Discover Funding Opportunities

The Hedley Foundation Grants

The Hedley Foundation awards grants to small UK registered charities that can demonstrate quantifiable outcomes to beneficiaries. The Foundation supports charities with annual incomes below £1 million, providing grants that enable high-impact work. Typical grants of up to £5,000 are regularly made, with occasional larger sums awarded to charities where significant impact can be achieved. Smaller charities often benefit from grants starting at £250. The Foundation excludes funding for core salaries, building construction, general running costs, transport, financial deficits, overseas projects, community interest companies, religious institutions, museums, or individuals. Applicants must not have received a grant from the Foundation within the last two years. The Trustees meet regularly to review applications and make funding decisions, typically responding within four months if successful.

Step Change Fund

The Step Change Fund focuses on capacity building and strengthening of Oxfordshire's charitable sector. This fund is for charities with visionary leadership that realise they need to transform the way they are organised in order to create a more solid basis for delivering their core work. The Step Change Fund enables the local charitable sector to be stronger and more sustainable, and therefore better equipped to deal with the hard-hitting social problems faced by Oxfordshire communities. Step Change offers a unique proposition to grant applicants, with the support of a volunteer project manager included with every grant. The project manager, usually someone experienced in business strategy or management, will help you to develop a clear and fully costed plan to realise the step change that you desire. They will work alongside you through the duration of your project to support you in hitting targets and milestones. This fund does not offer core funding simply for the continuance of existing services; grants will be given for projects that can demonstrate realistic plans for increasing reach and impact and for building longer-term resilience for the future. The fund is particularly interested in projects that enable a 'step change' in impact or financial terms, and only funds projects that can demonstrate they bring substantial benefit to the lives of people in Oxfordshire who are facing disadvantage. The Step Change Fund has a three-stage application process, starting with an Eligibility Questionnaire, followed by an Expression of Interest Form, and finally a Detailed Bid Form before any grant is awarded.