How it works 

Our grants are structured into what we call our general awards and special funds and programmes. Details for each can be found below. Note that you can normally apply for our special funds at the same time as applying for or holding a grant from our general awards, unless stated otherwise.

Our general awards

Here is how our main grant-making process works  

Our General Awards are open to applications. We have three main rounds of grant-giving each year. Upcoming deadlines for applications (unless specified otherwise) is 5:00pm (1700 hours) as follows:

• Friday 5 January 2024 (Decisions March 2024)
• Friday 3 May 2024 (Decisions July 2024)
• Friday 6 September (Decisions November 2024)

General awards grants are awarded through our four funding priorities. On your application, you will be asked to pick just one of the headline priorities that best suits your activity. Don’t worry too much if your project covers more than one of these, just pick the one that is most relevant, as we will be reviewing the information submitted as part of our assessment process.

Grants of up to £10,000 are available. We are particularly keen to support grassroots community groups and small-to-medium sized voluntary organisations. General round grants are available to cover a range of core and project costs including support for work planned in response to the cost of living crisis. Please note our general funds cannot support small contributions to large capital appeals or campaigns. 

Please read our general guidance notes before applying.

How to apply

Apply via our online application form. You can now save your progress and return to the form by registering your email address and choosing a password. Please read through the notes on the form before you make a start on completing it and we also recommend that you review the latest guidance before completing the form as there have been a few changes. 

Special Funds and Programmes

Below is the list of currently open special funds and programmes, which you can apply to in addition to the General Awards.   

• The Chagossian Fund, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides grants for voluntary sector organisations, grassroots community groups and established local charities supporting Chagossian people living in Crawley and other parts of Sussex. For more information and how to apply visit here.

• East Brighton Trust Community Cohesion grants of up to £750, support projects and activities for residents of the East Brighton Trust area of benefit. Please ensure that you read the guidance notes prior to making an application to ensure you are eligible. The application form can be found here. Deadline for this round is Friday 5 January 2024. 

Grants for Individuals

• Westdene Fund gives grants of up to £1,000 to individual young people (aged 16-25 years) in Sussex with outstanding musical talent. This fund has its own guidance and online application form which needs to be completed with a supporting reference document which can be found here. Applications can be made at any time. 

• Cubitt and West Estate Agents Charity Fund supports children and young people living in Sussex who have physical disabilities, long-term illnesses and/or life-limiting conditions. Please note: Applications must be made by a social worker or other professionals rather than family members. For more information please see here.

Supporting documents

All applications received must be accompanied by copies of the required supporting documents (including signed copies of your constitution and accounts) by the relevant deadline. Please note you do not have to resubmit copies of your constitution and policies if you have already done so with a previous application. You will find the list of documents to submit with your application on our standard guidance.