# SPAR Community Cashback awards £96,000 to 23 groups

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/09/01/spar-community-cashback-awards-96000-to-23-groups/
- Published: 2026-09-01T09:29:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**SPAR UK has awarded £96,000 to 23 charities and community groups across England,
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the fifth round of its Community Cashback
grants scheme.**

The grants are made through SPAR’s four regional wholesalers rather than centrally,
which is what gives the scheme its geographic spread. Recipients this year range
from search and rescue services and youth charities to conservation groups and community
sports clubs.

## Where the money went

AF Blakemore, which supplies the Midlands, southern England and Wales, awarded **
£38,000** across five organisations. The largest grants of **£10,000** each went
to RNLI Margate lifeboat station in Kent and Penryn Rugby Football Club in Cornwall,
with **£6,000** each to the Pathway Project in the Midlands, the Children’s Sailing
Trust in Cornwall and The Dragon Theatre in Barmouth.

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James Hall, covering the north of England, awarded **£25,000** to nine causes. The
largest grant of **£10,000** went to Behind Closed Doors, a Leeds charity supporting
survivors of domestic abuse, and **£5,000** to Maryport Rescue in Cumbria. Other
recipients included Niemann-Pick UK, CancerCare North Lancashire and South Cumbria,
and Barnsley Youth Choir.

Henderson Group awarded **£20,000** across seven Northern Ireland organisations,
led by **£10,000** to Plough On, a Cookstown charity working with older farmers 
experiencing rural isolation, and **£5,000** to the drone search service Skywatch
NI. CJ Lang in Scotland awarded **£13,000**, with **£10,000** to the Cetacean Research
and Rescue Unit in Gardenstown and **£3,000** to Missing Pets Dundee and Angus.

## What the grants pay for

Several recipients described core costs rather than new projects.

**Georgia Hyland**, Chief Executive of Behind Closed Doors, said:

> “To an organisation of our size, this grant means a huge amount to every member
> of our small team. Referrals into our services remain high, and so securing funding
> to ensure we can continue delivering high-quality support and meet demand is an
> ongoing focus.”

**Claire Johnson** of RNLI Margate said the grant would support the rebuild of the
station’s lifeboat and lifeguard facility, adding that the station “continues to
have a critical role and is an invaluable asset to the town”.

## Applying for the next round

SPAR says the scheme attracted thousands of applications this year, although it 
has not published an application total or a success rate. The company marks its 
seventieth anniversary in the UK in 2026.

Details of the scheme, including how organisations can apply for the next round,
are on the [SPAR Community Cashback page](https://www.spar.co.uk/community/community-cashback/).

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