Forte Charitable Foundation (formerly Trusthouse Charitable Foundation)

Small Grants

Single-year grants of £2,000 to £10,000 from Forte Charitable Foundation (renamed from Trusthouse Charitable Foundation in June 2025) towards core costs, salaries, running and project costs of small local charitable organisations doing community support work in areas of extreme urban deprivation or deprived rural districts in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Eligibility turns on postcode: urban organisations must be in the most deprived 15% on the Index of Multiple Deprivation and rural ones in the most deprived 50%. Applicants need income of £250,000 or less, at least one year of accounts, and can ask for no more than 50% of the cost; the programme is rolling with a decision within 8 weeks. CICs cannot apply.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £2,000 – £10,000; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Moderate; full application with documents

Who can apply

Charitable organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: registered charities, social enterprises not structured as CICs, not-for-profit registered companies, co-operative or community benefit societies, and voluntary organisations with a constitution and bank account (unregistered groups may be asked for their constitution)
CICs are not eligible
Organisations must be small, local, embedded in their community, with a demonstrable track record, total annual income of £250,000 or less (anticipated income or expenditure over £250,000 makes a grant unlikely), and at least one year's annual accounts
Location test: urban organisations (town or city over 10,000 people) must have a postcode, or deliver in areas, ranked in the most deprived 15% of their nation's Index of Multiple Deprivation; rural organisations (village or town under 10,000) in the most deprived 50%
In Northern Ireland the threshold is the most deprived 50%, except in Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Portadown and Lurgan, where it is 15%
Organisations based outside a qualifying area can apply if most of their work takes place in qualifying areas, giving up to six postcodes of public buildings there
Applicants must have filed accounts and returns on time for three years, have a safeguarding policy reviewed and training held within the last 12 months, DBS-check staff and volunteers, not hold more than 12 months' reserves, and be able to secure the other 50% of costs
Regional branches can apply only if they are separate legal entities with their own charity number
Only one application at a time across Forte's programmes; unsuccessful applicants wait 12 months

What it funds

Revenue costs (core costs, salaries, running and project costs) for a single year, for work with a focus on community support in local communities of extreme deprivation. Examples the Foundation gives:

Community services (information, advice and guidance
Community transport
Employability training
Volunteering
Healthy eating and living
Foodbanks that move clients out of crisis into long-term sustainability
Intergenerational projects
Befriending
Community cohesion)
Salary or running costs for community centres or village halls offering activities for all ages
Alternative education (support for young people struggling in mainstream education, homework clubs, supplementary classes for vulnerable people)
Training, mentoring, employment and volunteering opportunities
Youth clubs, detached youth work, after-school and holiday clubs and opportunities for NEETs
Counselling for any age where statutory services cannot meet demand
Family support services
Substance misuse recovery projects

The grant can be no more than 50% of the total cost of the work, running costs or any one salary.

The Foundation prefers frontline organisations working directly with people in need and will consider new work that is a logical extension of existing work.

Successful applicants can reapply for a further two years (three grants in total).

What it will not fund

Organisations whose postcode (or delivery area) is outside the Index of Multiple Deprivation limits (most deprived 15% urban, 50% rural)
Organisations with annual income over £250,000
Community Interest Companies (CICs)
Newly established organisations with no previous annual accounts
Charities or NGOs registered outside the UK
Individuals, whether direct or through a third party
Statutory services, including state schools, local or national authorities, prisons, NHS hospitals or services
Universities, further education colleges and independent schools
Hospices
Grant-making or umbrella organisations
Organisations that applied unsuccessfully within the previous 12 months
Organisations that filed annual returns late with the Charity Commission or Companies House within the past three years
Organisations that have not reviewed their safeguarding policy and/or held safeguarding training within the past 12 months
Organisations holding more than 12 months' operating costs in reserves
Adventure playgrounds, baby banks and disability charities
Organisations with a primarily environmental aim
Capital projects
Projects outside the UK
Animal welfare
Environment and conservation
Medical research
Feasibility studies
One-off events
PR and awareness raising; fundraising salaries, events, initiatives or websites
Non-secular activities
Projects primarily concerned with producing films, podcasts or other media
Campaigning, organisational development or capacity building
Work that is a significant shift away from the organisation's existing core aims and experience
Urban projects not delivered in the same city or town (or borough, in London) where the applicant is based

How to apply

Read the Small Grants Funding Guidelines and the Small Grants Application Guidance on the Small Grants page
Check your postcode's deprivation rank using the nation's IMD tool as explained in the FAQs (England: ranked under 5,064 urban or 16,878 rural; see FAQs for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland thresholds)
Complete the online eligibility quiz; if eligible you are directed to the Small Grants online application form
Complete the online form (organisation, contacts, project details including a description of your local area in your own words, impact in the past 12 months, what the grant will pay for and three measurable targets, costs and funding, governance and safeguarding), upload your latest accounts and a single-year budget, and submit; you can save and resume within 30 days
You receive an automatic acknowledgement email and a final decision by electronic letter, normally within 8 weeks
If awarded, complete the grant offer contract and bank details form; payment is by BACS, usually within two weeks of receiving the signed contract and a bank statement

Rolling programme with no deadlines. Do not apply too far in advance: grants should start to be spent within one to three months of the award and be spent within 12 months of payment.

The grant is paid once you have secured the remaining 50% of the total cost. A progress report is due 12 months after payment.

The Foundation cannot discuss projects before an application; queries not answered in the FAQs go to grants@fortecharitablefoundation.org.uk.

Have ready

Online application form
Latest annual accounts, including an income and expenditure statement (Statement of Financial Activities) and balance sheet
Single-year budget for the whole cost of the work, showing what Forte's grant would cover and other funders with amounts

Up to 10 MB per file, 25 MB total. Unregistered voluntary organisations may later be asked for their constitution. On award you sign a grant contract and supply bank details with a bank statement.

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