Programme Overview
There are 6 grants programmes open to applications for project grants. These grants are for UK charities who want to support local organisations to carry out a clearly defined project that will make a lasting difference to the lives of poor and disadvantaged people.
Local organisations may include unregistered community-based organisations, registered non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or, in some cases, government organisations.
We will make grants of between £10,000 and £1 million over five years, and expect most applications to spend an average of no more than £200,000 a year.
We also make a small number of grants of up to £25,000 to carry out practical research or consult local organisations to develop a project idea. You must be a UK charity with an income of less than £1,000,000 to apply for these grants.
These programmes are open to UK charities, whether they have received funding from Comic Relief in the past or not.
Click on each of the programme headings to find out more about them.
Street and Working Children and Young People
People Affected by HIV and AIDS
Women and Girls
People Affected by Conflict
People Living in Urban Slums
Trade
Street and Working Children and Young People
This programme focuses on street and working children and young people around the world who face extreme poverty, discrimination, exploitation and neglect. We will provide funding or work in any country or group of countries in Africa and a limited number of countries outside Africa, shown below.
Asia
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- India
- Indonesia
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
Latin America
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
People Affected by HIV and AIDS
Within this programme, we will fund organisations working with those living with HIV, people directly affected by HIV, (particularly women, children, elderly people, and young people who are carers or are at risk from getting HIV), and people who provide care and support to those with HIV-related illnesses. The work needs to be taking place in any country or group of countries in Africa.
Women and Girls
We will provide funding to organisations working with poor and disadvantaged women and girls (in a country or group of countries in Africa), particularly those at risk of violence, girls not in school and disadvantaged groups of women, e.g. commercial sex workers or older women.
People Affected by Conflict
Under this programme, we give funding to organisations in Africa who are working with communities whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by conflict, including children and young people who have been denied a chance of an education or forced to take part in conflict, and those at risk or suffering from human rights abuses, including sexual abuse.
People Living in Urban Slums
We define slums as informal urban settlements that are usually overcrowded, unhealthy and lack enough basic services. This programme provides funding to organisations working with poor and disadvantaged people living in these areas in Africa, especially vulnerable elderly people, unemployed young people at risk of getting into conflict with the law and women and girls working as sex workers.
Trade
Within Trade, we will fund organisations working with poor producers in Africa who could benefit from support or improve their products or access to national, regional or international markets, and poor people whose livelihoods are threatened by unjust trade rules.