The London Community Foundation

Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund

The Wimbledon Foundation's fund, run by The London Community Foundation, for not-for-profit organisations tackling social need and disadvantage in Merton and Wandsworth through financial insecurity and cost of living work, mental health and wellbeing, or digital inclusion. Organisations can apply for up to £10,000 for one year, or up to £10,000 a year for three years (£30,000) - but three-year grants, which can include core costs, are only for organisations with a registered address in Merton or Wandsworth. This is the last round to offer single-year grants. Sports, dance and physical activity projects are not funded here. Closes at 12 noon on 28 October 2026; last round's success rate was 18%.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: Up to £30,000
Closes in: 10 days left; 28 October
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Not-for-profit organisations delivering work in Merton or Wandsworth for local residents, with a signed governing document including an asset lock (or equivalent) and charitable purposes: CIOs, companies limited by guarantee (including charitable companies and CICs limited by guarantee), trusts, unincorporated associations, and Community Benefit Societies
Three-year grants are strictly limited to organisations with a registered address in Merton or Wandsworth (checked against Charity Commission/Companies House records)
Single-year grants are open to organisations based elsewhere, but they are less likely to be prioritised and must show previous delivery in the boroughs and key local partnerships
Applicants need at least three unrelated people at the highest level of governance, a bank account in the organisation's name with two unrelated signatories, a dated safeguarding policy reviewed in the last year that meets LCF's checklist, no overdue monitoring on previous LCF grants, and - if charitable income is over £5,000 - an application to register with the relevant regulator
Not eligible: organisations with two years of late filings or two years of net current liabilities in the last two completed years, paid trustees without regulator approval or provision in the governing document, and current holders of any Wimbledon Foundation grant
The fund welcomes work with any group facing disadvantage, including Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, young people, people not in education, employment or training, and older people

What it funds

Work which tackles social needs and supports local people facing disadvantage in Merton and Wandsworth, through one of these themes:

Addressing financial insecurity / cost of living - underlying issues such as employability, and immediate needs such as food insecurity, benefits advice and guidance
Supporting mental health and wellbeing - including addressing social isolation and loneliness, specialist mental health support, and healthy eating sessions and food costs as an element of wellbeing
Promoting and supporting digital inclusion (the additional theme for 2026) - including internet-enabled devices for users and digital literacy training
Core costs (multi-year grants only): organisational development and capacity, maintaining key services, improving service quality, and financial sustainability such as a fundraising post
Project costs: staff/sessional and volunteer costs, contribution to office and core costs, venue hire, running costs apportioned to the project, and materials/small resources

Single-year grants fund project costs on a full cost recovery basis; core costs are only available through the three-year grants. Posts should be paid at least the London Living Wage. Matched funding is looked on favourably.

Projects with physical activity as a small element (such as youth groups) can apply, as long as the costs requested are not for the physical activity.

What it will not fund

Sports, dance or physical activity projects (the Wimbledon Foundation's Get Set, Get Active programme covers these and reopens in early 2027)
Capital costs, including expensive equipment
One-off or annual events or activities
Redistribution of grants as payments or donations to individuals, or individual sponsorship
Activities that promote religious or political views
Purely commercial ventures
Retrospective funding
Activities where people are excluded on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, sex or ethnicity (unless the issue is group-specific)
Companies limited by shares (including CICs limited by shares), statutory organisations such as local authorities, NHS bodies, co-operative societies and schools
Current holders of any Wimbledon Foundation grant (Get Set, Get Active, Health & Wellbeing Fund, Homelessness Fund, or a live WFCF/WFCF+ grant)

How to apply

Read the fund guidelines and LCF's core eligibility criteria
Complete the online eligibility checker and application form; choose a single-year or three-year grant in Section 2 (the three-year option only appears for eligible organisations)
Break your budget into the seven cost categories, giving separate details for each year of a multi-year request
Upload all supporting documents and submit by 12 noon on Wednesday 28 October 2026
LCF checks eligibility, shortlists, and an assessor may contact you during a full assessment
A panel of Wimbledon Foundation trustees and independent members decides in February 2027; decisions are released by 5 March 2027 and activity starts from mid-to-late March 2027

The form can be saved and shared with colleagues. Contact LCF if you need help applying, have accessibility requirements, or cannot apply online.

Three-year grantees report annually in March 2028 and March 2029 and at the end of the grant in April 2030.

Have ready

Governing document (constitution or memorandum and articles)
Annual accounts, or actual or forecast income and expenditure for a new group (new groups with no income also send a bank statement)
Income and expenditure forecast for the current financial year (LCF provides an Excel template)
Safeguarding policy, dated, reviewed within the last year and stating it is reviewed annually

All documents must be submitted or the application cannot be considered; if uploading fails, email them to applications@londoncf.org.uk before the deadline. A multi-year budget template is provided for three-year requests.

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