ARN Foundation

Funding concentrates on improving health and wellbeing, with a strong focus on mental health, especially for young men in deprived areas. This includes self-help programmes, befriending schemes and counselling in isolated regions. The Foundation also addresses isolation and poverty among older people, funding food and fuel access, service expansions and outreach for vulnerable pensioners. Beyond these, it supports general charitable purposes aimed at relieving ill-health, disability, financial hardship and disadvantages related to youth or age. Grants are directed to grassroots projects benefiting underserved communities, with attention to issues such as mental health stigma and economic strain. While the Foundation operates across the UK, its primary delivery focus is Northern Ireland, and it typically funds modest project costs rather than core or capital expenditure.

Applications are open to UK-registered charities and community groups, particularly those working in Northern Ireland. The Foundation favours small to medium-sized organisations delivering grassroots projects within underserved communities. There is no religious restriction, so charities of any background can seek support. Priority is given to work benefiting young men in deprived areas, older people at risk of isolation or poverty, and others facing disadvantages linked to ill-health, disability, financial hardship, youth or age. Organisations should be able to demonstrate public benefit and a clear connection to the communities they serve. As funding passes through intermediary partners, applicants typically engage through those advertised programmes rather than directly.

The ARN Foundation will not support non-charitable organisations, activities that produce private benefit, or direct service delivery. It also excludes any work that falls outside general charitable purposes. Core or capital funding is rarely considered, with the emphasis on modest project costs instead.

The Foundation's funding is partnership-led and responsive, adapting to emerging needs. It does not accept unsolicited direct applications; instead, it works through advertised intermediary programmes managed by partner bodies such as community foundations. Support is typically for modest project costs rather than core or capital funding. The Foundation favours a collaborative, needs-led model, channelling investment income to UK-registered charities and measuring the public benefit of its grants.