Applications to the 2025/26 round of the Comic Relief Community Fund are now open until 6 October 2025.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available for grassroots, community-led organisations in England with an income of less than £250,000 that support people living in, or at risk of, poverty or hardship.
The 2025/26 funding round will support organisations in England that are:
- Tackling the immediate and urgent impacts of being in poverty, including providing essential resources like food, shelter, advice and healthcare. For example, foodbanks, community kitchens, homeless shelters, welfare advice agencies and health outreach projects.
- Working to empower communities to take positive steps to lift themselves out of poverty in the longer term. For example, projects that build skills, increase access to employment, strengthen financial resilience or develop community-led solutions.
Applicants must be based within the area where they are carrying out activities.
The programme offers flexible, core funding, and is designed to support the good work of organisations, and not just projects. The grants can be used on core organisation costs, project costs or a combination of both.
It is anticipated that around 120 grants will be awarded in the 2025/26 round.
Projects must be completed by 30 September 2026.
When assessing applications, Groundwork, who administers the grants programme on behalf of Comic Relief, will take into account the level of deprivation in the area where the organisation is working. Applications from areas that score higher on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) may be given greater priority.
This will be the only funding round for 2025/2026, and it anticipated that it will be highly competitive.
The deadline for applications is 6 October 2025 (12 noon).
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