UK Community Foundations
At a glance
Key takeaways
- UK Community Foundations does not award grants directly to organisations or individuals, so a small charity should not send a funding request to it.
- Its accredited member community foundations manage and award grants, so the route is to contact your nearest community foundation.
- If your work falls within themes such as poverty alleviation, youth engagement, mental health or community cohesion, the local foundation is the place to test it.
- The network's average grant is £5,500, but no grant range is stated, so ask the local foundation what it usually awards before shaping your request.
Overview
UK Community Foundations is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1004630).
UK Community Foundations is a membership organisation that supports accredited community foundations with resources, learning, Quality Accreditation and national partnership funding. It was linked to the first UK community foundation, founded in Swindon, England, the first of its kind in Europe. Across the network, over £180 million is invested each year into people, community groups and grassroots charities, and 38,000+ grants have been awarded to community-led groups and charities around the UK. The annual report gives £8,992,000 awarded, and the organisation also manages national programmes and shares insights with national policy makers.
What they fund
Priority Areas
UKCF is a membership organisation that supports accredited community foundations. It provides members with resources, learning and Quality Accreditation, helps build their skills and capacity, and manages national partnership funding with them. It does not directly award grants to organisations or individuals; its members manage and directly award grants. Through the network, community foundations fund local projects and grassroots organisations across issues including poverty alleviation, emergency crisis response, youth engagement and mental health. UKCF also works with strategic partners to resource communities around health and wellbeing, fairness and equality, climate action, community cohesion and development from the roots up.
Themes
- Poverty alleviation
- Emergency response
- Youth engagement
- Mental health
- Climate justice
- Community cohesion
- Hardship support
Geographic Focus
UK.
What they don't fund
- UKCF does not directly award grants to organisations or individuals
How to apply
For grants offered through the network, organisations should contact their nearest community foundation; accredited members manage and directly award grants. UKCF does not directly award grants to organisations or individuals.
Where they fund
Where it says it funds
- United Kingdom
Similar funders
Funders supporting work similar to UK Community Foundations.
Five years of accounts
| Financial year | Income | Expenditure | Grants paid | Accounts document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| year to 31 March 2021 | £83,321,000 | £83,027,000 | £81,692,000 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2021 |
| year to 31 March 2022 | £6,401,000 | £8,000,000 | £6,369,000 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2022 |
| year to 31 March 2023 | £8,195,000 | £8,949,000 | £6,959,000 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2023 |
| year to 31 March 2024 | £12,961,000 | £13,089,000 | £11,047,000 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2024 |
| year to 31 March 2025 | £11,286,000 | £11,439,000 | £8,992,000 | Accounts for year to 31 March 2025 |
Income vs grants paid
IncomeGrants paid
Total value each financial year
Grants paid stayed within income across the 5 years shown.
- Grants paid, year to 31 March 2021; year to 31 March 2022; year to 31 March 2023; year to 31 March 2024: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).
- Grants paid, year to 31 March 2025: grants awarded in the year, as reported in the accounts.
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
- ukcommunityfoundations.org/how-we-work · read on 23 October 2026
- ukcommunityfoundations.org/contact-us · read on 23 October 2026
- ukcommunityfoundations.org · read on 23 October 2026
- ukcommunityfoundations.org/who-we-are · read on 23 October 2026
- ukcommunityfoundations.org/our-impact · read on 23 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 23 October 2026.
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At a glance
Applying to UK Community Foundations?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required
Contact
- 020 7713 9326source
- info@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- comms@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- partnerships@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- membership@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- UK Community Foundations, Canopi, 82 Tanner Street, London, SE1 3GNsource
- ukcommunityfoundations.org
Applying to UK Community Foundations?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required
Contact
- 020 7713 9326source
- info@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- comms@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- partnerships@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- membership@ukcommunityfoundations.orgsource
- UK Community Foundations, Canopi, 82 Tanner Street, London, SE1 3GNsource
- ukcommunityfoundations.org