How to apply
The Comic Relief Community Fund will support and invest in grassroots community-led local organisations in England to drive change in their local communities, drawing on the lived experience of beneficiaries they support.
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, supporting refugees/asylum seekers and people experiencing forced migration
Who can apply?
We will accept applications from the voluntary and community sector in England, including:
- Constituted voluntary and community groups
- Charities
- Social Enterprises
- Community Interest Companies limited by guarantee. Please note: CIC’s must have been running for a minimum of two years and we cannot consider CICs limited by shares
- Not for profit companies limited by guarantee
Who can’t apply?
- Organisations with an annual income over £250,000
- Individuals
- Statutory organisations including schools, universities and hospitals
- Profit making companies/ businesses
- Un-constituted organisations
- Community Interest Companies registered within two years or less of the application submission date
- Organisations not based in and delivering in England
- Organisations not based in the region where the project will be delivered
What can you apply for?
Funding is flexible to suit the individual needs of your 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
- Please read the Application Guidance Notes for further detail on what can be funded. Please note: we will not accept applications where the principal focus is mental health. We may still fund projects where mental health is part of a wider piece of work (e.g. supporting survivors of domestic violence with their mental health, as part of a wider project).
Apply for a grant
Step One
Step Two
To apply for a grant please complete the eligibility checker. If you meet the programme criteria you will then receive a link to the application form.
Applications will close at 5pm on Wednesday 30 September.
How applications will be prioritised
We expect this programme to be significantly oversubscribed. Our 2025/26 programme received more than three times as many applications than the number of grants available. Because of this, we cannot fund every eligible organisation and will be limited in the amount of feedback we can give to unsuccessful applicants.
When making decisions on funding, priority will be given to organisations which meet the following criteria:
Delivering in areas that rank highly on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). You can find out more here and please see guidance notes for further information.
When assessing applications, we will also take into account the level of deprivation in the area where your organisation is working. Applications from areas that score higher on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) may be given greater priority.
Alternative and accessible formats
Sometimes there are particular reasons why people find it difficult to apply for a grant or access our services. If you experience or anticipate any barriers with our application process, require help to make an application, or access our services and information, please contact Groundwork at comicrelief@groundwork.org.uk or on 0121 237 5800 to discuss the type of support we can provide.
Groundwork UK’s commitment to safeguarding:
Read about our commitment to safeguarding when awarding grants.