GrantRadar

The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust

Community Fund

The Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust's Community Fund gives one-off grants to small grassroots charities and community organisations based in Kent or Medway that deliver essential services to the most vulnerable people in their communities. Funding can cover revenue or capital costs, including core costs, running services, distributing resources to vulnerable people and training staff and volunteers, and the trust calls it its most flexible and swift funding stream. Applicants must have income of £500,000 or less, and there are no deadlines: applications are decided on a rolling basis.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
£500 – £15,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Registered charities, CICs, social enterprises or other properly constituted not-for-profit organisations with a management committee of at least three unrelated members
  • Organisations must be based in Kent or Medway and benefit local communities; Greater London boroughs that were previously in Kent are not eligible (the FAQ confirms the programmes cover Kent and Medway)
  • You need financial accounts for at least the last two years (the trust will not accept applications without two years of published accounts unless you have its permission beforehand), gross income in the last financial year of £500,000 or less (contact the trust if you are slightly over, as there may be some flexibility), free reserves of less than twelve months of expenditure, and a UK bank account in the organisation's registered name
  • You must not have a live CFCT grant (any grant without a submitted final monitoring report) or an application in progress to any CFCT programme, and must not have applied to Brighter Futures, Through the Gate or the Community Fund in the last twelve months, successful or not
  • The trust is looking for smaller organisations working at grassroots level delivering essential services to the most vulnerable people, where a relatively small amount of money can make a big difference; successful applicants must evidence the impact of recent work and give tangible outcome targets
  • Extra priority goes to groups working in a particularly disadvantaged or deprived area, with limited access to other income, that clearly define the need, are committed to service user involvement, show how they deliver social outcomes and work in partnership
  • Faith-affiliated organisations can apply, but the trust does not fund projects or activities that proselytise or promote any religion

What it funds

Supporting grassroots organisations at the heart of communities all over Kent and Medway, to help them become more sustainable:

  • Revenue costs
  • Capital costs
  • Running services
  • Distributing resources to vulnerable people
  • Core costs
  • Training staff and volunteers
  • Helping groups generally become more efficient and effective

What it will not fund

  • Organisations with recent turnover/income in excess of £500,000
  • Individuals (unless through the trust's Partner Grants programme)
  • National charities that do not have a physical base in Kent or Medway
  • Capital appeals where the requested grant would be less than 25% of the total cost
  • Statutory bodies and anything deemed to be the responsibility of the State, including state-run nurseries, schools and colleges
  • Hospitals, health authorities, medical care, medical equipment or medical research
  • Academic research, scholarships or bursaries
  • Animal charities
  • The promotion of religion
  • Heritage projects including the restoration or conservation of buildings
  • Annual or one-off events and festivals
  • Work outside of Kent or Medway
  • Endowment appeals
  • Work that has already taken place, i.e. retrospective funding
  • Round-robin, widely circulated appeals

How to apply

  1. Read the Community Fund guidance and check you meet the eligibility criteria; email grantadmin@cfct.org.uk if you are unsure or don't quite fit
  2. Download the application form questions (April 2026 PDF) and prepare your answers in advance in Word
  3. Complete the trust's online application form, pasting in your prepared answers, choosing the Community Fund and giving three measurable outcomes
  4. Attach your published accounts, budget, bank evidence, safeguarding policy and (if not a registered charity) evidence of not-for-profit status, then submit
  5. Applications are assessed by the trust's specialist assessors, sometimes with a telephone call or site visit; all grant decisions are made by the trustees

There are no deadlines; decisions are made on a rolling basis.

Applications by post or email are not accepted; you must use the online form.

Under this programme the trust will not normally grant more than 50% of an organisation's most recent turnover/income.

The trust encourages applicants to cost all salaries at the Living Wage rate.

Grantees give a short email update six months after the award and a final report at the end, which must be completed before any further application.

Have ready

  • Published annual accounts for the most recent financial year
  • A budget in Excel or as a Word table showing specifically what the grant would pay for
  • A scanned copy or photograph of a bank statement or paying-in slip for the organisation
  • Your organisation's safeguarding policy

If you are not a registered charity, also attach evidence of your not-for-profit tax status, e.g. a copy of your constitution and asset lock if applicable. Latest management accounts can be added if they give a clearer picture than the published accounts.

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