Lloyds Bank Foundation Grants: What to Know in 2026

Lloyds Bank Foundation is a long-standing funder of small and local charities in England and Wales. It is going through a big change: a new strategy called In a Good Place, which runs to 2035. In its own words, it is scaling up while trying to keep money flowing to communities during the transition. That means its funding looks different in 2026 from previous years, and some of what it offers is by invitation. This guide explains what the Foundation funds now, what happened with its first 2026 programme, and how to be ready for the next round. All details come from the Foundation's website, checked on the date shown on this page.

Where it funds

Lloyds Bank Foundation works in England and Wales only. If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland, it is not the right funder. You can browse funders there in our Scotland charity grants listings and our Northern Ireland guide.

For Wales, see our charity grants in Wales and the wider Wales grants hub.

The In a Good Place strategy

The Foundation's vision is that everyone in England and Wales should be in a good place: personally, in a home that is a good place to live, and in a community that is a good place to belong to. It describes three pillars and the areas it will focus on first:

Pillar	First areas of focus
A good place personally	Financial resilience; digital inclusion
A home that is a good place to live	Preventing homelessness; non-profit housing
A community that is a good place to belong	Building bridges across divides

It says it invests in people who are furthest from being in a good place, and in the people who do the work to change that, by providing money, time, tools and connections. It has set three goals for the strategy:

• grow the giving of time and money across England and Wales every year
• have impact in every parliamentary constituency in England and Wales by 2030
• power community-led change in 100 neighbourhoods in England and Wales by 2035

In 2024, the Foundation says it supported 662 small charities through its grants programmes, awarded £20.3 million in total, and its charity partners supported 297,000 people.

The outcomes it will measure

The strategy says that when the three pillars are strong, five outcomes grow: wellbeing, agency, resilience, trusted connections and opportunities. The Foundation says these are the outcomes it will base its work on, measure and share openly. It has published first-year learning goals and the evidence behind its focus on personal resilience, housing and community belonging.

That gives you a useful test for any future application. Can you describe how your work builds one or more of those five outcomes for the people you support, and how you would know? If you can, write it down now, with numbers and stories. Our guide to theory of change shows how to set out the steps from activity to outcome.

The Foundation also uses a Good Place Index to understand who is furthest from being in a good place. It says the index suggests 15.6 million people in England and 860,000 people in Wales are not in a good place. If your community is one of those most affected, explain why, using local data where you can.

How it is funding in 2026

The Foundation describes a mixed approach for 2026:

1. An open programme. The Good Place to Live: New Beginnings Fund, its first 2026 programme, which is now closed.
2. Extension funding. £2 million for some current partners in its Racial Equity and Deaf and Disabled People's Organisation programmes, whose grants would otherwise be ending. It says eligible organisations have been contacted directly.
3. Strategic grants. Grants to help it experiment and learn about community belonging and volunteering. Again, eligible organisations will be contacted directly.
4. Starting Point communities. It said it would set out, in the autumn, Starting Point communities in two regions of England and Wales, as its next step towards working in 100 local places.

It also says further funding rounds focused on community will follow. So for most organisations, the realistic plan is to prepare now and watch for the next open round.

The New Beginnings Fund

The New Beginnings Fund is a good guide to what future open rounds may look like. Its focus was preventing homelessness before crisis, at the times in people's lives when the risk is highest. The Foundation gave examples including people leaving prison, survivors of domestic abuse, young adults leaving care, and people leaving the asylum system after securing leave to remain.

Key details:

• Who could apply: charities, CIOs and CICs working to prevent homelessness and support early intervention in their communities
• Amount: up to £200,000
• Length: four years
• Type: unrestricted, so it can be used for any costs that further your organisation's social purpose
• Total: an £8 million investment in homelessness prevention
• Where: England and Wales

The fund closed at 5pm on Wednesday 9 September 2026. The Foundation says it received nearly 600 applications and will make 40 to 50 grants. Applicants were due to hear whether they were shortlisted by 14 November 2026, with final decisions by 18 December 2026.

Those numbers tell you how competitive it is: fewer than one in ten applications will be funded. If you are working on homelessness prevention and missed this round, it is still worth preparing, because the Foundation says it will launch more funding opportunities across the life of its strategy.

Why unrestricted funding matters

Unrestricted funding lets you spend money where it is most needed, including salaries, rent and the systems that keep you running. It is rare and valuable, and funders who offer it usually want confidence in the organisation as a whole, not only one project. That changes what you need to show:

• A clear purpose and track record. Explain what you do, who for, and what difference it makes, with evidence. Our guide to grant monitoring and reporting helps you collect it.
• Sound governance. An active board, up-to-date policies and accounts filed on time. See our guide to how funders assess grant applications.
• A plan for the future. What the money would let you do over four years, and what happens after. Our guide to project sustainability covers this.

How to be ready for the next round

The Foundation encourages people to sign up for its funding announcements email, and its local teams in every region of England and Wales are part of how it works. While you wait:

1. Sign up for alerts on the Foundation's funding page.
2. Read the strategy and decide honestly which pillar your work fits. If it does not fit, look elsewhere rather than stretching your case.
3. Gather your evidence: a short statement of need for your community, recent outcomes and case studies.
4. Check your structure. The New Beginnings Fund was open to charities, CIOs and CICs. If you are a CIC, our guide to CICs limited by shares or guarantee explains why many funders prefer guarantee.
5. Line up other funders so you are not relying on one round. Our guide to approaching charitable trusts explains how to build a pipeline.

You can track other open funders for small charities in our charity grants listings and small grants for community groups.