A panoramic image of urban allotments
alt
alt

GCF – Community Fund

Our GCF Community Fund aims to support communities to thrive. The programme particularly benefits people who isolated or are facing challenges. To be eligible for a grant from this programme, organisations must work with people who are disadvantaged due to poverty, disability, age, location or culture.

deadline

grant amount

Up to £5,000

current status

Closed until 2027

About the GCF Community Fund

Our GCF Community Fund aims to support communities to thrive.

To be eligible for a grant from GCF Community Fund you must be able to demonstrate that you will benefit people in your community by helping them to lead more fulfilling lives, particularly where there is known deprivation, disadvantage, or isolation. Disadvantage may be due to a variety of reasons including poverty, disability, health inequalities, age, ethnicity, education or location.

We will give priority to groups that:

• Enable people to take opportunities that would otherwise not be available

• Reflect the concerns and priorities of people living and working in the area

• Involve local people in improving their community

Who can apply?

This programme is for voluntary and community groups with charitable aims, registered charities or Community Interest Companies with more than three unrelated Trustees or Board Members and a bank account in the name of the organisation with at least two signatories.

Applicants must be based and working in Gloucestershire.

What can you apply for?

GCF’s priorities include projects or activities which:

  • Reflect the needs and concerns of their beneficiaries by adding value to existing community provision;
  • Enable people to take up opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them;
  • Encourage local volunteers to engage with their communities;
  • Develop partnerships with other local organisations and groups;
  • Demonstrate imagination and initiative by securing funds from diverse fundraising activities.

Please note that the panel have taken a decision not to support capital building and renovation projects for the foreseeable future whilst demand for our funds remains high.

How much do we award?

Awards are available of between £1,000 and £5,000.

On average, we have supported between 40% and 50% of applications to this programme in the past year and in some cases have only been able to award partial grants as a result of high demand on our funds.

Application deadlines

First round applications open – 15th May 2026.
Closing deadline for applications – 11th June 2026.

Second round applications open – 1st September 2026.
Closing deadline for applications – 29th September 2026.

Grant Guidelines

Please ensure you satisfy all of the criteria and conditions outlined within our Grant Making policy and GCF Community Fund programme 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 full application questions you will be asked, you can view it HERE

alt Full Guidelines