Foyle Foundation releases £2.2m for UK community foundations in its final year
A final round of funding reinforces the grassroots groups holding communities together.
As the Foyle Foundation prepares to close after 25 years of grant-making, it has announced a final £2.2 million for community foundations across the UK and Northern Ireland — a last gesture towards the local organisations it has long helped keep afloat.
The money will be shared among eleven community foundations, each receiving £200,000 to spend where they judge the need is most acute. These are the bodies that deal daily with the realities of poverty, isolation, youth services under pressure, rising living costs and the slow unravelling of public provision. They fund the warm hubs, the after-school clubs, the small arts groups, the carers’ networks — the organisations that rarely attract national attention but shape daily life for thousands.
By the end of next year, the Foyle Foundation will have distributed more than £185 million since it began, including support for arts organisations, schools and, crucially, almost £16 million in small community grants. That small-grants work has been its most direct lifeline, often keeping tiny charities going through moments when larger funders are nowhere to be seen.
“Following the closure of our Small Grants Scheme we wanted to continue this important work which is a lifeline to small charities,” said David Hall, the Foundation’s chief executive. “In our final legacy year, we are proud to support the work of community foundations across the country… often in hard-to-reach places and frequently without recognition.”
The list of recipients reflects the whole map of the UK: from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, from Nottinghamshire to Northern Ireland. Some will use the funding to bolster emergency food and fuel initiatives; others to keep community arts programmes alive or maintain support networks for young people, disabled residents and older people living alone. In many regions, community foundations have become — quietly — the only consistent source of small, rapid-response funding.
For the Foyle Foundation, this final round is part of its long-planned spend-down. Since 2000 it has awarded nearly 10,000 grants, including £18.3 million for major legacy projects designed to outlive the Foundation itself. Ending with a handover to the organisations best placed to act locally feels deliberate: a shift from national philanthropy to locally held power, at a moment when local need is more visible than ever.
This is the Foundation’s last major announcement — and, fittingly, the money goes straight back to the people doing the everyday work of holding communities together.
Grant Recipients
Community Foundation for Lancashire & Merseyside • Community Foundation Wales • Cornwall Community Foundation • Foundation Scotland • Heart of England Community Foundation • Forever Notts (Nottinghamshire) • Point North Community Foundation • Two Ridings Community Foundation • Lincolnshire Community Foundation • Sussex Community Foundation • The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
