NEWS: Groundwork and Comic Relief to offer grants of up to £5,000 to community groups
Groundwork and Comic Relief has announced a new funding programme to support community groups and grass-roots organisations that deliver services for people living in or at risk of poverty and hardship across England.
The Comic Relief Community Fund will fund projects that tackle the immediate and urgent impacts of being in poverty – including providing essential resources like food, shelter, advice and healthcare. Funding also includes projects that build skills, increase access to employment, strengthen financial resilience or develop community-led solutions.
Grants are available for organisations with an annual income less than £250,000 and can be used for direct project costs or to support core running expenses, or a combination of both.
Groundwork has worked with Comic Relief since 2019 as an intermediary funder in England with £5.9m invested to over 1,460 projects.
I’m delighted that we are once again working with Comic Relief to ensure their funds reach organisations who may not normally apply and communities that may not otherwise benefit. With energy and food prices continuing to rise, we see more people needing help with the basic essentials. We also know that building the capacity of local organisations to provide this support improves the fabric and resilience of communities.
Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive
Millions of people across the country are struggling to access basic essentials for themselves and their families, while local charities face mounting pressure to meet the rising, urgent demand for support. Our new programme with Groundwork is designed to deliver funding at pace to hundreds of small, local charities working on the frontline to support the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are looking forward to continuing to work together to get funding to where it’s needed most at such a worrying time for many.
Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief
Applications close on Monday 6 October at 12 noon.
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact: media@groundwork.org.uk
About Groundwork
Groundwork is a federation of charities with a collective mission to take practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive. We support communities and businesses to build capacity and resilience in order to tackle hardship, achieve a just transition to net-zero and help nature recover in a way that reduces inequality and leads to healthier, happier lives for all: https://www.groundwork.org.uk/about-groundwork/ourstrategy/
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.
Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.6 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners. For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com or follow @comicrelief on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok for the latest content and news. Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).