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These grants support youth organisations working to prevent crime, violence, anti-social behaviour, and County Lines involvement by engaging young people in positive, community-based activities.

Funded projects may include:

Sports programmes 

To promote ongoing physical activity and encourage participation in local clubs or community roles such as volunteering, coaching, or officiating. These initiatives aim to build healthy habits and reduce engagement in anti-social behaviour, crime, alcohol, and drugs.

Creative arts and wellbeing workshops

To support mental health by developing emotional resilience, addressing vulnerability, and strengthening social resistance skills.

Mentoring and personal development programmes

To help young people build confidence, life skills, and a stronger sense of belonging within their communities.

The overall goal is to help young people feel supported, stay safe, and make positive choices, while fostering long-term engagement and connection with their local environment

Physical Activity wellbeing grants support initiatives that encourage people to get moving, whether through walking groups, sports clubs, or active travel schemes. The aim is to make physical activity and active travel a natural part of everyday life, helping people of all ages and abilities stay active, improve their health, and feel more connected to their communities.

Regular physical activity lays the foundation for a healthier and happier life. It helps prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, while also boosting mental wellbeing, reducing stress, and enhancing overall quality of life.

Active travel, such as walking, wheeling, cycling, or scooting, is a key part of this vision. By choosing human-powered ways to get from place to place, people can build more movement into their daily routines. The benefits are far-reaching: healthier lifestyles, more liveable communities, and a cleaner, greener environment.

We particularly welcome applications that focus on groups who face the greatest barriers to being active, including older adults and people with disabilities.

Helping children get the best start in life is key to improving health and reducing inequalities. The early years, from pregnancy onwards, are a crucial time for building emotional, physical, and social foundations. These grants support projects that bring parents, dads, and young children together to bond, learn, and grow, whether through play sessions, parenting support, or family wellbeing activities.

Grants should be used to create or expand community-based projects that meet a clear local need and deliver against early years priorities. Priorities include:

• supporting health in pregnancy
• giving infants the best start
• improving parental wellbeing

Funded initiatives should also aim to reduce health inequalities and, where possible, link with district-based Family Hub Networks.

We recognise there are people of all ages who may be feeling lonely or isolated and we want to encourage everyone to take simple steps to help them feel more connected.

These grants support projects that bring people together in meaningful ways, because staying socially connected is essential for good health and wellbeing. 

This could be through coffee mornings, creative workshops, intergenerational activities and more. These initiatives help to build relationships, reduce isolation and create a sense of community.

By fostering stronger social connections, these projects contribute to improved mental health, greater emotional resilience, and healthier, more vibrant communities.

Healthy eating and nutrition grants are designed to support initiatives that improve access to nutritious food and promote healthier dietary habits within communities. 

These grants aim to reduce health inequalities by addressing food insecurity, encourage balanced diets and support education around nutrition. The intended health outcomes include lower rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. As well as improved mental wellbeing and overall quality of life.

For example, a grant might fund a community cooking programme that teaches families how to prepare affordable, healthy meals, or support a local food co-op that increases access to fresh produce in underserved areas. These initiatives not only empower individuals to make healthier choices but also foster stronger, more resilient communities.

Grants supporting services, organisations, or established groups delivering community work within ´óÐãÊÓƵ.

These grants aim to improve the health and wellbeing of communities by building resilience to risks identified in the West Mercia Community Risk Register which can be accessed here:

Projects may address issues such as excess cold, heat, flooding, water safety, power, utility outages, wildfires, pandemics and other local risks.

The grants will focus on safeguarding and enhancing community health outcomes. Funding can be used for initiatives that strengthen wellbeing and resilience in one or multiple risk areas, and applicants are encouraged to identify all relevant risks their project addresses.

Community Wellbeing Grants are open to:

• registered community organisations
• charities
• third-sector not-for-profit organisations
• town and parish councils 

Who:

• have an annual turnover of below £100,000
• have a bank account matching the name of the organisation

We generally do not enter into pooled funding arrangements with other funders. However, organisations may be funded more than once within a single financial year, provided they have submitted satisfactory evidence of delivery and impact from any previous grant awards.

Grants should be used to create new, or expand existing, community-based projects. Either by reaching new groups or introducing fresh activities that respond to identified local needs.

Applications should clearly demonstrate how the project will:

• contribute to reducing health inequalities and improving health and wellbeing outcomes
• address a specific community need
• engage with local residents, ideally through co-production, listening to their experiences and shaping activities around what matters to them

Applicants must outline how they plan to sustain the project once the grant funding has ended, ensuring a continued positive impact on health and wellbeing. 

Here are organisations, businesses, activities and areas we cannot fund:

• purchases prior to funding being confirmed
• activities that promote political beliefs or are designed to impose religious beliefs on others
• on-going organisation core costs e.g., staff
• activities where funding has already been secured
• payments to individuals
• privately owned businesses
• organisations with aims that do not match ours
• anything that discriminates against individuals or organisations
• anything that promotes any illegal or immoral purposes

We aim to keep the grant process simple and accessible. As part of demonstrating impact, we ask organisations to share short videos, photos, and quotes from participants that show how their project has supported health and wellbeing. 

These stories help us inspire other community groups to take action and use the grant programme to turn local ideas into real benefits for residents. For past case studies, visit our

Organisations will be responsible for ensuring appropriate consent for anyone included in images and video content.