Grassroots, community-led organisations in England can apply for small grants to support services that benefit local communities.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available through this Fund, for organisations with an income under £250,000.

Comic Relief expect to award around 140 grants.

Applications must focus on one of four areas:

• tackling the immediate impacts of hardship (eg. foodbanks, shelters, financial advice)
• building long-term resilience to poverty (eg. skills training, mental resilience)
• supporting equity and inclusion (eg. addressing inequalities related to gender, race, or ability)
• promoting climate justice (eg. environmental education, resilience to climate change).

The grants can be used for core costs, project-related costs, or both.

You must be able to demonstrate how people with lived experience of the issues being tackled are involved in the organisation and the project.

The fund is being managed by the environmental charity Groundwork who have Guidance Notes and an Eligibility Checker. Once you have read and completed these, if you are eligible, you will be given a link to their online application form. You will need to register an account before accessing the application form, if you have not applied to a Comic Relief Community Fund (England) previously.

If you have any questions about the programme or the application process, contact Groundwork UK on 0121 237 5800 or by email at comicrelief@groundwork.org.uk.

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 8 November 2024.

For full details, visit Groundwork’s Comic Relief Community Fund webpage.