National Lottery Community Fund Grants
The National Lottery Community Fund distributes Lottery money to community projects across the UK, with separate programmes for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Awards run from a few thousand pounds for a local group up to multi-year funding for larger organisations. Its smaller programmes accept applications all year rather than in rounds.
National Lottery Community Fund has 22 open funds listed here, none of them with a fixed deadline.
Checked daily. Last updated 11 November 2026.
Awards published
47,703
Typical award
£18,689
Most awards
£9,986 to £20,000
Most funded region
London
12,824 awards in 2025, level with 12,725 the year before.
Recent awards include Wellbeing Challenge CIC (£20,000, 2026), West Wales Motorcycle Project (£19,490, 2026) and Tirabad Village Hall Committee (£15,000, 2026).
Contains data from 360Giving publishers, used under open licence.
What National Lottery Community Fund funds
Counted across the 22 open funds on this page.
No deadline listed
Check the funder's current application window before you apply.
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund gives £300 to £20,000 to community-led projects in Scotland through National Lottery Awards for All Scotland. Arts or sports projects can ask for up to £10,000. The programme is open to applications and the funder lists no closing date. A decision takes 12 weeks. Community-led projects can run for up to 2 years. Arts or sports projects can run for up to 12 months. The money can start a new activity or continue an existing one. It can also help an organisation adapt to new challenges, or pay for one-off events. The funder is especially interested in projects that build relationships in and across communities, improve local places and spaces, help people reach their potential at the earliest possible stage, or support people and organisations facing more demands from the cost-of-living crisis. The funder delivers the funding in partnership with sportscotland and Creative Scotland. The funder gives no example costs, so check the funder's website for what you can spend the money on.
Scottish Land Fund
National Lottery Community Fund
The Scottish Land Fund helps communities across Scotland, in towns and in the countryside, to own and manage land and buildings that matter to them. It is open to applications now. It offers community-led organisations grants of between £5,000 and £1 million to buy land or assets. It also gives practical support to help you turn an idea into a viable, long-term project. You can use it for the purchase of land or land assets, and for support to plan and develop your ideas. The fund is backed by the Scottish Government. The National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise deliver it in partnership. Priority goes to projects that show a clear and lasting benefit to the wider community. Successful projects will aim to support economic, environmental or social development through land ownership, give the community more control over its future, and own land and buildings that are well managed and financially sustainable. One practical point: you will work with a Scottish Land Fund Adviser at Highlands and Islands Enterprise to shape your project and explore your options before you apply. Allow time for that conversation. Once you have applied, a decision takes 16 weeks, so build that wait into your plans. Official source: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/scottish-land-fund. Last checked by GrantMatch on 16 October 2026.
National Lottery Awards for All England
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund gives grants of £300 to £20,000 to projects in England through National Lottery Awards for All England. Projects can run for up to 2 years. The programme is open to applications now, and the funder lists no closing date. Decisions take 16 weeks. Funding can start a new activity or keep an existing one going. It can also help an organisation adapt to new challenges. The funder backs projects that bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities. It also backs projects that improve the places and spaces that matter to communities. Two further aims are helping more people reach their potential by supporting them at the earliest possible stage, and supporting people, communities and organisations facing more demands because of the cost-of-living crisis. Environment projects go to a separate programme, National Lottery Awards for All England Environment.
See all 2 rounds of National Lottery Awards for All EnglandYoung Start - Main Grants
National Lottery Community Fund
Young Start - Main Grants helps organisations in Scotland run projects that put children and young people aged 8 to 24 at the centre. You can apply for between £20,001 and £150,000 for a project that runs for up to 3 years. The funding suits organisations that involve children and young people in their project or organisation. Those young people should be able to choose when and how they take part. They should also be able to influence and make decisions about your organisation, its activities or services. For example, they might work on a project from idea to delivery, decide what activities happen, share feedback that leads to change, or get involved at all levels of your organisation. Your project must meet at least one of four outcomes. It must help children and young people build positive relationships that improve their wellbeing, learn more about themselves or other people, take action on issues that matter to them, or learn skills that help them feel more confident for the future. You can meet more than one outcome, but this will not improve your chances of getting funding. The programme is open to applications now, and the page does not give a closing date. The Fund says it aims to make a decision in 12 weeks, so plan your project start date with that in mind. Young Start is funded by the Dormant Assets Scheme, with priorities set by the Scottish Government. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes the money. The funding was designed with children and young people. There is also a separate Small Grants strand, so make sure Main Grants is the right fit for the size of your project. Official source: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/young-start-main-grants. Last checked by GrantMatch on 16 October 2026.
See all 2 rounds of Young StartSustainable Steps Wales - Egin Grants
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund gives Egin Grants of £100 to £35,000 to community groups in Wales that are taking action on climate change and trying to live more sustainably. Applicants must already have received support from the Egin mentoring programme. The funder lists the programme status as open to applications and says a decision takes 4 weeks. No closing date is given. The main aim of your project should be to help your community engage with climate change and take steps to live more sustainably. The funder wants to back groups that consider the impact of their activities on nature and, where possible, limit potentially damaging practices. It also looks at wider benefits, such as better wellbeing, stronger relationships between people and organisations, and improved biodiversity. Groups should be open to learning and plan to share what they learn with others. The project location must be Wales. The funder's website does not list example projects or costs.
Community Power Fund
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund's Community Power Fund gives most projects between £500,000 and £2.5 million for work in England. Projects run for 5 to 10 years, and the funder expects to make up to 16 awards. It backs organisations that help local people influence the places they live, the services they use and the decisions that affect their lives. The funder lists example work: developing local leadership, shaping the design and delivery of local services, giving people more say in local investment decisions, and increasing community control over locally important buildings and spaces. Applicants must already have a proven track record of building community power. They must work at scale across a range of issues, across a wide local area such as a town, city, district or borough. The programme is listed as coming soon. Applications open at 12pm on Wednesday 25 November 2026 and close at 12pm on Wednesday 20 January 2027. The stated decision time is 42 weeks.
More grants
Young Start - Small Grants
National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund gives £300 to £20,000 through Young Start - Small Grants to organisations in Scotland that support children and young people aged 8 to 24. The money pays for a project of up to 1 year. The programme is open to applications, the funder's website gives no closing date, and a decision takes 12 weeks. The fund is for organisations that want to learn how to involve young people, so they can influence decisions about the organisation, its activities or services, and choose when and how they take part. The funder lists three example roles: working on a project from idea to design and delivery, deciding what activities happen and how they run, and sharing ideas and feedback that lead to changes. Work must meet 2 outcomes: involve children and young people in ways that benefit them, and improve how the organisation works with them. Organisations that already involve young people should look at Young Start - Main Grants. Young Start is funded by the Dormant Assets Scheme.
See all 2 rounds of Young StartGet notified when National Lottery Community Fund opens a new fund
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Create free accountNational Lottery Awards for All England – Environment
The National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund gives £300 to £20,000 to community-led projects in England that improve the environment and help people connect with and enjoy nature where they live. The programme is National Lottery Awards for All England, Environment. It is open to applications now, and the funder lists no closing date. Decisions take 16 weeks. A project must meet one of two priorities: help people connect with and care for nature in their area, or make a positive difference to the environment. The money can start a new activity or continue an existing one. It can also help your organisation adapt to new challenges, or pay for one-off events with a clear environmental benefit. Anyone who already holds an Awards for All grant cannot apply. Groups after more general funding for community projects should use the funder's National Lottery Awards for All England page instead. The funder's website does not list example costs, so check its guidance before you budget.
See all 2 rounds of National Lottery Awards for All EnglandClimate Action Fund - Food Systems
National Lottery Community Fund
The Climate Action Fund: Food Systems is open to applications from the National Lottery Community Fund. It backs projects that strengthen the food system and reduce food insecurity for people and communities. The aim is to help produce enough healthy, affordable food without harming the planet. The fund wants work that uses nature to build resilient, sustainable and fair food systems, known as agroecology. It also wants work that tackles the root causes of long-term problems rather than just the symptoms, known as systems change. Your project must meet one or more of three aims. These are changing how community organisations grow and produce food using agroecological methods; changing how food is distributed so that more people can reach healthy, affordable food; and offering people and communities more food options, especially those facing poverty, disadvantage or discrimination. You must also meet every one of the criteria. You need to work in partnership, make a lasting impact on climate change, the environment and nature, and significantly increase access to healthy, affordable food. You also need firm plans to measure your impact, firm plans to share your project's story to inspire others, and a way to meaningfully involve communities and the organisations that represent them. Funding runs from £2.5 million to £7 million. You can apply for a minimum of £2.5 million over 3 years. Most projects receive between £3 million and £5 million and run for 5 to 7 years. The fund expects to support up to 10 projects in the first year. The programme covers England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. No closing date is given. One practical point: the decision takes about 39 weeks, so plan your partnership and project timeline around that. Official source: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/climate-action-fund-food-systems. Last checked by GrantMatch on 16 October 2026.
See all 6 rounds of Climate Action FundProgrammes National Lottery Community Fund runs in rounds
Miss one round of these and there is another.
Where this funding goes
Frequently asked questions about National Lottery Community Fund funding
How many National Lottery Community Fund grants are open right now?+
22 grants from National Lottery Community Fund are open on GrantMatch today, none of them with a fixed deadline. The list is checked daily.
How much does National Lottery Community Fund usually award?+
Across 47,703 published awards, the typical National Lottery Community Fund grant is £18,689, with most falling between £9,986 and £20,000. Figures come from 360Giving open data and describe past awards, not what is on offer now.
How do I apply for National Lottery Community Fund funding?+
Each grant on this page links to the National Lottery Community Fund application page for that fund. Read the funder's own eligibility criteria before you start, since terms differ between funds.