Browse funding

The Democratic Engagement Fund provides grants to civil society organisations (CSOs) to deliver politically neutral, place-based projects that support people to understand, engage with, and participate in democracy in England.  The Fund focuses on communities that are currently less democratically engaged, including young people, ethnic minority communities, disabled people, people experiencing homelessness, regular movers, and people from low socio-economic backgrounds. Projects should help overcome barriers to democratic participation related to knowledge, opportunity, motivation or trust, and must contribute learning on what works to increase democratic engagement.  Projects must be delivered in England.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) invites applications for funding to strengthen the UK’s role in digital technical standards, which are essential to the economy and society and developed through global multistakeholder collaboration in organisations such as the European Telecommunication Standardization Institution (ETSI), Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The goal is to support innovative initiatives that embed standards teaching in higher education, inspire career interest, enhance academic–industry collaboration and strengthen the UK talent pipeline for participation in international standards development.

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £15 million for feasibility projects. This funding is from the industry led R&D Partnerships Fund, part of the Farming Innovation Programme.

Defra are launching a Farmer Welfare Grant with a total value of £1.5m which will run from November 2026 to March 2029 for projects which support the mental health and wellbeing of those in the agricultural industry. The funding is intended to help rural and agricultural charities and organisations deliver practical support that strengthens both personal and business resilience across the sector.

DCMS is providing grant funding for delivery partner(s) to test an innovative three-year ‘Connections through Gaming’ pilot that will use gaming as a route to engage boys aged 11–16 who may be experiencing loneliness, isolation or low wellbeing. The pilot will combine gaming-based activities, structured wellbeing and confidence-building support; opportunities to build friendships, confidence and positive social connections, both online and in person. The pilot is particularly focused on boys aged 11-16 who: - may be becoming withdrawn or isolated; - are struggling to build or maintain social connections; - are not currently engaging with existing youth services; and - would benefit from additional support before challenges become more entrenched.

The Minister for Veterans and People has committed to recognising and celebrating the contributions of women veterans' service in the UK Armed Forces. The UK Government’s Veterans Strategy includes a commitment to commission a new oral history project to capture and preserve the experiences of women veterans. The aim of this project is to create an official, digitised oral history collection documenting the lived experiences of women veterans. The project should capture experiences from recruitment and military service through to transition from the Armed Forces, including the impact on family life. The primary audience is the general public, with outputs also intended to inform policy officials, researchers, veterans and the wider armed forces community.