Centenary Community Fund
Supporting Cheltenham communities to make a difference
deadline
grant amount
£2,000current status
Closed until 2027The Centenary Community Fund has been developed to ensure that the centenary running of Cheltenham Racecourse’s greatest race provides a legacy that has a positive impact on those that live and work in the vicinity of the racecourse.
The fund is jointly operated between Gloucestershire Community Foundation, the Rotary Clubs of Cheltenham and Cheltenham Racecourse.
Various fundraising initiatives continue to be staged and the proceeds from these events and occasions will then be distributed back to good causes and charities that operate in and around Cheltenham area.
The fund distributed its first grants in October 2024 and receives applications for grants of up to £2,000 from organisations working in and based within Cheltenham Borough.
Grants will be made from Centenary Fund to support local charitable activity.
The objectives of the fund shall be to support:
- Registered charities
- Recognised, established community groups promoting sport, art, music or health and well-being
- Schools and playgroups
- Sporting, art or music groups or societies
- Other not for profit organisations
Whilst the fund will support any of the above charitable activities within Cheltenham, priority will be given to:
- Organisations working with young people
- Organisations based within 3 miles and 2 furlongs of Cheltenham Racecourse (the distance of the Cheltenham Gold Cup)* Please see the map included within the grants programme criteria.
The panel are particularly interested in supporting specific items or projects where their grant is funding a particular element of the work.
Exclusions
The fund will not support the following:
- Individuals
- Political groups or activities promoting political beliefs.
- Activities promoting religious beliefs
- Projects that take place before an application can be processed,
- Activities that are intended to raise funds for other organisations.
- Activities outside Cheltenham
Application deadlines
The next round will open on Tuesday 5th May and the deadline for all applications is Tuesday 2nd June.
Grant Guidelines
Please ensure you satisfy all of the criteria and conditions outlined within our Grant Making policy and our Centenary Fund guidelines.
Do contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss your project/need prior to submitting an application.
How to Apply
Please click on the Apply Now button below to submit an application.
Please note that if this is your first time using our new grants application portal since it was introduced in 2026, you will need to register an account for yourself as the applicant contact.
In order to successfully submit your application, you must supply the following Supporting Documentation:
- Safeguarding Policy: Please ensure this is in date, reviewed annually and covers the appropriate safeguarding topics for your organisation. For more information about safeguarding and you can check your policy meets our requirements.
- Constitution: If not already supplied to GCF or changed since a previous GCF application.
- Management Committee details: This should be completed in the contact details section.
- Annual Accounts or Finance report: If these are available on Charity Commission or Companies House you do not need to supply – please detail in your application where they can be found publicly.
If successful:
- You will be sent a Grant Acceptance letter that will need to be manually signed by two authorised, unrelated, signatories for your organisation.
- You will need to provide a current (3 month) bank statement in the name of your organisation.
- If this is your first application to GCF, you will also need to provide a referee for your organisation before any award can be made.
If you wish to see a Word version of the application questions you will be asked, you can view it HERE but will need to complete the online form to submit an application.
Full Guidelines