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The Community Action Fund offers grants of £20,000, for up to three years, to support action by UK organisations helping to tackle the challenges facing local communities. Grants are awarded to organisations who are based in our geographical focus areas, who can demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues facing their local area and delivering programmes that make a positive impact.
We understand different locations face real challenges and give priority to organisations supporting people to access a range of effective community services to widen networks, reduce isolation and build knowledge, confidence and opportunities.
To learn more about the impact our grants can have, please take a look at our community case studies.
Eligible organisations can receive a Community Action Fund grant of £20,000 per year, for up to three years.
As a grant-giving organisation, we understand the difficulties many charitable organisations face in accessing grant funding to meet fixed costs. The Community Action Fund is a core funding grant to help organisations manage the financial requirements to keep their services running.
To receive a grant from the Community Action Fund you must be a not-for-profit organisation and based in one of our geographical focus areas. Our focus areas will change from round to round and we will publish where these areas are on our website and highlight via social media in each round. We give priority to organisations in geographical areas located near to a Greggs Outlet or in an area of need. In addition to being based in one of our geographical focus areas we are looking for organisations that are delivering activities outlined in our Theory of Change.
Organisations successful in receiving funding are focused in one or more of the following areas:
Addressing direct needs in the local community
Providing food and support for individuals
Reducing social isolation and widening networks
Building knowledge, confidence and opportunities
The Community Action Fund is to support not-for-profit community organisations based in one of our geographical focus areas. Our focus areas are usually based in areas close to Greggs Outlets and in areas of social deprivation.
As well as supporting organisations close to Greggs Outlets, the Community Action Fund also supports organisations situated in the North East of England (Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Teesside). This aims to rectify the historical lack of funding opportunities for organisations in the region where Greggs was founded and continues to proudly retain its headquarters. You can learn more in our FAQ's.
The Community Action Fund is currently open for applications and closes at 12 noon on the 20th February 2026. For this funding round, we will only accept applications from organisations based in or delivering services in the following locations:
Birmingham (B12)
Dudley (DY5)
Middlesbrough
Please do not submit an application if you are not based in the locations for this funding round. We run four funding rounds per year and locations change in each round so please keep an eye on our social channels and website for updates on future locations. .
The Community Action Fund is part-funded by the annual donation we receive from Greggs and through a portion of the profits from Greggs Outlets.
There are over 40 Greggs Outlets which are part of the Greggs Pledge to build stronger, healthier communities. By selling unsold food products at a reduced price, families on a tight budget can spend less while still having access to great quality food.
A portion of the profits from Greggs Outlets is donated to The Greggs Foundation to fund charitable organisations in the close vicinity of an Outlet. This helps to ensure profits generated in Outlet locations are channelled back into addressing the issues affecting those communities.
To be eligible to apply for a grant from us, you need to meet all of the criteria below:
A not-for-profit organisation.
An annual income of between £25,000 and £1,000,000 in your last set of accounts.
At least one set of annual accounts, having been delivering services for over a year.
Based in the geographical focus area listed for each funding round and be delivering a significant proportion of your services in that area. Organisations operating across multiple regions are unlikely to be successful unless they can demonstrate a strong, locally focused approach and presence in the specified area.
Free reserves of less than six months' running costs in your last set of accounts which includes reserves you have decided to allocate but are free to reallocate and does not include fixed assets such as land and buildings.
A board of at least three unrelated trustees or directors.
A safeguarding policy in place.
An independent organisation.
Exclusions:
We are unable to consider applications from any of the following:
Animal charities
Friends of associations
Organisations that operate nationally, including branches or federations of national charities
Organisations where the primary benefit is the advancement of religion
Larger organisations with a greater capacity to fundraise
Schools or colleges
Uniformed groups such as scouts, guides and sea cadets
Sports clubs and associations
We are also unable to provide funding for any of the following:
Overseas travel
Curricular activities that take place during the school day
Religious promotion
Research grants
Repayment of loans
Purchase of vehicles
Equipment for hospitals
Major capital projects
In addition to our Community Action Fund, we may also be able to offer further support to the individuals and communities you work with. This includes potential access to our Relief Grants and Greggs Fresh Start employment initiative, which are designed to help people facing challenging circumstances and those looking to re-enter the workforce. We also have a limited Discretionary Fund that can be used to respond to unexpected crises or urgent needs. While this support is not automatically available to all grantees, we work closely with funded organisations to identify opportunities where additional assistance may be appropriate.
The programme is highly competitive. Grants are awarded across four funding rounds per year and typically we have considerably more requests for funding than we can support.
It is important to read the guidance notes and FAQ’s fully.
When a funding round is open for applications, please only apply if you meet the eligibility criteria and are based in the locations as outlined in each funding round.
After successful submission, you will receive a message that your application has been received. You can usually expect a decision within 10 weeks of the closing date.
As part of the application process, you will need to submit a copy of your latest audited accounts, an income and expenditure forecast (budget) for the current financial year and a full breakdown of the costs you have applied for.
To learn more about how organisations are using Community Action Fund grants, please visit our community case study page.
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