Funding

About our Grants to Charities and Organisations

In 2022 we are launching new grant programmes to provide even more support to other charities and organisations in areas where our research and insight has shown opportunities to have the greatest impact for disabled people. These grant programmes will help to address the challenges that disabled people face accessing transport right now, while Motability continues its research and innovation work into longer-term solutions to make all transport accessible.

We are using £50 million of the donation we received in 2021 to expand our support for charities and other organisations for the next three financial years ending March 2025.

The first two new grant programmes, Community Transport Grants and Wheelchair Sector Grant Programme are launching on 1 April 2022 with the remaining programmes launching throughout the year. More information on these programmes will be provided when available.

Charities and organisations can apply for grants from £100,000 up to £4 million. Each application will be assessed consistently against our criteria to ensure fair and transparent awarding of funding and to deliver the greatest impact to as many disabled people as possible.

Motability is committed to our vision, that no disabled person shall be disadvantaged due to poor access to transportation. This includes all disabled people in need of assistance with their personal transportation, not just disabled people who choose to use the Motability Scheme.

The Small Grants Fund enables organisations to access smaller amounts of funding outside the main Trustee meetings.  Requests to the Small Grants Fund are considered at least six times a year and there are no deadlines.  The Charity endeavours to ensure that funds are awarded in a timely manner, relevant to project delivery dates (e.g. before school holidays).  The Small Grants Fund is often used as an introduction to the Charity and grants awarded under this Fund can develop into larger grants.

The National Lottery raises money for good causes.

People use this funding to do extraordinary things, taking the lead to improve their lives and communities. Every time you buy a National Lottery ticket, you help make this happen.

Communities come in all shapes and sizes, and National Lottery funding is there for everyone.

There are 12 distributors of money raised by the players of The National Lottery, which fund projects and activities that transform communities, protect our heritage, and enrich lives through arts, sports and culture.

The Ironmongers' Company organisations grant wishes to support projects that provide opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people to fulfil their potential.

The Taylor Family Foundation supports charities who provide opportunities for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and difficult circumstances, to improve their chances of attaining success to lead fulfilling lives.

National Lottery Awards for All offers funding from £300 to £10,000 to support what matters to people and communities.

Our priorities are:
-bringing people together and building strong relationships in and across communities
-improving the places and spaces that matter to communities
-enabling more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

The Fat Beehive Foundation is an independent UK registered charity that provides small grants for websites and digital products to other small UK registered charities.

National Lottery Project Grants is an open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations.

Sport Unites is the Mayor of London’s community sport programme, which was launched in 2018. At the heart of the Mayor’s approach to sport in London is his belief in the power of sport to bring people together and improve their lives. This programme has five priority areas:

The CAF Tourle Foundation Fund seeks to award grants to local charities delivering services for local people in all parts of the UK.

The Dulverton Trust is an independent grant-making charity. We support UK charities tackling a range of social issues, protecting the natural world, and preserving heritage crafts. The latest information about how we are prioritising applications in light of the COVID-19 health crisis can be found here.

Funding for charity projects which make a positive difference in local communities.

Lending a hand where needed in the local community, Shanly supports local charities and community causes.

We fund work which tackles poverty and inequality in the capital. We support work providing greater insights into the root causes of London’s social problems and how they can be overcome; activities which help people improve their lives; and work empowering Londoners to influence and change policy, practice and public attitudes.

Applications are particularly welcomed from charities working to support migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, criminal justice and penal reform, human rights, particularly access to justice. The average annual spending of grantees has been £1.1 million. The average age of charities supported has been 15 years, with a typical range of 4-26 years.

The Vegan Society Grant is open to individuals and grassroots organisations. It exists to support projects which will encourage non-vegans to go vegan and stay vegan. The projects are based across the globe, with a particular emphasis on those based in economically developing countries. A typical award is £1000 which is granted to projects that meet our criteria and are selected by our cross-department panel. The more detail you can give us about how this money would be spent, the better. 

Recently awarded grants went to ‘Radio programs to encourage non-vegans to go vegan and stay vegan in Sengerema district, Tanzania’, and 'Culture and Tradition, a call to animal welfare’, which was a community run project to encourage fellow villagers to replace animal skins with synthetic materials in traditional dance festivals in Zimbabwe. In the UK a project titled ‘Enjoy Soy’ worked to provide vegan culinary training to newly independent young adults.

The Henry Smith Charity aims to use its resources to help people and communities at a time of need and to bring about positive change. We achieve this by funding organisations that work with people to reduce social and economic disadvantage.

The Percy Bilton Charity is a grant-making trust founded in 1962. Assistance is given to organisations and individuals in need throughout the U.K: charities assisting disadvantaged youth, people with disabilities, people with mental health problems and older people may apply for grants towards furnishings and equipment (excluding office items), building or refurbishment projects.

A major new Youth Worker Bursary Fund has been announced by NYA as part of a national initiative to open up career pathways in youth work. In its first year the fund will widen access and secure youth work training with up to 450 bursaries (Levels 2 & 3) working through the NYA’s regional partners.