Funding Opportunities
We administer a wide range of grant programmes on behalf of grant-making trusts, business, and the public sector. With over twenty years of experience in this field, we help funding get to the places and projects that need it most, making a real difference to people’s lives.
All our current programmes are listed below, along with deadlines and links to full guidance.
If you’ve already started an application using our online portal, log in here to continue.
Fund status
Open for applications
- Lancaster Community Fund: round 2 open, apply by 1 November, 1pm
- Eric Wright Charitable Trust: open, apply at any time for a decision the following month
- James Bond Henry Welch Trust: open, decision four weeks after application
- Lancaster District Street Aid: open, decision two weeks after application
- Step Up Fund: open, decision two weeks after application
- Crisis & Resilience Fund Grants for Organisations (via Lancaster City Council): open
Closed to applications
easyfundraising
Set up a free easyfundraising page for your charity or voluntary organisation and 8,000 retailers will donate money to you when your supporters shop online with them – for free. It doesn’t anything extra as the retailer pays the donation, not the shopper.
Every 3 months, your organisation will receive the money your supporters have raised for you. As the funds you raise are unrestricted, you can spend it on whatever you need.
Crisis & Resilience Fund Grants for Organisations (via Lancaster City Council)
The Lancaster District Crisis and Resilience Fund will soon open applications for practical projects that reduce hardship, reduce inequalities, and help communities build resilience before they reach crisis point. Lancaster City Council will welcome ideas from voluntary organisations, community hubs, advice providers, and food projects.
Priority will be given to projects focused on:
- Strengthening Community Resilience Hubs and creating accessible spaces.
- Providing advice, education, and financial resilience support.
- Developing food security and sustainable local food solutions.
- Outreach and early intervention for underserved or rural communities.
- Collaborative working to ensure a “No Wrong Door” approach to support.
Funding Tiers
Once the application process goes live, groups will have exactly 4 weeks to apply. There will be three levels of grant funding available:
- Small grants: Up to £1,000
- Medium grants: Up to £10,000
- Large grants: Over £10,000 (Please note: bids over £50,000 must be submitted as a partnership)
Eric Wright Charitable Trust
All smaller local organisations working within the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector are encouraged to apply for financial help in providing activities that will make a positive difference to the lives and wellbeing of people of any age. Grants of up to £500 are available.
The grant is available to organisations with an annual income of less than £50,000 (you do not need to be a registered charity to apply).
The fund is administered by Lancaster District CVS on behalf of the Eric Wright Charitable Trust (EWCT) via the LDCVS Bay Foundation. See our guidance notes for more information on the EWCT.
Timescale
Open, apply at any time for a decision in the middle of the following month.
Multiple Applications
Organisations who have received awards from the fund are welcome to apply again.
If you would like to know more about how to complete your application, email [email protected] or telephone 01524 555900.
James Bond / Henry Welch Trust
The James Bond / Henry Welch Trust (registered as a charity in England and Wales, number 222791) makes grants using income from endowments created in the early twentieth century to benefit people who at the time were referred to as “consumptives”.
Today, the Trust supports people with chest or lung conditions such as tuberculosis, COPD, asthma, pneumonia and lung cancer. Grants go towards buying equipment or services that help those people live better lives.
Lancaster District CVS helps the Trust in this work by promoting the grant opportunity and managing their grant-making process.
If you have any questions about applying, or would like a paper application form, please email [email protected] or call us on 01524 555900.
Eligibility
Grants are considered for people that:
- live in the Lancaster district,
- have a chest or lung condition of any kind, and
- would benefit from equipment or services that help their condition but cannot afford it themselves.
We accept applications directly from people with chest or lung conditions, or from somebody else applying on their behalf.
Decisions are usually made within four weeks.
Purpose
Grants can pay for any equipment or services that will have a positive impact on the health and daily life of an eligible individual by helping them to manage their chest or lung condition.
This could include things like humidifiers or dehumidifiers, occupational health assessments, prescriptions, utility or travel costs, mobility aids, medical equipment, or furniture or furnishings.
This isn’t a complete list, and there’s more information in the guidance.
Pots of Possibility
Closing Loops is a five-year £1.5 million project led by FoodFutures, North Lancashire’s sustainable food partnership.
The scheme is delivered by six local organisations (LESS, Lancaster District CVS, Eggcup, Global Link, Shared Future CIC and Scientists For Global Responsibility), and is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Thanks to National Lottery players, it is supporting community-led action and local initiatives to transform waste into a valuable resource, aiming to stimulate a zero-waste, circular and regenerative local economy.
As part of this, £300,000 in small grants will be available through the Pots of Possibility fund to enable charitable organisations, social enterprises, community groups and others in north Lancashire to develop creative ideas to help communities and the environment to flourish.
Apply to Community Pots for grants worth up to £5,000 and Your Pots for grants between £5,000 and £10,000.
Timescale
The final Pots of Possibility round, Your Pots 2026, closed to applications at midnight on 30 September.
Information about the participative budgeting process and voting day event will be released soon.
Multiple Applications
Organisations can only submit one application per round. If your organisation has had a Pots of Possibility grant in a previous round you are able to apply again, however you must have completed your project and your End of Grant Return before submitting a new application.
For support with the application process, eligibility, documentation and timescales, contact LDCVS by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 01524 555900.
For advice about Closing Loops themes, project ideas, and the fund’s apporoach to zero-waste and regenerative initatives, contact Jo Stocking, Closing Loops REconomy Coordinator by email at [email protected]
Lancaster Community Fund
Lancaster City Council and Lancaster District CVS invite local charities and community groups to apply to the Lancaster Community Fund. Grants of up to £1,000 are available to volunteer organisations in Lancaster District that need help to deliver projects and activities for the benefit of local people.
The fund has three main priorities:
- Projects that increase community involvement, build community wealth and resilience.
- Projects that contribute towards carbon reduction and a more sustainable district.
- Projects that contribute to individual and community wellbeing
Applications are particularly welcomed for projects that support grassroots initiatives, for activities that will benefit disadvantaged areas of the community, or from organisations that haven’t recently received a grant from this fund.
2026/7 Rounds
Apply between 10am on the opening date and 11:59pm on the closing date.
| Opens | Closes |
| 8 Jun 26 | 5 Jul 26 |
| 5 Oct 26 | 1 Nov 26 |
| 1 Feb 27 | 28 Feb 27 |
Criteria
Eligibility for funding and our guidance to applicants has changed for the 2026/7 year.
We recommend you read the guidance document carefully before applying, even if you’ve made an application before.
If you have any questions about the fund or how to complete your application, email [email protected] or telephone 01524 555900
Banks Lyon Memorial Trust Step Up Fund
Lancaster District CVS is working with the Banks Lyon Memorial Trust to offer the Step Up Fund.
Funding is available for young people aged 16-24 living in the Lancaster District who are facing social and/or financial barriers.
Grants made through the fund will help the beneficiaries access goods and services to help them overcome those barriers with the aim of gaining access education, training or employment.
Timescale
Apply at any time. We aim to make decisions as soon within two weeks.
Grants
Depending on need, grants will be up to £250 per person, spent on behalf of the applicant by LDCVS.
If you have any questions about the fund, would like to apply, or would like to refer a young person for consideration, contact Catherine Westwell by email at [email protected]
Lancaster District Street Aid
“Street Aid not only improved my life, it significantly changed it for the good.”
Donations to Street Aid generate a pot of funding that individuals can apply for in partnership with a supporting organisation (voluntary sector or local authority), to get the sort of practical help they need to stay off the streets for good.
Types of support that can be applied for via the scheme include access to housing, furniture and other home essentials, education/training courses, clothing for job interviews, equipment/materials for hobbies and interests, and transport to interviews/place of work.
Alternatively, donors can give £3 by texting STREET to 70450 (texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message), and make larger donations via Paypal.
Information for sponsor organisations
Organisations who want to sponsor an application for aid to a formerly homeless or currently vulnerably housed person can access our guidance notes here and start their application here.
To find out more about how to complete your application, email [email protected] or telephone 01524 555900.
“Having the bus vouchers made it possible for me to get to my hospital appointments. Having the financial stress of this removed helped me concentrate on my recovery from surgery and other treatments I received. It is a life changing thing being able to access funds like these.”
Your privacy is important to us, so we will keep your data secure. We need your details to process and manage your funding application. Your information may be processed on our behalf by carefully selected partners. We will not share your information further unless required to do so by law, or at your request. Please see our Data Protection Policy and our Privacy Notice relating to funding applications for more information on how we look after your data.
“We” means Lancaster District Community & Voluntary Solutions, charity number 1127626
