Riverside Foundation

Riverside Foundation, a registered UK charity established in 1983, transforms lives and regenerates deprived neighbourhoods, primarily where parent housing association The Riverside Group operates across England, Wales, and Scotland. Its mission delivers practical support to overcome barriers to better quality of life, guided by core values of opportunity, community, and support. Distinctively integrated with Riverside's housing infrastructure, it emphasises collaborative, pragmatic grant-making for grassroots organisations, with strong governance via seven trustees and recent annual spending over £2.7 million, reaching 88,000+ beneficiaries.

It prioritises three themes: opportunity (skills-building, digital inclusion, employment, and education access); community (cohesion, safe inclusive neighbourhoods via sports, arts, environment, and conservation); and support (crisis grants, welfare advice for vulnerable groups like children, youth, elderly, disabled people, ethnic minorities). Funding targets projects improving wellbeing, sustaining tenancies, and fostering economic mobility, including employability programmes, youth skills, and community services—exemplified by grants to local groups like Brook Community Training and Isle of Dogs Bangladeshi Association. In 2023-24, over 4,000 crisis awards addressed urgent needs like appliances or fuel.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities and community groups (grassroots preferred, no income limits) demonstrating at least 50% beneficiaries as Riverside residents, with priority for those in Riverside neighbourhoods. Typical grants range £500–£10,000 via online forms (small/large options); applications are unsolicited, rolling, reviewed monthly at trustee meetings with decisions in weeks—no fixed deadlines or EOI needed. Excludes ongoing/core costs and capital projects; unique for its resident-focused criteria, high-volume crisis relief, and measurable local impact in housing-impacted areas.