Deadline: 30-Jun-25
The Leeds Community Foundation is delighted to launch The Leeds Fund Strategic Grants.
This unique fund is designed to support local community organisations in achieving longer-term sustainability whilst delivering vital work in communities today.
They actively welcome more applications from, or benefitting, people underrepresented in their grant making, including LGBTQIA+, racially minoritised, and Deaf or disabled people. They are also prioritizing initiatives that focus on nature and the environment, mental health, and children and young people living in the five highest IMD areas.
Funding Information
- Fixed at £50,000 (multi-year to be spent over at least 2 years)
Eligible Activities
- Activities need to focus on both delivery of projects and services in local communities and on organisational development:
- Delivery: This expenditure could include expanding or evaluating current services, adapting delivery models, pilot and/or feasibility studies and setting long-term priorities to ensure the continued impact of vital work with communities.
- Organisational development: Strengthening internal capacity, embedding learning and innovation, and planning for sustainability, transition, or responsible closure.
Ineligible Activities
- Activity and costs that have already taken place
- Activity which might be regarded as discriminatory and/or excludes some people without good justification
- Activity that promotes a particular political or religious point of view
- Activity primarily for the benefit of animals
- Capital appeals for large-scale building projects but small refurbishments could be accepted if aligned with strategic goals
- Grant-making to other organisations and/or individuals, or applications from individuals
- Statutory organisations or activity
- Overseas organisations, expeditions or overseas travel
- Organisations with under £100,000 or over £1,000,000 in the most recent financial year
- Organisations that have been operating for less than 2 full years
Eligibility Criteria
- Incorporated not-for-profit organisations (e.g. CIO, CIC limited by guarantee, charitable companies) registered with the Charity Commission, Companies House or FCA Mutuals Public Register.
- Registered charities that aren’t an incorporated structure. These cannot use grants for PAYE staff, only self-employed workers.
- All organisations, regardless of size and structure, must have:
- A minimum of three unrelated trustees/committee members/directors, with none registered as Persons with Significant Control.
- A governing document showing how your group is managed (e.g. constitution, memorandum and articles of association) with a dissolution clause/asset lock that ensures the organisation is fully constituted as not-for-profit.
- A bank account in the organisation’s name with at least two unrelated signatories, and at least two signatories required to authorise all transactions.
- Financial accounts that clearly show the organisation’s gross income (or, if you are a new organisation, an income and expenditure report, including details of any assets and reserves and policies relating to them).
- Relevant safeguarding policies if working with children or vulnerable adults.
Ineligibility Criteria
- Small unincorporated and unregistered organisations
- For-profit, overseas and statutory (e.g. schools and hospitals) organisations or activities.
For more information, visit Leeds Community Foundation.
