Funding opportunities in November 2025
Howard Lake | 7 November 2025 | News
In our first round-up of funding opportunities for this month we feature funding for regional museums and galleries, for individuals facing energy debt, homelessness and women starting a business.
DCMS/Wolfson Fund announce £4m for regional museums and galleries
The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund 2025-27 is now accepting applications for capital projects at eligible organisations.
Regional museums and galleries can apply for a share of £4 million in funding “to improve displays, enhance collections care and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors”.
Advertisement
The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund is made up of £2 million in match funding. It will provide support to local and regional museums to improve displays, enhance collections care and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors. Over the last 20 years, more than 440 projects have benefitted from over £50 million in funding.
In the previous round of funding, organisations including People’s History Museum in Manchester received over £200,000 for their Welcome Project, which focussed on key improvements to the building as identified in an independent access audit. The project installed a new accessible front door, full toilet renovation including installation of a changing places facility, accessible furniture and updated all signage around the museum.
The Fund is open to bids from accredited museums, museum services and galleries in England falling into one of the following categories:
- Museums/museums services and universities with at least one Designated collection
- Current Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs)
Only one capital project bid per museum, gallery, museums service or university will be considered.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said:
“Museums and galleries play a vital role in deepening our understanding of the past and our shared culture. For over twenty years we have worked with DCMS to support museums and galleries as they improve access and enable more visitors to discover, understand and enjoy our country’s remarkable collections. We’re delighted to continue our partnership with this new round of funding.”
Funding received needs to be spent by March 2027.
The deadline for applications to the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund is 14 November 2025.
Access to Accommodation Fund
St Martin in the Fields Charity is making available up to £500,000 for smaller frontline organisations.
Funding of up to £100,000 per organisation will be available which can be spent over a maximum of a three-year period. This funding is available for organisations with an annual turnover of less than £2 million per year.
St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity is committed to “ensuring everyone has a safe place to call home and the support they need”.
The charity is inviting applications from organisations to fund projects that:
- may have the scope to be replicated more widely across the sector to help inform best practice
- unlock or create housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness
- are locally-led solutions, developed and delivered by an organisation that is embedded within their community and is integrated within local services
- are needs focussed, understanding the experiences of those facing homelessness and developing solutions that meet these needs
- involve people with experience of homelessness in the review, design and/or delivery of the project
- have the potential to create longer-term impact for both the organisation and/or local community.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on 7th November 2025
Extra support available from the British Gas Energy Trust this winter
The Energy Support Fund (ESF), run by the British Gas Energy Trust, provides grants of up to £2,000 to British Gas customers, to help them clear their energy debt. ESF complements the other fund the Trust runs, the Individuals and Families Fund (I&F), which provides up to £,1700 to customers of any energy supplier, if their supplier does not have its own scheme or they can show their application to that scheme was unsuccessful.
To apply for the British Gas Energy Trust grants, individuals must live in England, Scotland or Wales, and have received money advice within the last six months. They must be seeking to clear outstanding debt on a current energy account in their name and place of residence.
Open Business Creators Fund for Women in Business
The Open University, in partnership with NatWest and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has announced The Open Business Creators Fund for Women in Business.
The Open Business Creators Fund for Women in Business is open to women in the UK at the idea or early stage of starting a business. It is designed to build confidence, capabilities and connections to help women succeed.
Grants of up to £2,500 are available. They are part of a support and workshop package for new business creators as they start their entrepreneurial journey.
To find “the most promising ideas and businesses” The Open University asks applicants to use the Validate platform – a tool that “helps you clearly explain your business idea, whilst learning some of the fundamentals of business”, and create a portfolio submission to apply for funding.
To apply for the fund, participants must complete their Validate portfolio and submit it via the Open Business Creators entry form by midnight on Friday 21 November 2025.
Winners will be announced by 19 December 2025.
This competition is part of a collection of four competitions called Open Business Creators.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.