Deadline: 20-Oct-2025
The Wessex Water Community Fund, delivered across the South West by Quartet, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire Community Foundations, offers grants of up to £4,000 to support community-based activities or projects that address local needs and improve the lives of people most in need.
The fund prioritises initiatives in areas of deprivation or rural isolation, projects that strengthen communities and encourage collaboration, and activities that help people manage or avoid debt, including promoting awareness of utility affordability schemes.
Grants can cover core, running, or project costs for new or ongoing work, but activities must start within six months and be completed within twelve.
Eligible applicants include registered charities, constituted community and voluntary groups, CICs limited by guarantee, companies with not-for-profit clauses, and parish councils based in Dorset or Ringwood that have been operating for at least 12 months, with preference for organisations earning under £500,000 annually and holding no more than a year’s unrestricted reserves.
The fund excludes national charities, organisations with recent Wessex Water funding, schools (except eligible PTAs), animal welfare groups, political or religious promotion, statutory services, fundraising events, medical treatment, and activities lacking a strong charitable or community focus.
For more information, visit Dorset Community Foundation.