Applications for Compassionate Communities
grants are now open!
Our Compassionate Communities grants programme supports organisations that provide specific health-related activities that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of residents living in one of the following eight northwest London boroughs: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster.
Note: Organisations awarded a Compassionate Communities grant in 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 are not eligible to apply for a 2026/27 Compassionate Communities grant.
On this page:
Lived experience
We are committed to not wasting applicants’ time. However, as we generally receive more applications than we are able to fund, when demand is high, we will prioritise organisations that fully embed people with lived experience of the issues they address at all levels of their organisation. We believe organisations that embed lived experience are best placed to make informed decisions about how to serve their communities. Lived experience for an organisation might be embedded in governance and/or leadership, and/or in the lived experience of staff and/or volunteers.
We define lived experience as:
- Direct lived experience – individuals who have experienced marginalisation, discrimination and/or hardship
- Indirect lived experience – individuals in a close relationship with someone who has lived experience (e.g. parents/carers of children, or children of refugees)
- People with professional expertise – deep knowledge and experience gained over the long-term (e.g. healthcare professionals, social workers, or youth workers).
Key dates
Wednesday 3 June 2026: application window opens
Thursday 3 September 2026, 4pm: application window closes
Mid-December 2026: decisions communicated to applicants
Feed Me Good is an organisation that provides holistic and innovative health and wellbeing solutions through programmes that engage with diverse communities.
How to apply
To apply for a Compassionate Communities grant you MUST first take the Eligibility Quiz.
You must meet all six eligibility criteria in full to be able to apply. If you do not, you cannot apply and will not be able to access the application form.
If you think you've completed the form incorrectly, you can take the Eligibility Quiz again.
Note: We will conduct due diligence checks on all applications to verify the accuracy of the eligibility information provided.
Click here to take the Eligibility Quiz. If you are eligible, you will receive an email giving you access to a sign up form into which you will need to enter your work contact details.
Once you have completed and submitted the sign up form, you will receive an email giving you access to the Compassionate Communities application form.
Sport4Health offers free sport activities to people from disadvantaged and minoritised communities.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply?
To apply, your organisation MUST be one of the following:
- Registered, exempted or excepted charity
- Charitable incorporated organisation
- Community Interest Company limited by guarantee
- Charitable company limited by guarantee (that is not also a registered charity)
- Community benefit society (Industrial and Provident society)
- Faith group (note: your funding request cannot be for a project that promotes religion)
- Community Amateur Sports Club
- Constituted but unincorporated club or association
- Constituted Tenants and Residents Associations, and Tenant Management Organisations
- Constituted community group
What sorts of activities are you looking to support?
We can only support projects and activities that address/help to prevent specific health conditions affecting people living in at last one of the northwest London boroughs we work in. These health conditions are:
- Cardiovascular disease including coronary heart disease, strokes, peripheral arterial disease, aortic disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic respiratory disease including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, occupational lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension
- Depression/anxiety
- Diabetes
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Obesity
What activities will you fund?
These include (but are not limited to):
- Encouraging a healthy diet and taking regular exercise
- Providing support and information on how/where to access screening (tests) services, and medical treatment for illnesses described above. Information could be, for example, leaflets in relevant languages
- Supporting reducing alcohol intake
- Supporting reducing isolation
- Supporting smoking cessation
What activites will you not fund?
Unfortunately we cannot fund activities focused on:
- Tackling or reducing poverty, e.g., food banks,
- Single or multiple social trips within or outside London
- Religious and/or political activities
- The purchase of office or medical equipment/devices, or vehicles
- Refurbishment of office space/capital works.
Who should my project be supporting?
People benefiting from your project and activities must fall under AT LEAST one of these categories:
- People from the Global Majority community
- Older people (aged 65 and above)
- Children (ages 4 to 12) and young people (ages 13 to 24)
- People with a disability
- People with multiple long-term health conditions
- People at risk of social exclusion (e.g., LGBTQ+, people experiencing homelessness, people with drug and/or alcohol issues, vulnerable migrants, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, sex workers, people in contact with the justice system, victims of modern slavery, and other socially excluded groups.
How much can I apply for?
You can apply for a MINIMUM of £5,000 and a MAXIMUM of £30,000. The amount you apply for must not be for more than your organisation’s annual income.
What can I use my grant to pay for?
- Room/space hire
- People (staff/freelance workers)
- People (volunteer costs)
- People (partnership, support needed to enable collaboration)
- Support – supervision & support for your team, including wellbeing & specialist support
- Equipment or new software directly related to your project
- Translation or interpreting services
- Activities that promote and disseminate your project (e.g. marketing and educational materials)
- Activities that engage with service users and/or partners (e.g. groups or forums)
- Overheads directly related to delivering your project & up to 25% of total project costs (e.g., utilities, telephone etc)
- Reasonable evaluation costs
What can't I use my grant to pay for?
- Retrospective funding
- Replacement of equipment that is 'new for old'
- Hospitality
- Conference/event attendance, course fees
- Promotion of religious or political activities
- Replacement of statutory funding
- Capital works
- Salaries not directly associated with the delivery of your project
How long does my project need to be?
Projects must run for a MINIMUM of 12 months and a MAXIMUM of 24 months
What if I still have questions?
We'd be really happy to help. Drop us an email at grants@imperialcharity.org.uk.
Eligibility Quiz
Click here to take the Eligibility Quiz. If you are eligible you will then be taken to our sign up form.
Projects we've funded
Read about projects we've previously funded through our Compassionate Communities programme.