting the areas to benefit from this funding.
You can read the Government’s response to the Community Wealth Fund consultation.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.