The Comic Relief Community Fund (England) is being administered by Groundwork UK.
Objectives of Fund
The 2026/27 programme will focus on supporting the following thematic areas:
- Basic Needs – projects tackling homelessness, food and other essential goods, community hubs, welfare advice agencies and other cost of living-related issues.
- Early Childhood Development – supporting children up to the age of eight to grow, play and learn in safe environments with people who love and care for them.
- Safety – preventing violence against women and girls, forced migration or refugees/asylum seekers.
Organisations must be located in the same region where projects will be delivered
Grants of up to £5,000 are available from a total of £600,000.
It is anticipated that around 120 grants will be awarded in the 2026/27 round.
Projects must be completed by 30 September 2027.
Who Can Apply
Organisations from the voluntary and community sector can apply.
This can include:
- Constituted voluntary and community groups.
- Charities.
- Social enterprises.
- Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by guarantee which have been running for at least two years.
- Not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee.
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be based within the area where they are carrying out activities.
- Have local people involved in the running of the organisation as trustees/staff/volunteers.
- Be not for profit.
- Have an annual income of £250,000 or less.
- Have a governing document (e.g. constitution or memorandum and articles of association) which includes appropriate statements on members not benefiting financially from the organisation or its dissolution.
- Have its own safeguarding policy.
- Have at least two unrelated people on the committee.
- Have its own bank account with a minimum of two unrelated signatories.
- Not be a statutory organisation.
The applicant’s governing document should also include information about how the organisation specifically supports people at risk of or experiencing poverty. This could include wording along these lines in their aims or objectives:
- To support people in our community experiencing financial hardship
- To address the root causes of poverty, enabling people to build resilience
- To empower those at risk of poverty to achieve long-term financial stability
- To provide support to people experiencing poverty overcome the challenges associated with financial hardship
When assessing applications, Groundwork will also take into account the level of deprivation in the area where the organisation is working. Applications from areas that score higher on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) may be given greater priority.
Eligible Expenditure
The grants can be used on core organisation costs, project costs or a combination of both.
Funding is flexible to suit the individual needs of the organisation. This includes:
- Funding to cover project or core organisation costs – this could be staff wages, rent, office energy bills or training, but must be delivered and spent within the grant period.
- Hiring venues to run activities, paying co-ordinators to manage volunteer-led services, paying staff to lead activities or training sessions, employing outreach support workers, improving facilities to reach new groups.
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Individuals
- Unconstituted organisations
- Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by shares
- Community Interest Companies (CICs) limited by guarantee that are less than two years old
- Profit making organisations
- Statutory organisations including schools, universities and hospitals
- Organisations with an income of more than £250,000
Eligible Expenditure
The grants can be used on core organisation costs, project costs or a combination of both.
Funding is flexible to suit the individual needs of the organisation. This includes:
- Funding to cover project or core organisation costs – this could be staff wages, rent, office energy bills or training, but must be delivered and spent within the grant period.
- Hiring venues to run activities, paying co-ordinators to manage volunteer-led services, paying staff to lead activities or training sessions, employing outreach support workers, improving facilities to reach new groups.
How To Apply
Applications open on 1 September 2026 and close on 30 September 2026 (17:00).
The first step in the application process is to complete an online Eligibility Checker. Eligible groups will then be given a link to the online application form.
Full guidelines and the Eligibility Checker can be found on the Groundwork website.