About
Cheshire Community Foundation is a local community foundation that raises funds to support hundreds of small charities and voluntary groups across Cheshire and Warrington. They direct local giving to groups doing local good, understanding the specific landscape of their community and the challenges that residents face. The foundation operates cost-effectively, ensuring every penny donated addresses priority needs, and collaborates with a range of stakeholders to identify and fund solutions to local problems. They serve Cheshire East, Cheshire West, and Warrington, enabling these communities to thrive sustainably.
Funding Opportunities
Open Grants Programmes
The Cheshire Community Foundation Open Grants Programmes provide funding in three tiers to support local community organizations delivering projects that address critical issues in Cheshire and Warrington. The programme operates on a rolling basis throughout 2026 with multiple deadlines. Organizations can apply for Micro Grants (up to £1,000), Small Grants (up to £2,500), or Main Grants (up to £15,000 for salary support or £10,000 for non-salary projects). The programme prioritizes work in five key areas: tackling poverty and disadvantage, enabling stronger and more resilient communities, improving mental health and wellbeing, developing education skills and employment, and building awareness of climate change. Projects should address issues most important to the community and actively involve the people they serve. The Foundation uses a proportionate approach to grantmaking, with simpler application forms for smaller grants. Priority is given to applications supporting people in more deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, and Micro-Grants prioritize smaller organizations with no previous funding from the Foundation.
South Cheshire Funders' Forum
South Cheshire Funders' Forum is a collaborative funding initiative aimed at helping charities access grant funding for relevant and impactful work and projects locally in South Cheshire. The forum provides a timely, straightforward and accessible process for initial expressions of interest and guidance on the most likely funders, allowing charities to focus on providing detail where there is most likelihood of gaining support. The forum is a group of funders committed to working together for the benefit of charities, people and groups in Crewe and South Cheshire. Members include Cheshire Community Foundation (who host and provide administrative support), The Julia Rausing Trust, and The Steve Morgan Foundation. The funders aim to reduce the administrative burden on charities by providing an early indication of potential support for activity taking place in Crewe and the surrounding areas of Cheshire East. Although each member of the forum has their own priorities, they all share a vision of a Cheshire where poverty and disadvantage are consigned to history. South Cheshire should be a place where anyone can thrive, and the forum aims to achieve this through providing a simple route to funding small charities to pursue their vital work. The funding is ongoing and flexible in amount, supporting projects that enable communities to thrive. Each funder maintains their own funding principles, has their own priorities and manages the full application process to align with their own governance requirements, while the forum explores ways of sharing due diligence information and aligning reporting processes.
SWEF Business Grants for people aged 18-30
Cheshire Community Foundation is working in partnership with SWEF to provide business grants to young entrepreneurs in Cheshire and Warrington, aged between 18-30. These grants can be used on costs to support a newly formed business, including equipment, training, specific marketing costs, and product development. The programme offers two types of grants: Start-Up Grants of up to £500 for pre-revenue stage businesses to help prove the business concept and start revenue generation, and Business Grants of up to £2,000 for businesses generating at least £500 of income each month. As part of the programme SWEF provides the opportunity to join a network of peers who are also in the early stage of starting their business to share ideas, experiences and learn. The foundation particularly welcomes applications from groups that are often underrepresented in business ownership, including people on low incomes, women, migrants, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and people with few or no formal qualifications.
Small Grants
The Small Grants programme provides funding of up to £2,500 to help small, grassroots projects deliver community work across Cheshire and Warrington. The programme focuses on addressing key areas aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals including poverty, hunger, inequalities, health and wellbeing, education, and climate action. Priority is given to applications supporting people in more deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The programme operates on a rolling basis with multiple decision panels throughout the year, allowing organizations to apply at various deadlines and receive outcomes within three weeks of panel meetings.
At a Glance
- Total Funding Opportunities
- 6
- Active Now
- 4
- Source Domain
- cheshirecommunityfoundation.org.uk
Catalog Data
This funder profile was automatically extracted from grant listings. Information may be incomplete.
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