Our work with the UK Government
We work with government departments to deliver significant national programmes which support the growth and development of local communities.
Collaborating with a national network
When partnering with UK Community Foundations, government departments and other authority bodies who want to reach all parts of the UK learn more about specific areas and are able to respond more effectively.
Community foundations are able to leverage match funding when this is a prerequisite for funding to be secured. We provide both nationwide programmes and targeted regional support for central government and local authorities, combining a geographical spread with hyper-local insights.
"What's really important for us to make sure this fund works really well is the partnership with UKCF.
It's local organisations, embedded in the community, that are going to make this fund work, be really effective and, importantly, reach more people."
- Former Minister for Civil Society and Youth, Stuart Andrew, speaking about the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund in 2023
Current Government Programmes
The Know Your Neighbourhood Fund
We are collaborating with the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) to distribute £14 million of the 'Know Your Neighbourhood' Fund. Funded groups and activities are enabling meaningful and impactful volunteering and tackle loneliness in nine areas around the country. We are currently in the independent evaluation phase of the programme.
#iwill Fund: youth social action
Since 2017, community foundations have been supporting youth social action, in partnership with DCMS and The National Lottery Fund. In our final year of delivering the programme, inFocus has independently evaluated our work with young people, learning from the projects and participants to inform future funding decisions and influence better funding practices across the sector
Previous government funded programmes
UKCF has a long and trusted history supporting social good through government partnerships. For example, in 2020, UKCF worked with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to distribute £20 million, raised on the ‘Big Night In’, to support communities affected by coronavirus.
Learn about more of our government partnerships below:
Since 2017, UKCF has collaborated with DCMS and The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver multiple rounds of the #iwill Fund, which seeks to make social action a part of everyday life for as many 10-20 year olds as possible. An in-depth evaluation report was carried out by inFocus in November 2024.
In 2018, UKCF launched the Tampon Tax Community Fund which provided grants of up to £10,000 to run projects and services directly benefiting women and girls experiencing period poverty, domestic and sexual abuse, mental health and long-term unemployment.
In 2012, the UKCF network managed the Community First Programme. This was an initial £50 million government-backed, match-funding endowment scheme that ran until 2015. Over time, as the endowment funds increased in value, the amount distributed overtook the original donation. Within a few years of launching the national programme, community foundations were able to treble their grants to communities around the UK and still manage these endowment distributions today.
Want to partner with us?
Contact our partnership team to see how we could work together to benefit UK communities.
UK Community Foundations is a registered charity in England and Wales. Registered company in England and Wales . Registered address: UK Community Foundations, Northgate Business Centre, 38-40 Northgate, Newark, NG24 1EZ. Registered company no. 2651777 | Registered charity no. 1004630. Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved.