# Funding roundup for May 2026

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/05/05/funding-roundup-for-may-2026/
- Published: 2026-05-05T06:54:07+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Funding opportunities for May include those from Tesco and easyfundraising, the
DIV Fund, Goldsmiths’ Foundation, Men’s Health Community Fund, and YPF Trust and
Henry Smith Foundation.**

## Tesco and easyfundraising’s community pledge returns

Tesco and easyfundraising have announced the return of their [£5,000 community pledge](https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/tesco-community),
offering five community organisations £1,000 funding pots each this May. This initiative
is designed to support voluntary groups, charities, and CICs facing increasing costs
and demand for services.

The partnership, which has seen Tesco donate over £800,000 to good causes through
easyfundraising since 2007, is expanding this year to include F&F Clothing purchases
as part of the qualifying criteria. Causes can enter the draw by registering for
free on easyfundraising. Entries are earned every time one of their supporters shops
at Tesco Groceries or F&F Clothing through the easyfundraising platform.

## Advertisement

New Tesco groceries customers also generate a £3 donation for the cause, with existing
customers raising 50p per online order.

Tesco spokesperson Jemimah Ngu notes that serving local communities is a core value,
while easyfundraising CEO James Moir highlights that the collaboration will create
a positive impact.

Once registered, charities simply ask supporters to join and shop with Tesco or 
F&F by 31st May.
The charity will get a cashback donation and be in with a chance
of getting a £1,000 bonus.

## DIV Fund in Oxford ahead of call for proposals

![DIV FUnd logo. Yellow text on black background.](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2026/02/image-2.png)

Image: The DIV Fund

The DIV Fund launched its first call for proposals at the end of April. Before that
it [hosted a session in Oxford](https://luma.com/xg15fj1e) alongside the Skoll World
Forum to explore “what it takes to move promising ideas to proven, cost-effective
impact at scale”.

The Fund grew out of 15 years of work within USAID. It is “an evidence-driven open
innovation fund for global development that advances solutions with the potential
to cost-effectively improve millions of lives”. 

Delegates were able to meet the team behind the DIV Fund and hear lessons from organisations
that “have rigorously tested and refined innovative models to generate outsized 
impact”.
Grantee panelists included:

 * Curt Bowen, Executive Director of **Semilla Nueva**

 * Ella Gudwin, CEO of **VisionSpring**

 * Pranav Kothari, CEO of **Educational Initiatives**

The event was for practitioners, researchers and funder interested in evidence-based
approaches to scaling impact.

## Goldsmiths’ Foundation

The Goldsmiths’ Foundation has opened applications for its Spring 2026 Open Grants
Fund. Grants of £30,000 to £50,000 are available to UK charities and charitable 
organisations.

The grants are for organisations “whose primary work is **craft**“, by which they
mean :**an activity involving skill in making things by hand”.**

This could be core craft or craft used in another creative field, such as hand engraving
in jewellery making, hand embroidery in the fashion industry or puppet-making for
the theatre. The Foundation embraces technology, but we start with human skills.
They are seeking applications from charities “where craft skills are taught or practised”.

Applications to the [Goldsmiths’ Foundation Open Grants Fund (Spring 2026)](https://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/open-grants-fund)
round **close at 10am on 11 May 2026.**

For further help in considering applying, watch this webinar which was held on 25
March 2026.

## Men’s Health Community Fund

Coming this summer the [Men’s Health Community Fund](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/men-to-get-better-health-support-through-innovative-partnership)
is a new £6.3 million programme launching across **England**. It is designed to 
support projects that improve men’s physical, mental and social wellbeing and tackle
health inequalities.

It will be delivered together with the Department of Health and Social Care, Movember
and People’s Health Trust.

It is designed to support grassroots work by voluntary, community and social enterprise
organisations, and in particular those who are reaching those least likely to engage
with traditional health services.

## Core Memories Fund

![YPF Trust and Henry Smith foundation logos](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/
2026/04/YPF-Trust-henry-smith-foundation-1200x500.webp)

YPF Trust and Henry Smith Foundation have launched the £3 million **[Core Memories Fund](https://ypftrust.org.uk/news-events/entry/ypf-trust-and-henry-smith-foundation-launch-3m-core-memories-fund)**
to support vulnerable young people as they transition out of statutory care, school
exclusion, or other support systems around age 18.

The fund is committed over three years and operates on a preventative model, shifting
the focus from “what has gone wrong” to “what helps young people thrive.”

At 18, the support stops. For young people who are care-experienced, excluded from
school, LGBT+, or living with learning disabilities, that moment can arrive across
several systems at once.

The fund’s approach is grounded in research on Positive Childhood Experiences, prioritising
access to a trusted adult, a sense of belonging, and genuine participation in decision-
making, elements the partners call the “foundation of an independent life.” Core
Memories aims to invest before a crisis, not after, by backing grassroots organisations
that provide continuous, long-term support.

Delivered through YPF Trust’s network of place-based Young People’s Foundations,
the fund will provide grants of between £5,000 and £25,000. This investment is expected
to reach an estimated 170 to 513 grassroots organisations across six initial areas:
Merton, Dorset, Kirklees, Stockton-on-Tees, Medway, and Staffordshire.

The first cohort opens in 2026, with subsequent cohorts following in 2027 and 2028.

 * **[Christmas Fundraising Boom For UK Charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/05/01/christmas-fundraising-boom-uk-charities/)**(
   1 May 2012)
 * **[easyfundraising – an always-on source of unrestricted funding](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/09/09/easyfundraising-an-always-on-source-of-unrestricted-funding/)**(
   9 September 2024)
 * **[Easyfundraising invites nominations for community champions](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/09/10/easyfundraising-invites-nominations-for-community-champions/)**(
   10 September 2024)
