How do I apply for National Lottery funding for a community project?

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £600 million a year and is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It funds charities, constituted community groups, social enterprises and community interest companies — but not individuals or statutory bodies.

The two main routes

• Awards for All — £300 to £20,000 for small, community-led projects, with a straightforward form and decisions typically within 12 weeks. It runs across all four nations with minor variations. You need a constitution, a bank account in the group's name and at least two unrelated signatories; charitable registration is not required.
• Reaching Communities (England) — £10,000 upwards over one to five years, aimed at organisations with experience of managing grants. It prioritises work that tackles inequality and supports people facing disadvantage, and starts with an expression of interest followed by a full application. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish equivalents run under different names and criteria.

The Fund also runs strategic programmes on themes such as climate, mental health and cost of living, with their own processes.

What wins, and what is excluded

Applications are judged mainly on community need and community impact. Strong ones evidence the need with data, consultation or case studies, and show the community helped design the project rather than merely being consulted about it. Evidence of co-production and lived-experience involvement counts for a great deal, as does organisational capacity — governance, financial management and safeguarding are all assessed.

The Fund will not pay for statutory services that government should fund, activities that primarily benefit individuals rather than the community, religious activity as such (though faith organisations can apply for secular community work), profit-making activity, or anything already delivered or committed before you applied. Staff salaries, employer NIC and pension contributions are fundable where the time is attributed to the project and supported by records.

Use the free help. A regional Development Officer will tell you frankly whether a project fits before you write anything, and contacting them ahead of a large application is strongly recommended. Once funded, expect a light final report for Awards for All and roughly six-monthly interim reports for larger grants. If the project drifts off plan, ring your fund manager early — modified outcomes and extensions are routinely agreed, whereas silence until a report deadline is what leads to clawback.