Home Office - Community Engagement Fund 2025/26

Background

The Community Engagement Fund exists to engage communities and raise awareness of priority Home Office policy areas and the support available. The funding is provided and administered by the Home Office.

Some nationality groups, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana and India, despite possibly having been impacted, are not coming forward for compensation to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

There also remains a significant difference between the number of people granted through the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and applications made under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Objectives of Fund

During 2025 to 2026, the funding is intended to:

• Raise awareness of and address any misinformation about the Windrush Compensation and Windrush Documentation Schemes with a focus on non-Caribbean communities and encourage them to apply to these schemes.
• Build on the insights and learning taken from existing work on Windrush to understand:
  • why individuals are not applying for the Windrush Compensation Scheme and/or the Windrush Scheme.
  • how to encourage eligible individuals to apply to these schemes.

This fund is best suited to support short and easy-to-deliver projects, rather than a programme of work, as all allocated funds needs to be spent by 31 March 2026.

Value Notes

A total of £150,000 is being made available in 2025-26.

Grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 are available.

Projects must be fully delivered by 31 March 2026.

Applicants are able to request up to 25% of the full funding amount (initial payment) for set up costs.

Who Can Apply

The following types of groups can apply:

• Unincorporated charities or community organisations.
• Community interest companies.
• Companies with a charitable purpose.
• Grassroots organisations.
• Registered charities.

Consortium or partnership applications are also accepted.

Applications are encouraged from a range of eligible groups who wish to raise awareness of and promote the Windrush Scheme (documentation) and the Windrush Compensation Scheme to communities including those wider than the Caribbean.

Location

UK

Restrictions

The following are not eligible for funding:

• Projects that look to provide an opportunity for a political platform.
• Organisations whose objectives conflict with the Fund.
• Organisations that seek to provide immigration advice and services, which are not regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.
• Where the organisation has objectives or runs services that are contrary to the principles of openness, tolerance, and respect.
• Costs for fundraising activities.
• Loan repayments or costs covered by other funding sources.
• Input VAT reclaimable from HMRC.
• Gifts to individuals other than promotional items with a value of no more than £25 a year to any one individual.
• Payment of statutory fines, criminal fines, or penalties.
• Activities that promote religion.
• Individuals.
• Local Authorities.

Eligible Expenditure

The fund should support short and easy-to-deliver projects which must be completed by 31 March 2026.

The funding can be used for activities across the UK and can cover the following costs:

• Holding events, for example cost of venue, refreshments, and other related costs.
• Creating and sharing marketing materials, like leaflets and posters.
• Running communications campaigns both in person and online.
• Accessing and using communication channels, for example social media or local radio.
• Getting support from corporate partners, public figures or advocates.
• Staff time to work specifically on the project.

The funding can only be used to cover costs related to project delivery. It may not be used to cover general day to day costs of running an organisation, including core running costs and salaries for existing permanent staff (unless associated with the Community Engagement Fund project).

How To Apply

Applications will be accepted from 23 April 2025 to 28 May 2025 (16:00). Notification of award decisions by 31 July 2025.

All relevant documents as well as a short video can be found on the GOV.UK website.

Two virtual information sessions will be held for community and grassroots organisations who are interested to learn more about the Fund and how to submit an application:

• Thursday 1 May (14.00-15.30)
• Tuesday 6 May (11.00-12.30).

Groups must register at least 48 hours in advance of the session they wish to attend. They should send an email to CommunityEngagementFundCompetition@homeoffice.gov.uk. Details can be found on the GOV.UK website

Contact the Home Office for further information.