NHS South West London Spring Grant Fund 2025 – Empowering community leaders to shape health and care

• Are you a community leader of a voluntary organisation in south west London?
• Do you know what matters most to the people you support?  Do you have knowledge about the health and care needs of the communities you work with?
• Can you run an engaging activity and share what you have heard to shape the future of health and care?

The NHS is offering grants of up to £550 to help bring people together, spark meaningful conversations, and ensure local voices influence the decisions that impact them.

What’s involved?

• Host an activity and have conversations about health and care topics.
• Use your knowledge and skills to share what you have heard with us
• Join a short NHS training session – covering how to record feedback and insight from your community.
• Share what you heard – take part in an interview after your activity with a local project lead and complete a short feedback form.
• Join a listening event with NHS leaders – date to be confirmed soon!

This fund is flexible, and its focus is to hear from our most disadvantaged and marginalised communities.  It is up to you to decide how and when you collect insight, this could be during your event or in the lead up to your activity.  They are funding you as a community leader to help us understand the experiences and views of the people you reach and support.

They simply ask that you have these conversations in a way that works for you, then share feedback and insight. You’ll need to complete a short form to help us capture themes along with an interview with a local project lead from Croydon Voluntary Action.

What can you apply for?

They would like to understand the views of people and communities on the following topics: 

• Fund 1: Healthy communities fund – understand what helps people living in Croydon to stay healthy and what stops people from seeking support and preventing illness.
• Fund 2: Digital and health fund – understand how technology can improve access to care and what digital barriers do people face.

Who they’d like to reach?

They’re particularly keen to hear from communities who often face barriers to healthcare.

If applying for a Healthy Communities grant (Fund 1), we’d like to hear from:

• People from our most deprived areas – see application form for more details
• People who experience issues or barriers in accessing health and care.
• People who have lived experience of mental health services or support  
• Groups supporting social connection, such as outdoor activities and events
• People from our health inclusion groups – including migrants and refugees, people who are homeless, people facing social exclusion

If applying for a Digital & Health grant (Fund 2) we’d like to hear from:

• People who face barriers using technology
• People from our most deprived areas – see application form for more details
• People from our health inclusion groups – including migrants and refugees, people who are homeless, people facing social exclusion.

How will applications be assessed?

You can apply for more than one grant, but applications will be assessed based on:

• Reach and inclusion – how well you can reach and connect with the communities we would like to hear from.
• Engagement approach – how you plan to hold conversations and listen to insight and feedback from your communities.
• Commitment to training and feedback – attendance at the training session and attending a follow-up interview a local project lead.

Why your voice matters!

As a community leader, you understand local experiences and challenges better than anyone. You have the trust, connections, and insight to reach people in ways others can’t. By getting involved, you’ll help shape health and care services, so they better reflect the needs of Croydon residents.

Key information:

• Application deadline: 12 March 2025 at 5pm 
• Funding available: Up to £550 per grant.
• Who can apply: Community and voluntary organisations in Croydon
• To find out more - join our information session on Thursday 27 February at 1pm, please register sign up here!

How to apply

Please complete the application form: here

If you’d like to speak to a member of the team, please email: training@cvalive.org.uk

Other funding 

Other funding - with ongoing deadlines

Awards for All  
The National Lottery Community Fund has funding available to grassroots projects through Awards for All for up to £20,000. Read more 

Clothworkers' Foundation
The Clothworkers' Foundation awards grants to organisations towards capital projects, including buildings and refurbishment. Read more

DWF Foundation
The Foundation supports charities working in areas including homelessness, health, employability, education and the environment. Read more

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Their grants support organisations’ core or project costs, including staff salaries and overheads. They also provide unrestricted funding for charities. The majority of grants are for three to five years. Read more

Garfield Weston Foundation 
Garfield Weston supports a wide range of charities that make a positive difference. This includes welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith. Read more 

National Lottery Heritage Grants 
This fund supports projects that connect people and communities to the national and local heritage. Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and wish to pass on to future generations. Read more 

Tesco Stronger Starts
Tesco Stronger Starts is open to charities and community organisations to apply for a grant of up to £1,500. Every three months, three local good causes are selected to be in the blue token customer vote in Tesco stores throughout the UK. Read more