Groundwork UK

They fund activities that interweave environmental regeneration with social inclusion, including green infrastructure improvements such as urban pocket parks and green space restoration, employability schemes and skills training in green economies, climate action encompassing carbon reduction and energy efficiency, and environmental education in schools and community settings. They also support holistic interventions tackling unemployment, antisocial behaviour, and social isolation in deprived neighbourhoods. Supported models include community-led training, peer mentoring, therapeutic nature-based solutions, and youth work blending employability with ecological stewardship. Their work has a strong UK-wide focus with particular emphasis on neighbourhood-scale action in post-industrial and climate-vulnerable locations.

Registered charities, community interest companies, and community groups are eligible. They prioritise people in deprived areas, those facing barriers to employment, and communities in post-industrial or climate-vulnerable locations. Groundwork UK prefers grassroots charities with lived-experience leadership and a strong local connection. They also work with organisations that engage excluded groups through coproduced solutions, including care-experienced youth, families in multiple deprivation, and vulnerable marginalised residents.

They do not fund standalone capital builds, revenue-only support without integrated impact, or top-down initiatives lacking community co-design. They also exclude projects that are not place-based or that fail to involve local communities in decision-making. Their focus is on grassroots organisations in underserved areas, so they avoid funding well-resourced mainstream efforts that do not prioritise community empowerment.

Groundwork UK's funding style is collaborative and place-based, favouring coproduced solutions that mobilise excluded groups through partnership. They welcome unsolicited applications from organisations aligned with their mission. Their approach is partnership-driven, focusing on neighbourhood-scale action with measurable dual outcomes in wellbeing, employability, and ecological health. They prioritise grassroots charities with lived-experience leadership.