Charity Grants UK 2026: Who Funds Small Charities

A note before you start: Grantsights' own tools cover US funding only, so everything below points you to UK funders and their official pages. If you'd use a UK version, tell us you're in the UK.

Charity Grants UK by the Numbers: 8 Funders, 12,633 Grants

Grantsights checked each funder's published grants against its current eligibility page, so the table pairs what a funder says it funds with what it actually paid. The nation column comes from the funder's own page; the data confirms it where location codes were published.

Data: 360Giving data published by the 8 funders listed, under their open licences (mostly CC BY 4.0), retrieved October 17, 2026. "Middle 80%" runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile.

Two things jump out. First, Garfield Weston alone accounts for 57% of the grants in this table. It's the single most important independent funder for a general charity in the UK, and its data shows it isn't only a London or England funder: of the Weston grants that carried a location code, 5,383 were in England, 707 in Scotland, 321 in Wales and 213 in Northern Ireland. Second, the medians split into two camps. Corra, Henry Smith and Clothworkers mostly make grants under £10,000. Esmée Fairbairn, Paul Hamlyn and Lloyds Bank Foundation make fewer, bigger, multi-year grants and expect a more established organisation.

What Size of Grant Should a Small or Medium Charity Expect?

Across all 12,633 grants, 59% landed between £10,000 and £100,000. The full spread looks like this:

Most charities underestimate how much the programme matters inside a single funder. The funder-wide median hides very different routes:

One honest caveat on Henry Smith: 680 of its grants in this period were labelled "National Insurance Uplift", with a median of £3,020. Those look like one-off top-ups to existing grantees rather than an open route, so don't read the low Henry Smith median as a sign that it's a small grants funder. Its main programmes are much larger.

Here's the practical reading for a charity with an income of, say, £80,000. Your realistic targets are the Lottery's small grants, Corra's Boost Fund if you're in Scotland, Clothworkers' Small Grants for a capital item, and a Garfield Weston Regular Grant. Esmée Fairbairn and Paul Hamlyn are a stretch at that size, and Esmée rules some of them out outright (see below).

The National Lottery Community Fund: Separate Programmes in Each Nation

The National Lottery Community Fund is the biggest open funder of charities and community groups, and its aggregate 360Giving record lists 302,611 grants between 2004 and September 2026. But it doesn't run one UK programme. Each nation has its own, and the rules differ in small ways that catch people out.

According to the National Lottery Community Fund, Awards for All England "usually" funds around 1 in 3 applications, and it asks you to apply at least 16 weeks before you need the money. It prioritises organisations with smaller annual incomes, which is good news for small charities. According to the National Lottery Community Fund's Reaching Communities page, most projects receive under £500,000 and the average grant in 2025 was £319,000 over 3 years. That's a programme for an established charity with a track record, not a first application.

Northern Ireland's medium grants programme has a size rule worth knowing. Strengthening Communities only lets smaller organisations, defined as those with an average annual income under £500,000 over the last 2 years, apply for less than £200,000. Organisations of any size can apply for £200,000 or more.

The Lottery is covered in more depth in our National Lottery Awards for All guide, including how the four versions differ.

Independent Trusts That Fund Small and Medium Charities

Each of these funders publishes its rules. These are the points that change whether you should apply.

Garfield Weston Foundation (UK-wide)

According to its April 2026 application guidelines, Garfield Weston supports UK registered charities, CIOs, and charities that are exempt or excepted under Charity Commission guidance. It doesn't fund individuals, CICs, community benefit societies, social enterprises or local authorities. You need at least one year of annual accounts. Regular Grants are under £100,000, with no deadlines and a current wait of 4 to 6 months. Major Grants of £100,000 or more need an annual income over £1 million, or a project costing over £1 million.

Size your request to its rules: core grants "generally" cover around 10% to 20% of your annual budget. Capital and project applicants should have around 50% of the money secured first. Since 2024, 94% of Weston's grants were under £100,000, with a median of £20,000. A case in point is the £15,000 Community grant Weston's data lists in February 2025 for Island House Community Centre, a community centre in London and a registered charity. Apply here if you're a registered charity with accounts. Don't apply if you're a CIC.

The Clothworkers' Foundation (UK-wide, capital costs)

Clothworkers funds capital costs (buildings, vehicles, equipment) for small and medium organisations working with disadvantaged and marginalised people. UK-registered charities can apply, and so can organisations with an appropriate asset lock, such as CICs without share capital and community benefit societies. Small Grants are up to £15,000 for organisations with turnover under £2 million, with a one-stage form and a 12-week target. Large Grants are over £15,000 for organisations with turnover under £10 million, with a two-stage process. A red flag for repeat applicants: you can't reapply within six months of a decline, and you can't resubmit the same declined project.

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (UK-wide)

Esmée is blunt about its odds. It makes around 200 grants a year across 13 funding priorities, and in 2025 only 5% of expressions of interest received through its website went on to a grant. Its minimum grant is £30,000. It excludes organisations with a turnover under £100,000 and capital costs. So skip Esmée if your income is below £100,000. Its 360Giving data also shows a separate "TASK by Trustee" route (267 grants, median £10,000), which isn't an open application route.

Henry Smith Foundation (UK-wide)

Henry Smith says it awarded £61.9 million to over 900 organisations in 2024. Its homepage now says it has a small number of targeted programmes running from its 2025 funds and is launching its 2026 funds. Check which programmes are open before you write anything, because its rolling open programmes of past years may not match what's on offer now.

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales (England and Wales only)

Lloyds Bank Foundation only funds in England and Wales, and 95% of its grants since 2024 went to registered charities. Its recent data is dominated by multi-year grants of £75,000. Its funding page currently describes a homelessness prevention fund for charities, CIOs and CICs of up to £200,000 over four years, plus invitation-only extensions, but the same page also labels that fund closed. Treat it as a funder to watch, not one to apply to cold this month.

Corra Foundation (Scotland only)

Corra's Boost Fund is one of the few open funds built for very small charities. According to Corra, constituted groups and charities with an annual income of £50,000 or less can apply for £500 to £3,000, and unconstituted groups of at least three people can apply for £250 to £1,500. It's open until funds are spent, with about £1 million available through April 2027, and Corra aims to decide within six weeks. Scottish charities should read our guide to funding for charities in Scotland next.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Greggs Foundation

Paul Hamlyn says it actively seeks to fund work outside London and across the UK. Its median grant since 2024 was £105,000, so it's a funder for established organisations. The Greggs Foundation's published data shows Large Community Grants (a median of £40,000) and Small Community Grants (£500 to £2,000 in the data), but its website now promotes a Community Action Fund instead. Check the current scheme on its own site before applying.

Registration Rules by Nation: Do You Need a Charity Number?

Most trusts check registration, and the rules differ by nation. Here's what each regulator says.

According to the Charity Commission's guidance on how to register a charity (CC21b) (opens in a new tab), a charity in England or Wales usually must register if its income is over £5,000 a year, and a CIO must register whatever its income. Small charities below that threshold can still get grants, but many trusts, including Garfield Weston, ask for accounts or an annual return, so a common mistake is waiting until a deadline to sort out paperwork.

In Scotland, OSCR's guidance on what a charity is (opens in a new tab) says an organisation can only call itself a charity if it's on the Scottish Charity Register, and there's no income threshold. In Northern Ireland, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (opens in a new tab) says you must register no matter how big or small your charity is, but it invites organisations to register in stages. Its page also says it has paused inviting new registrations while it upgrades its online systems. NI groups that are waiting for an invitation should say so in funding applications rather than leaving the question blank.

Grants aren't the only income that depends on status. According to GOV.UK's Gift Aid guidance (opens in a new tab), a charity or CASC recognised by HMRC can claim back 25p for every £1 an individual donates, and may be able to claim on cash donations of £30 or less without a declaration. For a small charity, Gift Aid on regular giving can be worth more each year than a one-off £2,000 grant.

What 360Giving Data Doesn't Tell You

360Giving data is the closest thing the UK has to a public ledger of charitable grants, and it's why the tables above are possible. But it has real gaps:

• Only funders that publish are included. Hundreds of trusts don't publish to 360Giving at all. A funder missing from the data isn't a funder that doesn't give.
• Publishing lags. The latest Henry Smith record here is from July 2025 and Lloyds Bank Foundation's from September 2025. Recent rounds may be missing.
• Past grants aren't open programmes. Henry Smith's National Insurance Uplift and Esmée's trustee-led awards show up as grants, but you couldn't have applied for them. Always check the funder's current page.
• Charity numbers aren't always recorded. About 10% of grants in the analysis had no charity or company number. In Garfield Weston's data, many of those were parish churches, which are often excepted charities, and some were exempt bodies such as universities.
• Location codes are patchy. Several funders don't publish where the grantee works, so the nation coverage in the first table comes from each funder's own page.

The biggest thing the data won't tell you is your odds. A median grant isn't a success rate. The Lottery's "around 1 in 3" for Awards for All England and Esmée's 5% are the only success figures published by funders in this guide.

How to Build a Realistic Charity Grants Shortlist

A shortlist of 6 to 10 funders is usually enough for a small charity's year. Work through it in this order:

1. Start with your nation. Note every England-only, Scotland-only, Wales-only or NI-only programme you've found, and cross off the ones that don't cover you.
2. Match your legal form. If you're a CIC or an unregistered group, cross off Garfield Weston and other charity-only trusts. Our guide to grants for community interest companies lists funders that accept CICs.
3. Match your size. Use the medians above. If your income is under £100,000, put the Lottery's small grants, community foundations and funds like Corra Boost at the top. The grants for small charities guide goes further for organisations under about £100,000.
4. Check what each funder gave to groups like yours. Look up the funder's own 360Giving data and filter by your area. If a trust hasn't funded anything near you or of your size in three years, it's not your best bet.
5. Ask for the right share. A request that's 50% of your budget from a trust that funds 10% to 20% is an easy no.
6. Don't forget local money. Community foundations, local councils and businesses fund much of the UK's small charity work. See our community grants guide for how that side works.

Faith-based charities and churches have their own set of funders; start with the grants for churches UK guide.

Sources Checked

• 360Giving data published by Garfield Weston Foundation, Henry Smith Foundation, Corra Foundation, The Clothworkers' Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales and the Greggs Foundation (CC BY 4.0), retrieved October 17, 2026
• 360Giving aggregate record for The National Lottery Community Fund, retrieved October 17, 2026
• The National Lottery Community Fund: Awards for All England (opens in a new tab), plus its Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland pages, read October 17, 2026
• The National Lottery Community Fund: Reaching Communities England (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• The National Lottery Community Fund: all funding programmes (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• Charity Commission: How to register a charity (CC21b) (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• OSCR: What is a charity (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• Charity Commission for Northern Ireland: Registration (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• GOV.UK: Claiming Gift Aid as a charity or CASC (opens in a new tab), read October 17, 2026
• Garfield Weston Foundation application guidelines (April 2026), Clothworkers' Foundation application page, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation "Apply for a grant", Henry Smith Foundation homepage, Lloyds Bank Foundation funding page, Corra Foundation Boost Fund page, Paul Hamlyn Foundation funding page and Greggs Foundation homepage, all read October 17, 2026