Funding opportunities in November 2025 #2
Howard Lake | 20 November 2025 | News
Funding deadlines or announcements for November 2025 include improving Black maternal experiences and outcomes in London, building resilience of London charities through trading, improving community spaces and environmental protection in Yorkshire and County Durham, and funding for small charities for the “boring” but essential costs that others tend not to fund.
Improving Black maternal experiences and outcomes
Impact on Urban Health and NHS South East London are inviting applications for new funding to improve experiences and outcomes for Black mothers, birthing people and their babies. Up to £1.5 million is available for multi-year grants of up to three years.
The funding calls opens on 17 November 2025 and will run until 10 January 2026.
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The call for applications is part of a wider programme run by the two organisations and facilitated by JRNY Consulting, to rebuild trust and create maternity and neonatal services that truly work for Black communities.
The programme brings together community organisations, healthcare staff, and decision-makers to co-design and deliver solutions that tackle racial inequality and improve maternal care. Through a process of community-led design, 11 solution areas have been developed for this programme.
Who can apply for funding?
Applications are open to a range of groups, including:
- Voluntary, community, social enterprise (VCSE) organisations or Community Interest Companies (CIC) based in or serving Southeast London
- Partnerships or consortia, including NHS providers and Local Authorities and Care Partnerships where a community organisation is the lead partner.
- Organisations that demonstrate a commitment to anti-racism, trauma-informed practice, and centering the voices of Black mothers and birthing people.
Dominic Reilly, Partnerships Project Lead, NHS South East London, said:
“It’s exciting to be part of this innovative new approach to reducing inequalities in Black maternal health. We welcome new ideas that can help rebuild the trust of Black communities, especially Black mothers and birthing people, in the health system. Sharing power with the communities we serve is a key part of our mission, so we look forward to supporting successful applicants to ensure co-design is at the heart of this work.”
London Growth & Resilience Programme
City Bridge Foundation has announced the London Growth & Resilience Programme. It is a funded opportunity for charities, not-for-profits and community organisations to start or increase trading, earning income and building financial resilience.
The programme is designed for London-based organisations which are at least three years old, with £50k+ income, and with little or no trading history (less than 20% of income from trading).
The London Growth & Resilience Programme is delivered by the School for Social Entrepreneurs and is funded by City Bridge Foundation. It offers an 18-month support package, combining two grants with hands on learning, mentoring and buyer connections.
The successful applicants will receive:
- A set up grant of £4,000 – £7,000 to kickstart your trading (to help with pilot costs, staff time, equipment, marketing etc)
- A Match Trading grant of up to £12,000 over 18 months. SSE will match your growth in trading income, paid quarterly (up to £2,000 per quarter)
- Ten tailored learning days (both in person and online), 1:1 mentoring, Business Support Panels and Market Making events with buyers
- Inclusive peer support with our expert partners (The AVOCADO Foundation, Inclusion Unlimited, and Consortium of LGBT+ Voluntary and Community Organisations)
Expressions of interest must be received by midday on 8 December 2025.
Another online information sessions is taking place between between 1 and 1.45pm on Monday 1 December.
The programme will run between April 2026 and September 2027.
John Lewis Partnership Impact Report
The John Lewis Partnership Foundation has published its third Building Happier Futures (BHF) Impact Report, revealing it has raised nearly £3 million for charities supporting the care experienced community. In addition it has offered more than 400 roles to care experienced people since the programme began in 2022.
The report, released to mark National Care Leavers Month, confirms the BHF employability programme is now accessible in every John Lewis and Waitrose shop.
Part of the John Lewis Partnership Foundation, the BHF fund awards grants for UK projects to provide education, connection, experience and fun for care experienced people and to date has raised £2.8 million and supported 26 charities.
In addition, the John Lewis Partnership and the Open University have jointly funded 22 scholarships for care experienced people.
National Grid opens new Local Community Funds for projects around major energy upgrades in Yorkshire and County Durham
Grants of up to £20,000 are now available to communities in County Durham, the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and West Yorkshire to support projects and initiatives around major National Grid infrastructure projects.
Through three dedicated local funds, National Grid, with Localgiving as delivery partner, is supporting communities closest to its construction activity on the Yorkshire GREEN, EGL1 and EGL2 projects. The community funds are open to registered charities, non-profit companies and community benefit organisations including parish and town councils and other locally based non-profit groups that deliver social, environmental or educational value.
These funds are part of National Grid’s commitment to ensure that the benefits of The Great Grid Upgrade, “the biggest overhaul of the electricity network in generations”, are shared locally as well as nationally.
National Grid operates the electricity transmission network in England and Wales and is the distribution network operator for the Midlands, South West England and South Wales.
The funding can support projects in key areas including:
- Education and Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) opportunities
- Environmental protection and green spaces access
- Community spaces and saving energy
- Cost of living help and employability support
You can find out more and apply on the three fund sites:
The Boring Fund, for all those ‘boring’ everyday costs
The Boring Fund is offering £200 grants to small charities, CICs and voluntary groups towards some of those “boring but hard-to-fund costs”.
As such it is anything but boring! It is truly meeting a widespread need. Grants are for costs “like insurance, web hosting, admin time”.
The fund is the creation of Christina Poulton. She explains:
“It’s partly a funding experiment, partly making a point about the state of the stupid funding system”.
She adds:
“Small, grassroots organisations shouldn’t have to jump through endless hoops to get support. We want to take away the red tape that so often makes fundraising complicated, intimidating and unfair for people doing the proper work on the ground, particularly for marginalised groups”.
She keeps things simple and quick, “with the simplest application process, £200 grants, and no reporting”.
Organisations that can apply should:
- have a UK bank account in the name of the organisation
- be not-for-profit
- be based in, and primarily delivering work in, the UK
She is clear about which organisations can not apply. These include school PTAs or “Friends of” groups for a larger organisation.
Since it is a one-person initiative with a bold ambition it is even more important than usual not to send speculative approaches to the fund.
Poulton suggests:
“The Boring Fund works on the premise that funders should trust the organisations they want to fund more. If you think you fit the criteria above, you don’t need to contact us to check, please apply”.
It was her idea, and it started out as Instagram reels on what she’d fund if she ever had lots of cash.
She thanks the “more than 50 beautiful people who have come together to make this happen”, including those who have donated to the fund to help bring her idea to fruition. She also thanks the fund’s fiscal host, Creative Sustainability CIC, “who have been complete legends and waived their admin fee so that all the money goes direct to you guys”.
The deadline for applications to The Boring Fund is midnight on 30 November 2025.
Yusen Logistics and Baltic Apprenticeships offer £210,000 in apprenticeship funding for charities
A partnership between Yusen Logistics (UK) and Baltic Apprenticeships is opening up £210,000 in apprenticeship levy transfer funding to help charities, non-profit organisations, and NHS bodies develop digital and technical skills at no cost.
Over the next six months, eligible organisations can access fully funded apprenticeship opportunities in areas such as IT support, data analysis, and digital marketing.
The initiative aims to strengthen workforces in sectors that deliver vital services but often face barriers to
upskilling due to financial constraints.
Clair Royle, Head of Talent and Development at Yusen Logistics (UK) said:
“I believe there is no greater investment than in the growth of people—especially those working in sectors that shape our society and future. Charitable and care organisations are the backbone of our communities. By transferring unused levy funds, we can help these sectors access the skills and support they need to keep making that difference.”
Yusen Logistics first partnered with Baltic Apprenticeships in 2024 to launch its own IT apprenticeship programmes. Building on that success, the company is now reinvesting a share of its apprenticeship levy to create new learning and employment opportunities beyond its own workforce.
How levy transfers work
Through levy transfers, large employers can redirect a portion of their unspent apprenticeship funding to other organisations, ensuring that money earmarked for skills development is used to train new talent rather than returned to the Treasury.
Charlotte Fearns, Careers Manager – Talent and Development at Yusen Logistics, commented:
“Apprenticeships give individuals the chance to grow, gain confidence, and develop skills that benefit not just their careers, but the wider community too. Transferring a share of our unused levy funds is a powerful way to extend that opportunity even further.”
How to apply
Charities, non-profits, and public sector organisations interested in accessing this funding
can contact Baltic Apprenticeships directly to discuss available opportunities.
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.