Your weekly roundup of funding news and deadlines from GrantTracker.
Funding News
Hospital Saturday Fund for Organisations 2025
The Hospital Saturday Fund is a registered charity whose aims are to provide assistance for registered health charities, hospices, medical organisations and individuals with a medical condition or disability. They can provide grants for medical projects, care, research or support of medical training within the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The Hospital Saturday Fund has two grant categories: Standard grants of up to £2,000 or €3,000 or Large grants to up to £10,000 or €13,500 (please note this is the maximum sum that HSF will grant). The Hospital Saturday Fund will also consider grants for running costs. Large grant applications should be towards specific projects, research or equipment rather than running costs. Various deadlines throughout 2025/26.
Newry Mourne and Down District Council Call 1 2025-26 Financial Assistance
Applications currently open until midday 24 February 2025 for Arts & Culture Projects, Community Engagement, Community Events & Festivals (Halloween and Christmas), Community Summer Schemes, Good Relations, Let’s Grow, Local Biodiversity, Suicide Prevention & Emotional Wellbeing, Irish Language, Minority Communities Fund, Sports Programmes, PCSP Community Safety Support, Tourism Events, and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG). Information workshops are being held, visit webpage for further information and to book.
LFT Charitable Trust: Reach and Reconnect Grant Programme
LFT Charitable Trust is a Belfast based family foundation offering small grants and support. LFT is offering grants of up to £6,000 (£500 for research and £5,500 for project delivery) for programmes or initiatives that will engage new participants, who may otherwise be vulnerable to social isolation, to participate in existing, or new, community-based activities. Applications welcome from Grassroots community based organisations delivering projects in Northern Ireland for beneficiaries aged 50+.This fund is for the identification of new Grant Partners only. LFT Grant Partners currently in receipt of a grant need not apply. Preference will be given to organisations working in rural areas. The deadline for applications for the research element of this programme will be 12 noon Tuesday 11th February 2025. The deadline for applications for the delivery element of this programme will be 12 noon 24th July 2025. Completed application forms should be sent to [email protected]
Asda Foundation Outdoor Community Spaces Fund
Outdoor Community Spaces Fund is their new funding opportunity, with grants ranging from £500 to £3,000, to be used to improve or transform outdoor community spaces where people can meet and be together and build pride in their local areas. This grant is for projects which meet at least one of the following aims: Transform an outdoor area, creating greener and more engaging community spaces, Create or enhance community growing projects, and Enable community clean ups - grants for community clear ups only will be capped at £500. Application Deadline now 27 January midday.
Belfast City Council’s Ending Violence Against Women & Girls Change Fund is now open
Open to not-for-profit community, voluntary or social enterprise organisations, the purpose of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Change Fund is to support the community voluntary sector in Belfast to deliver events, projects or programmes of activity aimed at ending violence against women and girls. There are 3 grants available:
- Tier 1 Maximum award £5,000.00 – Submission deadline 12 noon on Friday 28 February 2025
- Tier 2 Minimum award £5,001.00 Maximum award £15,000.00 – Submission deadline 12 noon on Monday 17 February 2025
- Tier 3 Minimum award £15,001.00 Maximum award £25,000.00) – Submission deadline 12 noon on Monday 17 February 2025
Each organisation can only make one application to the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Change Fund 2025-26 across Tiers 1, 2 and 3. Visit webpage for details of their online information sessions.
HRUK’s Healthy Heart Grants opening soon
Heart Research UK offer Healthy Heart Grants of up to £15,000 for community projects aimed at supporting adults to reduce their risk of coronary heart disease, helping them to live healthier, happier and longer lives. They currently only accept applications from small, registered charities and community interest companies with annual incomes of less than £1 million. The Northern Ireland fund opens 9am, 20 August 2025 and closes 5pm, 17 September 2025. They will host an online presentation 5 November 2025 for shortlisted applicants.
Upcoming Deadlines
The Leche Trust provides funding of up to £5,000 to UK registered charities, public authorities or institutions in the areas of the Performing Arts and Conservation. They offer grants in two areas: performing arts and heritage conservation. Applicants must be UK registered charities or public authorities. Trustees meet three times each year and at each meeting have an allocation of around £30,000 for performing arts projects and £30,000 for conservation projects. Deadline midnight, 24 January 2025.
Arts & Business NI: Investment Programme
The Arts & Business NI Investment Programme is a competitive match-fund, which supports partnerships between arts organisations and commercial businesses in Northern Ireland. They can award up to £15,000 match-funding to the lead arts partner in a financial year; a partnership can receive investment a maximum of 2 times. Deadline midnight, 26 January 2025.
Love Rowing is on a mission to bring more people into the sport, transforming lives through the benefits rowing brings with it. They achieve their mission by working in partnership with schools, community organisations and rowing clubs. They are looking for initiatives that fit with their mission to transform lives through the sport of rowing. The January 2025 open grant round is seeking to support 2 or 3 projects of up to £10,000. Deadline midday, 27 January 2025.
Sport NI: Project Creating Opportunities
Project Creating Opportunities is the next phase of funding to connect communities, enabling more people to take part in sport and physical activity throughout Northern Ireland. Match funding, of up to £5,000, aims to help the sports sector ‘level the playing field’. Open to constituted sports clubs affiliated to a governing body of sport recognised by Sport NI OR Sport Ireland, community/voluntary sector organisations, charitable trusts, or constituted PTAs. Conditions apply. Phase 1 deadline 27 January 2025.
The Executive Office: Central Good Relations Fund
The Central Good Relations Fund (CGRF) supports constituted voluntary and community sector groups to deliver good relations projects where there is evidence of identified good relations need. There are two streams of funding available: Project Funding and Small Grants. For both streams, projects can claim salaries and programme costs. Project Funding opens once a year for applications. Small Grants are open for applications throughout the funding year and are available for projects up to £1,500. Project Funding (over £1,500) applications must be submitted online by: Monday 27 January 2025 at 4:00pm. However, you must register your organisation by 12 noon on Friday 24 January 2025, to enable access to the online application portal. Any registrations submitted after that time will not be accepted.
Fundraising Support
Events
NICVA focuses on Funding in February | NICVA
Every day, thousands of people benefit from the vital services that the voluntary and community sector provides. Committed and skilled fundraisers, paid and voluntary, are fundamental to the sector's ability to deliver, so Funding February aims to support their needs.
We’ll be hosting a wide range of free events and resources throughout the month including our NICVA’s Funding Fayre back for 2025, 26 February 2025 from 10:00am to 1:00pm. Find out more here.
Fundraising Hub
Explore the Fundraising Hub for a wide range of articles and resources to support your fundraising journey. A few are below:
Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund Outreach Workshops
The Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund invites you to attend their series of Outreach Workshops or visit their stand at a range of funding fairs, over the course of January and February 2025 including at NICVA.
Crowdfunder UK launches Foundation to empower philanthropy
Crowdfunder UK have officially launched the Crowdfunder Foundation aimed at helping philanthropists, high-net worth individuals, trusts, and foundations maximise their charitable giving through crowdfunding.
Every year charities in the UK lose out on £564 million as in Gift Aid goes unclaimed. Find out how you can make Gift Aid work better for you.
Get ahead with GrantTracker and access over 1000 funding schemes in NI's leading database. Just £100 a year for NICVA members and £145 for non-members. Sign up here.