Your weekly roundup of funding news and deadlines from GrantTracker.
Funding News
Community Foundation NI open grants
The Noah Donohoe Youth Sports Fund aims to support young people, aged 11-18, in developing their sporting abilities and opportunities. The Fund will support: Equipment & kit costs, Coaching costs, Venue hire, and Travel costs. Grants up to £2,000. The Openreach Community Fund was established with capital from BT, management and unions. It exists to support local constituted grass roots community and voluntary groups with grants of £500 to £2,000. Both schemes close 1pm on 14 May 2026.
Henry Smith Foundation's Five new programmes
The Henry Smith Foundation is opening five new funds to address different people at different moments in their life. The Foundation has pledged over ten million pounds to these 5 funds. For information on fund priorities, opening dates, etc visit here. More detail will follow in the coming weeks, including webinars on each fund. If your work reaches the people these funds are designed for, stay close: follow them on LinkedIn, sign up for their newsletter, or forward this to someone who needs to read it.
Biffa Award 2026 PARTNERSHIP GRANTS SCHEME IS NOW OPEN
They are currently accepting Expressions of Interest for between £250,000 and £1,000,000 to the 2026 Partnership Grants Scheme. Submit EOIs under their Built Environment and Natural Environment themes. Built Environment projects should restore, modernise and/or improve facilities such as cultural, heritage or visitor centres. Natural Environment projects should support a variety of living things including all species of plants and animals, along with the habitats and natural processes that support them. Deadline 5pm on 29 May 2026.
UK Youth and Pears Foundation have launched a new £10 million fund to champion an approach that works: providing multi-year, unrestricted funding alongside targeted capacity-building support to small youth organisations. The aim of the Fund is to strengthen the financial resilience and capacity of small youth and outdoor learning organisations across the UK. Organisations can apply for multi-year unrestricted funding of up to 10% of annual turnover (for example, an organisation with a turnover over £250,000 can apply for up to £25,000). Eligible areas in Northern Ireland are Belfast, Derry City and Strabane, and Newry, Mourne and Down. Deadline to submit an Expression of Interest: 11:59 pm on Wednesday, 6th May 2026.
DAERA: Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme
The aim of the NI Regional Food Programme (NIRFP) is to raise the profile of quality regional food and contribute to the outcomes of the Northern Ireland Food Strategy Framework (FSF) and Food Action Plan (FAP). Eligible applicants include formally constituted not-for-profit groups, registered charities and regional development agencies with a Northern Ireland membership or remit. Collaborative applications also accepted. A maximum of £70,000 per project is available, covering up to 40% of total project costs. Funding can support regional fairs and exhibitions, seminars and workshops, and information programmes and distribution costs. Tranche 1 is now accepting applications for projects scheduled between 1 May 2026 and 30 September 2026, with a submission deadline of 29 April 2026.
Upcoming Deadlines
Derry City & Strabane District Council: Good Relations Funding
The Council has launched two Good Relations funding programmes. The Good Relations Strategic Priority Fund has grants of up to £10,000 and is for proposals that operate at a city and district wide level. It will support organisations that are good relations practitioners to address good relations issues at a strategic level across the council area. The Good Relations Safer Communities Fund has grants of up to £10,000 to support strategic projects that can make a measurable contribution in making communities safer. Deadline is 3pm on 22 April 2026.
Centre for Social Justice Awards
The CSJ Awards is an annual, high profile award ceremony that honours the best grassroot, poverty-fighting charities and social enterprises across the UK. For this round, applications from Northern Ireland are especially encouraged. Four winners will receive a £20,000 grant and be profiled in front of hundreds of leading figures from across the country. Expressions of Interest (EOI) to be completed by 23 April 2026 at 5.00pm.
Foras na Gaeilge: Festivals Scheme
The Festivals Scheme will be open to appropriate local groups to give them an opportunity to develop arts festivals or elements of festivals being run and implemented through the medium of Irish or which Irish language arts are a central part of them between 01 June- 31st December 2026. The grant maximum is €5,000/£4,300. Deadline 24 April 2026.
AB Charitable Trust (ABCT): Open Grants Programme
The A B Charitable Trust (ABCT) is an independent, UK based grant-making organisation which supports charities that promote human dignity and defends the human rights of the most marginalised and excluded people. Open programme grants are usually between £10,000 to £30,000 per year and are awarded from one to three years. Insofar as possible they provide unrestricted funding. Next deadline 24 April 2026.
Believing that the way our economy operates causes many of the problems that we face in society, their grants programme provides funding to support projects and organisations, who are working to shape a fairer, more sustainable economy. Their Transforming financial systems and New economy infrastructure schemes are rolling programmes until February 2027. Their average grant is in the region of £100-120k over two years. Next application window Monday 16th Feb – Friday 24th April.
Events & Training
FREE: Fundraising Lab 3: Making the most of corporate partnerships
The final Fundraising Lab from Enthuse's Digital Fundraising Labs series focuses on engaging and strengthening your corporate partnerships. Now taking place 21 April 2026 from 11am to 12pm.
Chartered Institute of Fundraising Northern Ireland Awards 2026
Titanic Hotel, Belfast - Thursday 25 June 2026
Do you know an incredible fundraiser making a difference in Northern Ireland? Now’s the time to recognise them! Nominations are open to celebrate the passion, creativity and impact of fundraisers across our community.
Fundraising Articles and Resources
#FundingFebruary: Maximising Contactless Donations with Give A Little
For #FundingFebruary2026, Vicky Hewlett, Head of Marketing Communications at Give A Little explained how you can work towards building a sustainable cashless fundraising strategy with their solutions. Catch up on the recording here.
NICVA Member Spotlight: Portadown Wellness Centre continues to Grow
Funded by the profits of the Empower Garden Centre and the recently added, Community Café, popping in for a potted plant and a cappuccino in Portadown means green fingered residents help lift the cloud of mental illness.
NICVA Member Spotlight: North Down Softball Club
NICVA warmly welcomes North Down Softball Club to our growing membership. Based at Ward Park, Bangor, they are the only softball club in Co. Down and are run entirely by volunteers.
The Honourable The Irish Society to Launch New Grant Programmes | NICVA
The Society is pausing their current grants programme for a short time to allow them to build new programmes which reflect their strategic priorities.
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