Older People639+ Funders

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%

Older People Funders

88 of 639 match your filters

Checked against verified programme data for 122 of 639 funders. 517 not yet verified are listed below; 34 that don't fit were excluded.

ABF The Soldiers' Charity

Matching programme: Charitable Grants to Organisations

ABF The Soldiers' Charity, also known as the Army Benevolent Fund, is the British Army's national charity established in 1944 during World War II to p...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £25,000

Albert Van Den Bergh Charitable Trust

Matching programme: General grants

The Albert Van Den Bergh Charitable Trust is an independent, family-led grant-making charity established in 1987 by James Philip van den Bergh via a s...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

Anchor Society CIO

Matching programme: Organisational Grants

Anchor Society CIO, established in 1769 as a voluntary association inspired by Edward Colston's philanthropy, is a historic Bristol-based charity dedi...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

Ballinger Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Project / Capital Grant

The Ballinger Charitable Trust, founded in 1994 by the Ballinger family with deep personal ties to North East England, supports UK-registered charitie...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £20,000

Baring Foundation

Matching programme: Arts Programme

The Baring Foundation, an independent London-based charitable foundation established in 1969 as Barings Bank's corporate arm and fully independent sin...

Grant Range
£20,000 - £90,000

Baron Davenport's Charity

Matching programme: Organisation Grants

Baron Davenport's Charity, an endowed trust established in 1914 by the will of Baron Charles Davenport in Birmingham, is dedicated to alleviating acut...

Grant Range
£200 - £1,000

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 ...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £600,000

Cantiacorum Foundation

Matching programme: Organisations Grant

Cantiacorum Foundation, established on 1st April 2011 by the late Donald Beerling MBE and Mrs Poppy Beerling, is an independent charitable funder dedi...

Grant Range
Contact funder

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 ...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £5,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Charlotte Bonham-Carter Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Main Grants Programme

The Charlotte Bonham-Carter Charitable Trust perpetuates Lady Charlotte's philanthropic legacy through targeted grantmaking advancing arts, cultural p...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £20,000

Clan Trust Limited

Matching programme: Clan Trust Grant

Clan Trust Limited is an independent charitable trust based in Norfolk, established in the 1960s by a local farmer who endowed it with his farm, land,...

Grant Range
Contact funder

Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation

Matching programme: Recreational Facilities Development

The Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO), established in 1920 with charitable status since 1995, is the UK's sole national charity dedica...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £2,000

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...

Grant Range
Up to £25,000

Connolly Foundation (UK) Limited

Matching programme: Old people

The Connolly Foundation (UK) Limited, established in 2004 as the Kathleen and Michael Connolly Foundation and renamed in 2020, is a Bedfordshire-based...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £50,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £3,000

Dorset Community Foundation

Matching programme: BCP Crisis and Resilience Fund

Dorset Community Foundation is an independent grantmaker dedicated to improving lives and fostering thriving, united communities across Dorset by chan...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust

Matching programme: General 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...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £25,000

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...

Grant Range
£250 - £10,000

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 ...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

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...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £2,000

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...

Grant Range
£500 - £24,000

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...

Grant Range
£5,000 - £7,000

Eveson Charitable Trust

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

The Eveson Trust, formerly the Eveson Charitable Trust and converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in April 2022, was established under th...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

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...

Grant Range
Up to £500

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £30,000

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...

Grant Range
£8,000 - £15,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

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 ...

Grant Range
Up to £5,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £5,000

Hallmark Care Homes Foundation

Matching programme: Hallmark Foundation (single programme)

Hallmark Care Homes Foundation, an independent UK charity established in 2020 by Avnish Goyal, Executive Chairman of Hallmark Care Homes, is dedicated...

Grant Range
£30,000 - £100,000

Harold and Alice Bridges Charity

Matching programme: Harold and Alice Bridges Charity Grant Programme

The Harold and Alice Bridges Charity embodies a mission to bolster community wellbeing by fortifying essential physical infrastructure that sustains v...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

Harry Bottom Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Main grants programme

The Harry Bottom Charitable Trust, founded by Harry Bottom on 7 October 1960, is a longstanding Sheffield-based grant-maker governed by its original t...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £20,000

Hemby Charitable Trust

Matching programme: Hemby Charitable Trust Grants

The Hemby Charitable Trust, established in 1998 by a local family with deep roots in Merseyside and Wirral, is a small, trustee-led grantmaker adminis...

Grant Range
£500 - £3,000

Hobson Charity Limited

Matching programme: General Grant Programme

Hobson Charity Limited, established in 1985 by the Hobson family with Lady Hobson OBE as long-serving Chair, is a family-governed grant-maker dedicate...

Grant Range
£500 - £100,000

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...

Grant Range
£75,000 - £150,000

Inman Charity

Matching programme: The Inman Charity

The Inman Charity is a UK-based grantmaking trust established in 1970 by the Inman family, dedicated to enhancing wellbeing and care for vulnerable gr...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £5,000

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...

Grant Range
£500 - £5,000

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,...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £16,000

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...

Grant Range
£1,000 - £10,000

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...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £20,000

Jones 1986 Charitable Trust

Matching programme: The Jones 1986 Charitable Trust

The Jones 1986 Charitable Trust advances community care and prevention of disadvantage for socially and medically vulnerable populations, prioritizing...

Grant Range
£2,000 - £15,000

Joseph Rank Trust

Matching programme: General Fund

The Joseph Rank Trust is an independent Christian grant-maker established in 2002 from charities founded by Joseph Rank (1854–1943) and family between...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £50,000

Livewell Foundation

Matching programme: Large Grants

The Livewell Foundation, established as the charitable arm of a pioneering social enterprise in health and social care, drives transformational impact...

Grant Range
£500 - £10,000

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 ...

Grant Range
£3,000 - £10,000

London Marathon Charitable Trust Limited

Matching programme: Active Spaces Fund

London Marathon Charitable Trust Limited, operating as the London Marathon Foundation and founded in 1981 by marathon co-founders, champions the life-...

Grant Range
£10,000 - £80,000

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...

Grant Range
£300 - £2,000

Showing 50 of 88 matching funders

517 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.

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

1

Describe Your Charity

Tell us what your charity does, who you help, and where you work. Takes 30 seconds.

2

Get Matched Instantly

Our AI ranks all 639 older people funders by how well they fit your specific work.

3

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.

  • Personalised match scores
  • Eligibility checks
  • AI grant writer