Fund Overview

• Total fund: £100M over 4 years (2025-2029)
• Grant sizes: £250K - £5M per project
• Duration: 2-4 year projects
• Who can apply: Charities, social enterprises, research institutions, cross-sector partnerships
• Application opens: April 15, 2025
• First decisions: September 2025

Priority Themes

1. Health Inequalities & Prevention (£30M)

Innovative approaches to closing health gaps, prevention over treatment, community-led health solutions

2. Youth Opportunity & Social Mobility (£25M)

Breaking cycles of disadvantage, alternative education models, employment pathway innovation

3. Community Economic Resilience (£25M)

New models of local wealth building, community ownership, circular economies

4. Digital Inclusion & AI for Good (£20M)

Using technology to reduce inequality, ethical AI applications, digital-first social services

What Makes This Different

Unlike traditional grant programmes, this fund explicitly seeks:

Systems change focus: Addressing root causes, not symptoms
High risk tolerance: Willing to fund unproven approaches with strong theory
Evidence building: Rigorous evaluation built into grants
Scale pathway: Successful pilots get follow-on scaling funding
Cross-sector required: Partnerships between sectors encouraged/expected

Eligibility Criteria

Requirement	Details
Organization type	Registered charity, CIC, research institution, or formal partnership
UK presence	Work must primarily benefit UK communities (any nation/region)
Track record	2+ years operation OR strong partnership with experienced org
Innovation element	Must demonstrate new approach, not scaling existing proven model
Evaluation capacity	Credible evaluation plan (can include external evaluator costs)

Application Process

Three-Stage Process:

Stage 1: Expression of Interest (5 pages)

Due 8 weeks after launch | Decision in 4 weeks

Stage 2: Full Application (25 pages + budget)

Invited applicants only | 12 week development period | Decision in 8 weeks

Stage 3: Interview & Due Diligence

Final shortlist | Panel interview + financial review

How to Position Your Work

Strong Applications Will:

✓ Articulate clear theory of change showing systems-level impact
✓ Demonstrate innovation (what's genuinely new?)
✓ Show participatory design (beneficiaries involved from start)
✓ Include credible evaluation and learning plan
✓ Explain pathway to scale or replication
✓ Present diverse, capable team
✓ Acknowledge risks and mitigation strategies

Immediate Actions

Now - March:

Develop innovation concept, recruit partners, gather preliminary evidence

April:

Submit Expression of Interest (5 pages) by deadline

May-August:

If invited, develop full application with partners and evaluators

Key Dates

✓ April 15: Applications open
✓ June 10: EOI deadline (Stage 1)
✓ July 8: Stage 2 invitations sent
✓ September 30: Full applications due (Stage 2)
✓ November: Interviews (Stage 3)
✓ December: First cohort announced

£100M Social Innovation Fund Launched: What You Need to Know