APPLY FOR OUR TARGETED FUNDING

About the Fund

 

Multi-year project funding for organisations tackling the access gap in sport, movement and the performing arts for children and young people across England. 

Grants are for projects reaching children and young people who face barriers to participation as a result of who they are, where they live, or the circumstances they face. These may include (but are not limited to) disability, gender, race or socio-economic disadvantage. We ask organisations to tell us which barriers exist for young people in their community. 

This fund supports organisations to strengthen or expand existing work, or test new approaches, creating lasting opportunities for young people to play, move, create and perform. 

We aim to be a supportive, approachable and collaborative funding partner, building long-term relationships with organisations we fund.

 

Eligibility and Guidelines

 

Organisations must:

  • Be a registered charity.
  • Have had an annual income between £100,000 and £1 million in the most recent accounting year.
  • Deliver projects engaging children and young people in England. 
  • Contribute to all three of our outcomes: 
    • Enhanced sense of belonging. 
    • Increased participation in sport, movement or performing arts. 
    • Reduced barriers to participation for young people

Priorities:

In this round, we are particularly keen to fund projects that:

  • Are delivered outside of London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester & Liverpool. 
  • Operate in community settings rather than schools. 
  • Deliver targeted interventions designed for young people facing a specific barrier to participation.  
  • Are delivered by organisations with a strong track record, a positive approach to collaboration, and delivery that draws on young people’s voices and lived experience. 
  • Have potential to contribute to strengthening an organisation’s capacity beyond the project.

 

Funding Available:

  • Project grants of up to £25,000 per year for up to two years. Maximum grant value of £50,000. 
  • The grant period for this round is Dec 2026 to Jul 2028; Please note: Year 1 of this grant is shorter to align with WSF’s funding cycle, running Dec 2026 – Jul 2027. Year 2 runs a full 12 months, from Aug 2027 – Jul 2028. 
  • We fund projects on a full cost recovery basis. This means your budget can include not only the direct costs of delivering your project but also a share of your organisation’s core costs. 
  • Your project does not need to be fully funded by us: we are happy to part fund a larger project. 

 

How to Apply

Stage Deadline 

Stage one  – Expression of Interest  currently open 

Before completing the form below, please review our eligibility and guidelines above to determine whether our funding is the right fit for your work, and how you can help us deliver on our outcomes and priorities. 

We know applying for funding takes time and resource, so we strive keep this form focused on the information we need. 

Decisions will be communicated by mid October 2026. 

 5pm on 23rd September 2026 

Stage two – Application 

A small number of shortlisted organisations will be invited to submit a full application.  

Organisations invited to apply will be encouraged to attend a meeting with our Head of Partnerships to discuss their application. 

 

 Mid November 2026 

Final Decisions 

 December 2026 

 

Submit an Expression of Interest via the form below:

FAQS

We support projects for those up to age 25.

These will be assessed against the following categories: eligibility criteria, alignment with this round's funding priorities, our outcomes and the Foundation’s wider portfolio , Potential impact for children and young people, Organisational capacity to deliver the proposed project. Strong Expressions of Interest will clearly and concisely demonstrate how your project meets our eligibility criteria, outcomes and priorities for this funding round. They will also clearly share what the need is in their community, how their project will effectively tackle this to achieve positive outcomes for young people and why their organisation is well placed to deliver this project.

We are keen to support organisations to be as sustainable as possible so we fund projects on a full cost recovery basis. This means we will fund direct costs of delivering your project, but also a contribution towards your organisation's core running costs. We recognise that excellent projects rely on resilient organisations and encourage applicants to budget realistically for the full cost of delivery.

At the expression of interest stage, we only ask for information needed to determine eligibility and strategic fit. Organisations invited to submit a full application will be asked to provide additional financial information such as a top-level project budget.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are not able to provide individual detailed feedback at stage 1. However, all organisations who are invited to submit a full application will receive personal, in-depth feedback from our Head of Partnerships, following a decision on their application.

We are proud to be a trust-based funder and we strive to keep reporting proportionate, light-touch and focused on the information that matters most, whilst ensuring we fully understand the change we are impacting as a Foundation. We meet with funded partners at regular intervals throughout the year to learn and reflect together and understand impact. Alongside this, we request an end of year report capturing proportionate qualitative and quantitative data and case studies from funded programmes. Detailed reporting requirements will be shared as part of our partner onboarding.

Whilst we will endeavour to respond to all email enquiries, we are unable to offer individual meetings to discuss individual Expressions of Interest at Stage 1 due to the anticipated volume of interest. All organisations invited to submit an application at Stage Two will be invited to a meeting with the Wembley Stadium Foundation team before they submit their application.

Support and Guidance 

If you have any questions about eligibility or the application process please contact us on info@wembleystadiumfoundation.org.

Please note we cannot discuss individual Expressions of Interest in detail at this stage. 

You can also follow our latest news and stories on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @wembleystadiumfoundation  

 

Further information: 

Read our Theory of Change

 

Data protection 

We will use the personal data you provide to assess whether your project meets our grant criteria. If your project is not eligible, we will inform you of this. If you provide personal data about others, we understand you are authorised to do so and have shared our Privacy Policy with them. We treat all personal data with care and in line with data protection law. 

See our Privacy Policy here for details. 

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