National Lottery Community Fund Launching New Community Power Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) is launching the Community Power Fund later this month to support charities, registered voluntary and community organisations, and other not-for-profit organisations across England working to build community power.

Grants of between £500,000 and £2.5 million will support organisations helping to shift communities towards equitable sharing of power between local people, organisations, and institutions, and helping to give local people the influence to make changes to:

  • The places they live.
  • The services they use.
  • The decisions that affect their lives.

To apply, groups must:

  • Have a proven track record of building community power.
  • Have experience of convening partners and collaborating across sectors.
  • Work at scale across a range of issues, rather than focusing on a single issue or population group.
  • Work across a wide local area, such as a town, city, district, or borough.
  • Be accountable to local people.
  • Work with communities that face the greatest barriers.

Funding can be used for core and project costs, including one-off events, staffing and volunteer expenses, development work, equitable access (such as translation costs), learning, evaluation, and minor capital costs. Some political and campaigning activities can be supported, provided the activity is not party political (ie, focused on a policy, practice or legislation rather than supporting or opposing a political party), helps the cause of the organisation, and benefits the public. Proposed work should run for between five and ten years.

NLCF will be providing further information about this fund at webinars held on the following dates:

It is anticipated that up to 16 awards will be made.

Applications will be accepted between 25 November 2026 and 20 January 2027. 

For more informatio and how to apply:

Community Power Fund | The National Lottery Community Fund

 

KVA is only promoting these grants.