National Lottery Awards for All England

National Lottery Awards for All England is the most widely used small grants programme in England, run by The National Lottery Community Fund. It funds projects, not objects, but its definition of a project is wide enough that a website delivering a service or reaching more people can sit comfortably inside a bid.

It is also competitive: the Fund says it usually funds around one in three applications, so it pays to read the criteria closely before you start.

• What they fund: Grants for projects lasting up to two years, to start a new activity, continue an existing one or help your organisation adapt to new or future challenges. Eligible costs include running costs, equipment, staff and training, transport, utilities, volunteer expenses, one-off events and small land or refurbishment projects.
• Typical grants: £300 to £20,000. The most the programme will give one organisation in any 12-month period is £20,000.
• Who can apply: Constituted voluntary or community groups and clubs, registered charities, CIOs, not-for-profit companies, CICs, community benefit societies, statutory bodies such as parish councils, and schools where the project mainly benefits the wider community. You don’t need to be a registered charity. You need at least two unrelated board or committee members, a bank account that meets the Fund’s requirements and a bank statement from the last three months. Organisations with smaller incomes are prioritised.
• The angle: Projects must do at least one of four things: bring people together, improve places and spaces that matter to communities, help people reach their potential at the earliest possible stage, or support people facing extra pressure from the cost of living. Show how your community shaped the project. Lead with reach or service delivery and let the website be the means, never “we need a new website”.
• Worth knowing: Decisions take up to 16 weeks, so apply at least 16 weeks before you need the money. You can only hold one Awards for All England grant at a time. The Fund doesn’t accept applications written by consultants or bid writers, though you can use AI tools to help if the answers are accurate and your own.

Could it pay for a charity website?

Probably No if your proposal is:

“We need £8,000 for a new website so we can raise more donations.”

The programme can’t fund fundraising, and a website on its own isn’t a community project.

Possibly Yes if your proposal is:

“We run weekly support sessions for older people. We want to reach twice as many, with online booking, a volunteer sign-up and an accessible information hub, alongside new sessions in two more villages.”

In that case the website is one of the costs of delivering a bigger community activity, which is exactly what the programme exists to fund.

How to apply

1. Check you are eligible, and that you don’t have a current Awards for All England grant or another application waiting for a decision.
2. Talk to the people your project will support, and show how their views shaped it.
3. Read the full list of application questions on the Fund’s website before you start writing.
4. Apply online. You can save the form and come back to it, and the Fund offers Easy Read and PDF versions if you need them.
5. Wait for a decision, within 16 weeks. If you are successful, the Fund aims to pay within 14 days of confirming the grant.

What they won’t fund

• Costs you have already paid for.
• Fundraising, or someone else to write your application.
• VAT you can reclaim, contingency costs, loans or interest.
• Statutory services, or schoolwork support during school hours.
• Religious activities, though religious organisations can apply for projects that benefit the wider community without religious content.
• Activities that make a profit for private gain, or cash and gifts given directly to individuals.

Questions charities ask

Similar funds

If you need more than £20,000, look at Reaching Communities England. For smaller, unrestricted grants, see Grants for Good and The Freemasons’ Charity Small Grants, or browse the full Funding Finder.