Community grants

The Community Grant fund is available for projects that will help to reduce social or economic inequality in Cambridge.

Funding priorities

All applications must demonstrate how the funding will be used to reduce social or economic inequality, by removing barriers for city residents with the most need, to enable them to access one or more of the following:

Sporting activities
Arts and cultural activities
Community development activities
Reducing poverty activities
Legal or financial advice
Employment support
Capacity building of the voluntary sector to achieve the above

Organisations applying to provide legal advice and support must have the Advice Quality Standard or equivalent.

Funding outcomes

Your activity must reduce social or economic inequality for city residents with the highest needs.

It must also achieve one or more of the following:

Reduce poverty
Improve skills and confidence to gain employment
Improved health and wellbeing
Communities come together and bring about change
Stronger voluntary sector in the city

Community grants 2022/23

This fund is now closed for applications. Councillors decided which proposals to give funding to at the Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee meeting on 27 January 2022.

We might have small amounts of funding returned during 2022/23. Contact us if you would like to be added to a waiting list in case this happens. Any funding awarded in those circumstances must still meet the grant fund requirements.

Read the Community Grant application guide [PDF, 0.4MB] for full detail of how to apply for funding. You must:

Make sure your group meets the eligibility criteria
Make sure the proposed activity clearly fits the funding priorities and will deliver the outcomes required
Contact us after reading the guidelines if you think you are eligible to apply

Watch a recording of a webinar presentation explaining how to apply.

We can help you with any aspect of your funding application, including organisational and financial issues such as constitution, policies, preparation of budgets and accounts.

There is no guarantee that groups that have previously received a grant will receive future funding.
You must repay any grant that is not spent for the purpose allocated or within one financial year.

Sustainable City funding

Sustainable City Grants are available every year to support voluntary and community groups to deliver activities in Cambridge that will help achieve the objectives of our Climate Change Strategy 2021-26 [PDF, 4MB].

We will consider projects that will reduce carbon emissions in the city, reduce waste, and encourage the use of sustainable transport and locally sourced sustainable food.

The application deadline for 2022/23 was 4 October 2021.
Find out more about Sustainable City funding.

Area committee funding

Groups of local residents or voluntary groups can apply to our area committees for funding for projects, activities or services that focus on reducing social and economic inequality for disadvantaged residents. The application deadlines for 2022/23 have now passed.