Community grants

We actively support and encourage our communities with a number of grant opportunities. The types of grant available are summarised below, to find out more and apply, follow the links provided.

Thriving Communities Fund - small grants for one-off projects by community groups and larger grants to fund work to support residents across the whole of West Suffolk or big parts of the district such as a town.
Go For It Grant - funding for individuals or groups that are inspired to bring communities together to form not-for-profit organisations.
Locality budgets - Available to community groups for projects or activities that the whole local community can enjoy.
More information - All projects supported are encouraged to align with the Thriving Communities strategic priority
Other funding sources - Building Resilience and Nutrition Fund, Home assistance grants, energy grants and Funding 4 Suffolk

The Thriving Communities Fund

The Thriving Communities funding round for 2026-27 is now open.

The Thriving Communities Fund is now in its second year. The application process for the Thriving Communities Fund has been streamlined to encourage smaller community organisations to apply while two levels of grants are now available:

Community grants of between £2,000 and £8,000 are available for one-off projects by community groups, that will support residents in a small part of the district such as an estate or village.
Larger grants of between £8,001 and £20,000 – will fund work to support residents across the whole of West Suffolk or big parts of the district such as a town. Although organisations can apply for this level of funding, the council retains its discretion to take each application on its merits and may grant a smaller amount.

Please note - smaller grants of £100 to £2,800 are available throughout the year from West Suffolk councillor locality budgets. Applications to the Thriving Communities Fund for grants below £2,000 will be put forward to the ward councillor(s) for the area to consider whether to award Locality budgets funds.

Funded activities will contribute to the delivery of the council’s strategic priority for Thriving Communities, ensuring residents can access services and support as well as activities to improve their health and wellbeing. The minimum amount that can be applied for is £2,000. This funding can be for one off projects or revenue funds for services. Before applying, please read the eligibility criteria in: West Suffolk Council Thriving Communities Funding 2026-27 Guidance for applicants

Organisations are to complete the Thriving Communities Fund Application Form (editable PDF) and email to thrivingcommunitiesfund@westsuffolk.gov.uk

For guidance on completing the form please read: West Suffolk Council Thriving Communities Fund Application Form 2026-27 Guidance notes

To discuss your application prior to submission please email families.communities@westsuffolk.gov.uk or phone 01638 719235.

The deadline for applications is 12pm on Friday 26 September 2025.

Thriving Communities – online webinar

To promote the launch of the Thriving Communities funding round, West Suffolk Council and Community Action Suffolk are hosting an online webinar to discuss the Thriving Communities Fund.

Join us to speak with Jon Eaton to discuss the West Suffolk Council Thriving Communities programme. The webinar will explore the process, the eligibility and we will be looking at what is needed to make a successful submission and how decisions are made. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions, float ideas and to interrogate the application in more depth.

Please note - this event is only open to organisations who are based in West Suffolk or who run activities or deliver services for participants within the district council boundary.

This session will take place online via MS Teams from 10.30am to 12pm on Tuesday 9 September 2025.

To book onto the ‘free of charge’ Thriving Communities Webinar visit Training Course Booking

Go For It Grant

Go for It Grant provides funding for individuals or groups that are inspired to bring communities together to form not-for-profit organisations. As long as you can demonstrate the need for your idea and have a clear plan of how the funding will be spent you can apply, and we can award funding to the organiser’s account. There is no need for a dedicated bank account or evidence of a constitution.

We are looking to support ideas that:

encourage residents to come together in positive and supportive ways
inspire people to get active, participate and fulfil their potential
promote and support health and well-being in the community
provide innovative activities that respond to local needs

What can the Go For It Grant be spent on?

Funding can be up to £300 and can be used for anything needed to get the idea off the ground, and could include equipment purchase/hire, venue hire, promotional materials, transport, etc. You will need to research the costs of your project accurately to apply, and not simply provide general estimates.

Who can apply?

Grants are available to both informal groups of residents (at least three people) and 'formally constituted voluntary groups'. Applicants must be West Suffolk residents or voluntary groups that work within the West Suffolk area and are able to meet the following criteria:

operate within the West Suffolk district on a not-for-profit basis
can provide a clear statement of aims and objectives
can show their ability to manage and deliver the project or activity
can show how they will manage their finances and keep good financial records
accept the principle of equal opportunities and can demonstrate their commitment to inclusiveness within their project

You do not need to be over 18 to apply. Groups of young people can apply too.

Go For It Grant cannot support:

retrospective funding (activities that have already happened)
activities that duplicate what is already provided or commissioned by the council, unless demand cannot be met
social excursions outside West Suffolk
paid staff costs
any overseas activity
activities restricted solely to any group's existing membership
political or religious activities
organisational or running costs not directly related to the specific project activities

How to apply?

All grant applications must have a separate confirmation of bank details to evidence that they are valid. This evidence must be a copy (paper copy, photo, scanned picture) of either a paying in slip or header of a bank statement.

We recognise that setting up a new group can be tricky for a number of reasons. In addition to funding, the Families and Communities Team at West Suffolk Council can help you by providing any advice and guidance you might need. Contact us on families.communities@westsuffolk.gov.uk for more information.

Locality budgets

Available to community groups for projects or activities that the whole local community can enjoy, to contact your local Families and Communities officer see the Families and Communities Ward Map.

Contacts:

North locality officers - Lesley-Ann Keogh phone: 01638 719238 and Gemma O'Shea phone: 01284 757465
Central locality officers - Ellie McCarthy Phone: 01284 757461 and Stephanie Edmans Phone: 01284 757080
South locality officers - Jon Eaton Phone: 01638 719235 and Chris Swarbrick Phone: 01284 757216

For more details on this and restrictions, read the West Suffolk Locality Budget Scheme Guidance for councillors.

To apply you will need to contact your local councillor. To find out who your councillor(s) are and how to contact them, please visit our Councillors and meetings page.
For information about which community groups have received locality budget payments in West Suffolk, see our Locality budgets page.

More information

All projects supported are encouraged to align with the Thriving Communities strategic priority

For more information read Our approach to working with families and communities

Other funding sources

Building Resilience and Nutrition fund

The Building Resilience and Nutrition (BRAN) fund will invest in activities to try to help people out of food poverty, improve health and nutrition and reduce food waste.

Home assistance grants

Funding is available from West Suffolk Council to assist families and residents to make safe, repair and improve their homes and we would like your help to engage with our communities.

We can assist in different ways, through Warmer Homes Healthy People or through the Home Assistance grant (HAG) to help home owners carry out repairs and improvements to their homes to ensure that they are warm, weatherproof or watertight, safe and secure and have reasonably modern kitchen and bathroom facilities.

To find out more, or to see if one of our other grants could help, see our Housing grants page.

Energy grants

For a wide range of grants and other assistance with energy saving initiatives for businesses and community venues, see the Green Suffolk website

Funding 4 Suffolk

Funding 4 Suffolk is a website which lets you browse available funding by organisation type. There are also hints and tips for completing successful funding applications as well as a section specifically for local funds. You can access Funding 4 Suffolk at: Community Action Suffolk - Sustainability and funding advice