Older People Grants & Funding
There are 639 UK funders offering grants for older people charities, with typical awards from £50 to £200,000.
With an ageing population, UK funders are increasingly investing in services that support older people to live well, stay connected, and maintain independence. Grants in this area cover a wide spectrum: befriending and social isolation reduction, dementia support, falls prevention, digital inclusion for older people, day centres, and care home activity programmes. Several dedicated trusts — such as the Dunhill Medical Trust and the Rayne Foundation — focus specifically on ageing. Larger general funders like the Big Lottery Fund and Henry Smith Charity also prioritise projects for older people. Community-based approaches are strongly favoured: lunch clubs, intergenerational projects, community transport, and age-friendly neighbourhood initiatives. The pandemic accelerated funder interest in tackling loneliness among older people, and this remains a key funding priority. Grant-makers value projects that treat older people as active participants rather than passive recipients, and organisations that involve older people in governance and service design score well in applications.
Quick Stats
- Total Funders
- 639
- Grant Range
- £50 - £200,000
- Open to Applications
- 60%
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Clear filtersFilters use programme details verified from each funder's own published guidance. Funders we haven't verified yet are listed separately below, never hidden.
Older People Funders
54 of 639 match your filtersChecked against verified programme data for 90 of 639 funders. 549 not yet verified are listed below; 36 that don't fit were excluded.
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch
Matching programme: Gulbenkian Exhibitions Fund
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Branch, established in 1956 from the bequest of Armenian oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian, is a London-based arm ...
Chalk Cliff Trust
Matching programme: Chalk Cliff Trust – Main Grant Programme
Chalk Cliff Trust is a family-led charitable foundation with a mission to advance grassroots charitable activity benefiting local communities through ...
Charles S French Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Charles S French Charitable Trust Grant Programme
The Charles S French Charitable Trust, established in 1959 by Charles S French, former chairman of civil engineering firm W&C French, is a discretiona...
Cole Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Cole Charitable Trust grants
The Cole Charitable Trust is an independent grant-making trust dedicated to fostering positive change in local communities through support for small g...
Community Foundation North East
Matching programme: General Application
Community Foundation North East, established in 1988 by local business and civic leaders in North East England, serves as the UK's largest community f...
County of Gloucestershire Community Foundation
Matching programme: GCF – Community Fund
Gloucestershire Community Foundation is a grant-making charity dedicated to reducing inequalities and enhancing quality of life for disadvantaged Glou...
CPF Trust
Matching programme: Standard Grants
The CPF Trust is a grant-making charity committed to strengthening UK charities by providing flexible financial support for diverse charitable purpose...
Dorset Community Foundation
Matching programme: EDC Project Fund for Strength & Sustainability
Dorset Community Foundation is an independent grantmaker dedicated to improving lives and fostering thriving, united communities across Dorset by chan...
Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust
Matching programme: Minor Medical and Health Sciences Grant
The Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust, established in 1951 via the will of Eleanor, Dowager Countess Peel, is a UK-based endowment charity rooted in...
Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust
The Duke of Devonshire's Charitable Trust is a family-led foundation embodying stewardship, heritage responsibility, and community flourishing through...
E H Smith Charitable Trust
Matching programme: General Charitable Grants
The E H Smith Charitable Trust, family-founded in 1944, embodies community responsibility by reinvesting business profits to uplift local communities ...
Edgar E Lawley Foundation
Matching programme: General Grant Programme
The Edgar E Lawley Foundation, established in 1961, drives a philanthropic mission to advance social welfare and alleviate disadvantage through flexib...
Eric Wright Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Eric Wright Charitable Trust Grants 2025/26
The Eric Wright Charitable Trust embodies a founding vision of responsible business stewardship channeling construction industry profits into perpetua...
Essex Community Foundation
Matching programme: East of England Co-op Community Cares Fund
Essex Community Foundation, established in 1996, is an independent charitable foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life for Essex residents by...
Friends of the Elderly
Matching programme: Grants for Older People
Friends of the Elderly is a longstanding UK charity dedicated to supporting older people facing loneliness, isolation, poverty, and age-based disadvan...
G C Gibson Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Annual Grant Round
The GC Gibson Charitable Trust is a family-stewarded philanthropic fund with a mission to deliver sustained, meaningful support to small and medium-si...
Geoffrey Watling Charity
Matching programme: General Grant Programme
The Geoffrey Watling Charity embodies entrepreneurial generosity, local pride, and civic friendship, channeling resources to vitalize communities thro...
Gerald Micklem Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Main Grant Programme
The Gerald Micklem Charitable Trust, established in 1988 by the will of G.H. Micklem C.B.E., is a grant-making trust dedicated to advancing public ben...
Green Hall Foundation
Matching programme: May Round
The Green Hall Foundation, established in 1976 by Yorkshire philanthropist Constance Vera Green and renamed in 2013 to honor Colonel Henry Robert Hall...
Grocers' Charity
Matching programme: Open Grants
The Grocers' Charity, the philanthropic arm of London's ancient Worshipful Company of Grocers rooted in the 14th-century Guild of Pepperers, advances ...
Hadfield Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Hadfield Trust Grants
The Hadfield Charitable Trust is a grant-making charity rooted in community stewardship and local impact, dedicated to addressing social needs by empo...
Independent Age
Matching programme: Boosting Advice Grant Fund 2026
Independent Age, a UK charity founded over 150 years ago, is dedicated to eliminating financial hardship for older people, envisioning a society where...
Innholders' Charitable Foundation
Matching programme: Charity Committee Grant Programme
The Innholders' Charitable Foundation, established in 2014 as the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Innholders—a City of London Livery Compa...
Isle of Wight Foundation
Matching programme: Isle of Wight Foundation Grant
The Isle of Wight Foundation, established in 2014 by a consortium of private sector companies including Island Roads, Meridiam, and Vinci Concessions,...
James Knott Family Foundation
Matching programme: Main Grants Programme
The James Knott Family Foundation, known as the Sir James Knott Trust, was established in 1924 by Tyneside shipowner Sir James Knott to honor his sons...
Jane Hodge Foundation
Matching programme: General Grants
The Jane Hodge Foundation, established in 1962 by Welsh entrepreneur Sir Julian Hodge in memory of his mother Jane, is a family-governed grantmaker fu...
London Freemasons Charity
Matching programme: Standard Grants Programme
The London Freemasons Charity (LFC), established in 2000 as the London Masonic Charitable Trust and run by trustees from the Metropolitan Grand Lodge ...
Marsh Christian Trust
Matching programme: Grants Programme
The Marsh Charitable Trust (formerly Marsh Christian Trust), established in 1981 by Brian Marsh OBE, is a UK-based funder dedicated to sustaining smal...
Matthews Wrightson Charity Trust
Matching programme: General Grant Programme
The Matthews Wrightson Charity Trust advances social welfare by empowering smaller charities and individuals delivering direct benefits to disadvantag...
Milton Keynes Community Foundation Limited
Matching programme: Community Roots Project
Milton Keynes Community Foundation is an independent place-based funder with a mission to strengthen communities and improve quality of life by channe...
Neighbourly Foundation
Matching programme: Neighbourly Foundation Grant Programme
Neighbourly Foundation, a UK-registered charity (1189514) established in March 2020 as the charitable arm of Neighbourly Limited, emerged in response ...
Northern Powergrid Foundation
Matching programme: Energy Resilience Grants Programme
Northern Powergrid Foundation champions energy resilience and social equity for communities ravaged by extreme weather, with a mission rooted in preve...
Ogilvie Charities
Matching programme: Specific Charitable Projects
Ogilvie Charities is a longstanding UK funder rooted in Suffolk and Essex, now supporting communities across England and Wales, with a mission to assi...
Percy Bilton Charity
Matching programme: Large Grants
The Percy Bilton Charity is a grant-making trust rooted in a philanthropic mission to relieve hardship and enhance quality of life for the most disadv...
Peter Kershaw Trust
Matching programme: Ordinary Grants
The Peter Kershaw Trust, established in 1974 by Peter Kershaw, then Chairman of Joseph Holt Brewery, is a grant-making charity dedicated to combating ...
Peter Sowerby Foundation
Matching programme: Impact in Healthcare Fund (Strand 1)
The Peter Sowerby Foundation, established in 2011 by Dr Peter Sowerby—a rural North Yorkshire GP and co-founder of EMIS—with a substantial endowment, ...
Philip and Connie Phillips Foundation
Matching programme: Grants
The Philip and Connie Phillips Foundation is an independent UK charitable incorporated organisation established in June 2020 from the wills of Kent re...
Pilkington Charities Fund
Matching programme: Pilkington Charities’ Fund
Pilkington Charities Fund, established in 1950 by the Pilkington family—founders of the iconic St Helens glass manufacturing company—originally aimed ...
Robert McAlpine Foundation
Matching programme: Core Grant Programme
The Robert McAlpine Foundation, established in 1963 by the McAlpine family, drives positive social change by supporting small UK charities that enhanc...
Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Core funding
The Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust embodies a family-founded vision of community wellbeing, prioritizing quality of life enhancements, opport...
Royal Warrant Holders' Charity
Matching programme: Royal Warrant Holders' Charity Grants
The Royal Warrant Holders' Charity, established in 1897 and governed by a deed last amended in 2024, empowers Royal Warrant Holding companies and thei...
Schroder Charity Trust
Matching programme: Schroder Charity Trust
Schroder Charity Trust is an independent UK grant-making family trust with a mission to empower disadvantaged children, young adults, and vulnerable c...
Simon Gibson Charitable Trust
Matching programme: Simon Gibson Charitable Trust Grant
The Simon Gibson Charitable Trust, established in 1975 by farmer and philanthropist Simon Gibson, embodies a founding mission to provide sustained, pr...
Sir James Knott Trust
Matching programme: Rolling Grants Programme
The Sir James Knott Trust, established in 1924 by Tyneside shipowner Sir James Knott following the loss of his sons in World War I, is a cornerstone p...
Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation
Matching programme: Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation Grant Programme
Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation champions the right to a safe home and financial independence for those facing hardship, with a mission...
Sovereign Housing Association Limited
Matching programme: Thriving Communities Fund – Strengthening Place
Sovereign Network Group (SNG), evolved from Sovereign Housing Association, drives a mission to deliver affordable homes as the foundation for better l...
Stafford Trust
Matching programme: Stafford Trust Grants
The Stafford Trust, an independent grant-making charitable trust established in 1991 in Scotland, supports UK-registered charities to promote welfare,...
Summerfield Charitable Trust
Matching programme: General Grant Programme
Summerfield Charitable Trust advances community resilience, inclusion, creativity, environmental stewardship, and support for disadvantaged population...
Two Ridings Community Foundation
Matching programme: Small Grants Fund
Two Ridings Community Foundation, established in 2000 by former Chief Constable David Kenworthy, inspires local giving and channels philanthropic inve...
Whitehead Monckton Charitable Foundation
Matching programme: Whitehead Monckton Charitable Foundation Main Grant Programme
The Whitehead Monckton Charitable Foundation, established in 2010 by Whitehead Monckton Solicitors, is a Kent-focused grant-maker dedicated to support...
Showing 50 of 54 matching funders
549 funders not yet verified against these filters
We haven't confirmed these funders' programme details yet, so they may or may not fit. Showing the first 10.
Tips for Applying to Older People Funders
Demonstrate co-design with older people in your application, showing how they have shaped your project from the outset rather than being consulted after decisions are made. Funders increasingly expect older people to hold meaningful roles in governance, delivery, and evaluation. If your project addresses loneliness or social isolation, use validated measurement tools such as the UCLA Loneliness Scale or the De Jong Gierveld Scale to establish baselines and track outcomes — subjective wellbeing measures are valued alongside activity attendance figures. Address digital inclusion as a component of your work, explaining how you help older people access technology confidently while ensuring your project remains accessible to those who are not digitally connected. Describe any intergenerational programming that brings older and younger people together with genuine mutual benefit rather than tokenistic contact. If your project serves people with dementia, explain your dementia-friendly approach including environmental design, communication methods, and staff training. Show an understanding of the diversity within the older population — avoid treating over-65s as a homogeneous group, and explain how your project reaches those most at risk of isolation including older men, people from ethnic minority communities, LGBTQ+ older people, and those in rural areas. Strong applications balance practical support with respect for autonomy and choice.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Older People Grants
What grants are available for older people charities in the UK?
There are 639+ UK funders offering grants for older people charities. These range from small community grants under £5,000 to large multi-year funding programmes exceeding £100,000. Use Fundermatcher to find the best match for your organisation.
How much funding can older people organisations get?
Grant amounts for older people charities vary widely depending on the funder and project. Typical grants range from £1,000 to over £100,000. Many funders offer multi-year funding for established organisations with a strong track record.
How do I apply for older people grants?
Start by identifying funders whose priorities align with your older people work. Fundermatcher matches your charity's profile against 639+ funders to find the best fit. Our AI assistant can then help you draft compelling grant applications.
How to Find the Right Older People Funders
Describe Your Charity
Tell us what your charity does, who you help, and where you work. Takes 30 seconds.
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Our AI ranks all 639 older people funders by how well they fit your specific work.
Write Winning Applications
Our AI assistant helps you draft and refine grant applications tailored to each funder.
Which of These 639 Funders Are Right for You?
Browsing 639 funders manually takes hours. Describe your charity once and get your top matches ranked by compatibility — in seconds.
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