GrantRadar

Westminster Foundation

Community Grants

The Westminster Foundation (the charitable foundation of the Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor businesses) gives Community Grants of up to £15,000 a year for up to two years to small and medium charities working with children and young people aged 0-25 and their families. Funding is limited to Westminster, Chester and rural Cheshire West and Chester (including Ellesmere Port), northern Lancashire (the Lancaster and Morecambe area) and Sutherland. Projects must fit one of four themes (sport and physical activity, land and nature, education and career readiness, healthy diet), and core and project costs are both funded. Applications are open year-round and decided by a panel four times a year.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Up to £15,000
Deadline
82 days left
8 January
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Small to medium charities registered with the Charity Commission, or organisations with exclusively charitable objectives, working with children and young people aged 0-25 and/or their families, and operating in one of the Foundation's areas: the City of Westminster; Chester and rural Cheshire West and Chester, including Ellesmere Port; northern Lancashire (the Lancaster and Morecambe area); or Sutherland in Scotland
  • Applicants must have at least three trustees or directors, one full set of annual accounts and appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures
  • Individual schools, pre-schools, colleges, community sports teams and uniform groups cannot apply
  • Organisations turned down in the last 12 months must wait
  • Organisations already funded by another Westminster Foundation or Grosvenor stream may apply but are given lower priority

What it funds

Core costs and project-specific costs for work with children and young people aged 0-25 and their families, focused on early intervention and on those facing deprivation or intergenerational inequality, in one of four themes:

  • Sport & Physical Activity (inclusive sport, play, dance and group activity building confidence and wellbeing)
  • Land & Nature (outdoor learning, gardening, green spaces, links between land, food and sustainability, green careers)
  • Education & Career Readiness (school engagement, attendance and attainment, mentoring, careers advice, practical skills)
  • Healthy Diet (cooking classes, food education, community meals, affordable nutritious food, behaviour change)

Grants can cover salaries, overheads (up to 20% of organisational overheads under full cost recovery), transport, support costs and evaluation training.

New, expanded and pilot programmes are funded.

Delivery equipment owned by the charity can make up to 50% of the grant.

Grants run for up to two years at up to £15,000 a year; organisations can have up to three consecutive years of community grant funding before a one-year break.

What it will not fund

  • Capital costs (in isolation)
  • Medical research
  • Hospitals, medical equipment, hospices and palliative care
  • Support limited to a specific or complex medical condition, or projects aimed at improving health outcomes of specific conditions
  • Individual pre-schools, schools, colleges, community sports teams or uniform groups, including bursaries or scholarships
  • Individual or team sponsorship of challenges such as sponsored walks
  • Respite accommodation and services, trips and holidays
  • Emergency services and rescue charities
  • Addiction services
  • Complementary therapies
  • Clinical care or injury rehabilitation facilities or equipment
  • Disability or exercise equipment for home use, and equipment that would become the property of individuals
  • Home adaptations
  • Sexual abuse or trafficking victim support, and modern slavery campaign organisations
  • Overtly political or religious projects
  • Gifts or prizes for events or auctions
  • Organisations that applied unsuccessfully in the last 12 months

How to apply

  1. Read the Community Grants page, FAQs and the Community Grant Programme Applicant Guidance, and check eligibility (ineligible applications are removed)
  2. Complete the online application form (eight sections: general information, about your organisation, governance, safeguarding, finances, communication, delivery, impact); progress can be saved and resumed via an emailed link
  3. Submit by a quarterly deadline: 8 January 2027 (February panel), 9 April 2027 (May panel), 16 July 2027 (September panel)
  4. The Grants Team reviews and assesses the application, usually within 4 weeks of the deadline, including due diligence on finance, governance and safeguarding
  5. The quarterly Community Grants Panel decides to fund, defer or decline; applicants are told within one week of the panel

other Westminster Foundation programmes (Anchor, Partnership, Rural Partnership Grants) are invitation-only

Have ready

  • Annual accounts
  • Budget (single or multi-year template in the form)

the form also asks for income, expenditure and reserves figures, safeguarding policy details, and information on senior management and trustees

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