Empower Community Foundation
At a glance
Key takeaways
- Its stated priority is Sunderland, and it favours projects that reduce or reverse negative social or environmental impacts and meet local needs, particularly in environmental protection, poverty relief, energy efficiency, and energy and climate education.
- Its annual report shows £32,885 paid out, and no grant range is published, so a modest request is more likely to match its scale.
- No application process is published, so start with the contact details shown for getting in touch and ask how requests are considered before you write a full proposal.
- Local community members help identify recipients and trustees review their recommendations, so evidence of genuine local need and community support is likely to matter.
- Nothing published says how competitive it is or when it considers requests.
Overview
Empower Community Foundation is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1161019).
Empower Community Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales. Its principal role is to protect the social mission of Empower Community, which is to accelerate the transition to sustainable local economies, and to promote the most effective use of resources and the sharing of knowledge. It administers and allocates surplus revenue from renewable-energy projects for the communities where those projects operate. It has so far awarded grants of over £1.5m to over 50 community groups, using a Local Community Fund Panel, collaboration with the network of Community Foundations, and the online fund matching service ActionFunder.org.
What they fund
Priority Areas
The foundation administers and allocates surplus revenue from renewable-energy projects for the communities where those projects operate. It gives each locality flexibility to decide how support is used, with a broad preference for projects that reduce or reverse negative social or environmental impacts and address local needs. Its stated charitable purposes include protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gases; preventing and relieving poverty through lower energy bills, energy efficiency and renewable energy; and education about energy, climate change and environmental protection. Its grants have supported community-centre improvements and energy efficiency, alongside wider community groups including food banks and women’s refuges. Local community members help identify and recommend recipients, with trustees reviewing recommendations.
Themes
- Environmental protection
- Poverty relief
- Energy efficiency
- Energy and climate education
Geographic Focus
Priority: Sunderland.
How to apply
No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry, its website or other pages about it. The contact shown is for getting in touch.
Application success factors
What the charity says:
- Local community members are best placed to identify and recommend the recipients and uses of grant funding that will benefit their community.
- The foundation broadly favours projects that reduce or reverse negative social or environmental impacts in the local community.
- It aims to support the areas of most need in a community, build resilience, support vital services and respond to changing needs.
Where they fund
Where it says it funds
Similar funders
Funders supporting work similar to Empower Community Foundation.
Five years of accounts
| Financial year | Income | Expenditure | Grants paid | Accounts document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| year to 31 March 2021 | £99,498 | £194,090 | — | Accounts for year to 31 March 2021 |
| year to 31 March 2022 | £2,687,055 | £2,902,567 | — | Accounts for year to 31 March 2022 |
| year to 31 March 2023 | £3,272,140 | £3,195,435 | — | Accounts for year to 31 March 2023 |
| year to 31 March 2024 | £5,567,608 | £4,574,363 | — | Accounts for year to 31 March 2024 |
| year to 31 March 2025 | £5,135,999 | £5,325,365 | £32,885 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2025 |
- Grants paid, year to 31 March 2025: grants paid out in the year.
— No grants figure for those years.
Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.
Sources
Registers and filings
Other sources
- empowercommunity.com/community_foundation · read on 30 October 2026
- empowercommunity.com/contact-us · read on 30 October 2026
- Annual report (year to 31 March 2025)
This profile draws on the funder’s own website as well as its filed accounts.
Sources last checked on 30 October 2026.
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At a glance
Applying to Empower Community Foundation?
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Applying to Empower Community Foundation?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required