GrantRadar

Applications closed on 12 October 2026.

Many funders run the same grant every year, so check the funder’s site for a new round. The details below are what the funder published when it was open.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Common Ground Award 2026-2027

Capital grants from MHCLG for VCSE organisations in England whose core purpose is bringing people from different backgrounds together to build community cohesion and resilience. It pays for constructing or renovating facilities and spaces, and for essential equipment. Individual organisations can apply for £20,000 to £50,000 (up to £100,000 in exceptional cases), and consortiums for £100,000 to £250,000. Money must be spent by 31 March 2027.

Check the funder’s site

Open grants like this

Grants you can apply for now, for the same kind of work or place.

You could get
£20,000 – £50,000
Deadline
Closed
the deadline has passed
Effort
Heavy
budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

  • VCSE organisations based and operating in England, with charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes and annual turnover or income below £5 million in their last submitted accounts
  • Eligible: registered charities; CIOs; companies limited by guarantee established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes; CICs; community benefit societies; and unincorporated groups or associations established for such purposes that have a governing body of at least 3 members, an inclusive membership policy, a governing document, accounts for the last two financial years, their own UK business bank account, and can hold land or property and enter contracts (themselves or via trustees)
  • Building social connections across different communities must be the organisation's core focus, aligned to at least one of the three themes
  • Consortiums of two or more independent organisations may apply through a lead organisation, with every member meeting all criteria (including the £5m limit) and a formal agreement in place before any funding agreement
  • One application per organisation: an organisation in a consortium cannot also apply individually, and vice versa

What it funds

Capital costs only: new builds, refurbishment and expansion of facilities used to build connections across and between different communities, plus essential equipment for the property such as laptops or furniture. The applicant's work must directly address at least one core theme:

  • Encouraging and enabling social mixing, promoting understanding and reducing divisions between communities and people from different backgrounds
  • Reducing prejudice, discrimination and hatred directed at people because of their background
  • Resolving conflict and addressing tensions across and between communities (e.g. across faiths and beliefs, ethnicities, ages, geographies, cultures and nationalities)

Awards may sit alongside other funding provided the same cost is not funded twice.

Recipients are invited to join a community of practice with government stakeholders.

What it will not fund

  • Exclusively religious activity
  • Political activity, or supporting ideological or extremist causes
  • Organisations where building social connections across and between different communities is not the primary purpose of their work
  • Local authorities and public sector organisations
  • Profit-distributing organisations
  • Individuals
  • Regulated education institutions (schools, colleges, universities)
  • Organisations with annual turnover or income of £5 million or more
  • Costs already funded from another source (no double funding)

How to apply

  1. Read the Common Ground Award prospectus and scoring framework on GOV.UK
  2. Complete the online application form on the MHCLG funding portal (seven sections: organisation details, strategic alignment, community engagement, community impact, use of funding, risk and governance, declarations)
  3. Submit by 2pm on 12 October 2026

Applications are scored 0-3 on five criteria (strategic alignment 25%, community engagement 15%, community impact 25%, use of funding 25%, risk and governance 10%); a score of 0 on any criterion makes the application ineligible.

MHCLG carries out full due diligence on applicants, including every consortium member, before funding is released. Questions to CGA@communities.gov.uk.

Have ready

  • Legal status and charity/company registration numbers
  • Financial accounts for the last two years
  • Itemised breakdown of proposed capital expenditure
  • Delivery milestones and timeline
  • Details of all consortium members (consortium bids only)

Consortiums must have a formal agreement between all members before a funding agreement is signed.