Community Grants
Our grants help community groups, sports clubs and charities improve facilities or run activities.
Who can apply?
You can apply if you are a:
- Constituted community group, youth group or sports club
- Registered charity
- Social enterprise (such as Community Interest Companies)
- School fundraising group (restrictions apply)
- Church or faith group (restrictions apply)
To help as many groups as possible, you can apply for one grant at a time, and we usually only fund an organisation once every two years. We may give grants more often for projects that help tackle special priorities, such as climate change and the cost of living.
We recommend that you read the guidance notes carefully before you begin an application to check your group’s eligibility. You can find these in the Downloads section at the bottom of the page.
Grant types
We offer five types of funding. You can use the same application form for all these grants. For larger grants, we ask you to provide some funding towards the project. This is called match funding.
| Grant name | What it is for | How much you can get | Match funding |
| Capital Green | Eco-friendly projects | Up to £5,000 | 20% |
| Large Capital | Building work or equipment | Up to £5,000 | 50% |
| Small Capital | Equipment or start-up costs | Up to £500 | None required |
| Revenue | Running costs or events | Up to £500 | None required |
| Everyone Active | Health and wellbeing projects | Up to £500 | None required |
You can find more information about each of our grants with examples of what we can fund, as well as things we don’t fund, in our Community Grants guidance notes in the Downloads section.
What you need to apply
Please have the following documents ready to upload before you start. We cannot look at your application without them.
- Your group’s rules (often called a constitution)
- Your equality policy
- Recent bank statements (for all of your accounts)
- Your most recent accounts (showing money coming in and out)
Depending on your project, you may also need:
- Your safeguarding policy (if you work with children or vulnerable adults)
- Three quotes for any work or items that cost more than £1,000 (if applicable)
- Permission for any building works (like a lease, consent from your landlord or planning permission)
Deadlines
There are four opportunities to get a grant this year. The next deadline is:
- Friday 5 June 2026 at 5pm
Future deadlines:
- Friday 25 September 2026 at 5pm
- Friday 4 December 2026 at 5pm
- Friday 5 March 2027 at 5pm
What happens after I apply?
The grant panel meets two weeks after each deadline. We will email you with our decision around three weeks after the deadline.
How to apply
You can use the same application form for all five of our grants.
Here are some useful tips for your application:
- Log in or create a My Account on our website to save your application regularly as you go
- Use the Application Questions document (see Downloads section) to plan your answers before you start
You will get a confirmation email with a reference number once you submit.
If you would like to hear more about the scheme, join our online information session on Tuesday 5 May at 12pm using the button below:
Other ways to apply
If you want us to send you the application form in a different format, please fill in our contact form at the bottom of this page to request an application pack.
After you get a grant
If we give you a grant, we will check in to see how things are going. At the end of the project, you will need to:
- Tell us how the money helped
- Send us copies of your receipts or invoices
- Show us how you mentioned our support (like in a newsletter or on social media)
You can find the full rules of our grants in our community grants guidance notes in the Downloads section at the bottom of the page.
Projects we have funded
It can be helpful to see what other groups have done with their grants. Here are some examples from organisations that have received funding from us:
Countesthorpe Cricket Club was awarded a £5,000 Capital Green Grant to install a rainwater harvesting system to water their cricket ground. With climate change, water conservation is important in its own right. The system allows the club to reduce their water usage and become more environmentally and financially sustainable. James Popplewell - Director of the Club - says of the grants scheme: “(It’s) a very simple and easy to use system so I have nothing to add to improve (it) to be honest. In comparison to other grant applications and processes, it is brilliant!”
This village hall charity was awarded £1,156 to install more energy efficient LED lighting to help reduce energy use and costs. Laura Thirlby – Trustee of the charity – says: “Our utility bills were becoming unsustainable and with the help of grants we are on target to bring our facility up to energy efficiency standard. This allows us to keep our rates low and enable groups to remain within our rurally isolated village. The support means a lot to our community.”
The charity has since received further funding towards installing solar power to continue on their journey towards becoming net-zero.
The tennis club received £2,951 towards complete refurbishment of their dated clubhouse. Much of the work was completed by volunteers within the club. Dan Rawlings – Treasurer for the Club – says: “The tennis clubhouse refurbishment was very important for our club. The building was old, underused and unwelcoming. Since the redevelopment, the new clubhouse looks brand new and is a popular place for members and non-members to relax and socialise. We could not have done this without the support from Blaby District Community Grants team. Being awarded a grant was key to kickstart this project and the amount donated was vital for us to fully complete the project to a good standard."
A small capital grant was awarded to this special scouting branch that facilitates Duke of Edinburgh awards for young people in the district. The funding was to purchase tents and storm shelters. Rachael Thompson – Lead Volunteer for the group – says: “This funding has been important to us as we have been previously borrowing equipment, but having our own means we have access to it whenever we need and have the confidence in knowing the equipment will be functioning and ready for the young people when we do come to use it, which is not always guaranteed when sharing equipment.”
Cosby Older People’s Welfare Association was awarded £500 towards the costs of a Christmas lunch event for pensioners in the village of Cosby, particularly those who would otherwise be alone. The aim of the lunch was to provide fellowship and reduce loneliness. Martin Stevenson – Treasurer for the group – says: “This lunch was enjoyed by 80 people in the Blaby District. It was great to hear (that) people who are single and came to the lunch…were going to meet up for coffee on another day. I think you can always tell if an event has gone well when people say they hope it will happen again next year.”
Young Leicestershire was awarded £500 for their Rise-Up project – a group that supports 14-17 year olds with additional needs and disabilities. The funding went towards equipment, resources and trips. Deb Such - SENCo at Young Leicestershire – said: “All activities are carefully designed to build confidence, emotional regulation, social communication, independence and life skills… Having extra funding is always a bonus, as it allows us to provide the activities that the young people want to take part in, rather than just what we can afford. We are very conscious that we get as much longevity out of our funding as possible, which is why we choose resources that can be used many times over."
The Club was awarded a £500 Everyone Active grant towards specialist equipment and refreshments to run an open day for disabled people to try playing bowls. 70 people attended. Gary Toward – Chair of the Club – said: “This funding has and will change lives. Several people have benefitted instantly and many more will over coming months and years due to the increased awareness and new skills learned by local coaches."
The downloads section below lists Community Grants documents referenced on the page: