The funding alerts below are updated regularly to let you know of important information about funding deadlines for community groups and charities.
If your group is awarded a grant from any of the funds highlighted in these alerts, please let us know by emailing ExternalFunding@ayrshire360.com.
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Latest funding alerts
Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust
Grants for UK-registered charities working across the UK to help those most in need.Round 4 will focus on projects supporting unpaid carers.
Focus will be given to projects that provide therapeutic support, including healthy eating and outdoor activities. Projects must focus exclusively on unpaid carers, without extending services to other groups.
In this round, grants of £5,000 are available for UK-registered charities with a minimum operating income of £1 million
The fund is open on the Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust website. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2026.
Apply at Austin and Hope Pilkington
Castle Studies Trust
Grants of up to £15,000 to support the production of new and discrete pieces of research that enhance the understanding and knowledge of castles.
Grants will focus on new work on castles, such as architectural and geophysical surveys, radiocarbon dating, or projects that enhance the general public's understanding of castles.
Proposed projects should have a specific, achievable result that will help advance the field of castle studies. Types of work that can be funded include, but are not limited to:
- site-based survey work (such as geophysical, architectural, topographical, LiDAR)
- excavations
- scientific tests on objects/materials from a castle site (such as radiocarbon dating)
- review of historical sources (only as part of a Castle Studies Trust funded project)
- pieces of work, such as reconstruction drawings, which would help the public understanding of a castle site
The fund is open on the Castle Studies Trust website. The deadline for applications is 1 December 2026.
Apply at Castle Studies Trust
Corra Foundation - Racial Equity Fund
Unrestricted grants to organisations led by and working with people from Black and racially minoritised communities in Scotland.
Grants of up to £50,000 can be awarded over five years, with no more than £10,000 paid in any single year. Funding is unrestricted, allowing organisations to use grants to deliver any aspect of their work.
The fund is open on the Corra Foundation website. The next deadline for applications is 15 October 2026.
Apply at Corra Foundation: Racial Equity Fund
Energy Saving Trust - Plugged-in Communities Grants
The grant provides up to £75,000 towards a new fully electric community transport vehicle. Additional support is available for accessibility adaptations and charging infrastructure, with a maximum total award of £95,000.
Awards can cover up to 100% of eligible costs for a new fully electric vehicle. Eligible vehicle types include cars, multi-purpose vehicle (MPVs), minibuses and vans.
Costs linked to accessibility adaptations and charging infrastructure can also be included within the overall award limit.
Applicants must be recognised community transport organisations or operators based in Scotland with a UK bank account. Groups must have been operating for at least 12 months and provide community transport services.
The fund is open on the Energy Saving Trust website. Applications can be submitted at any time while funding remains available.
Apply at Energy Saving Trust: Plugged-in Communities Grants
Foundation Scotland - Cockaigne Fund
This fund supports musicians working in classical and traditional music, as well as projects exploring connections between cultures and traditions, past and present.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available, although due to high demand, Foundation Scotland expects the average award in 2026 to be around £1,500. Bursaries up to £500 are considered for specialist, one-off courses or masterclasses.
The fund is open to charities, unincorporated organisations, community groups and individuals based in Scotland.
The fund is open on the Foundation Scotland website. The deadline for applications is 21 October 2026.
Apply at Foundation Scotland: Cockaigne Fund
Foundation Scotland - Volant Charitable Trust Large Grants Programme
Grants of up to £75,000 (£25,000 per year for up to three years) for registered charities, community interest companies, community organisations and social enterprises with an annual income below £1 million and who are based and working in Scotland can apply.
Their project must address at least one of three areas of interest with priority given to poverty and deprivation:
- poverty and deprivation (with an emphasis on women, children, young people)
- women
- children and young people
The fund is open on the Foundation Scotland website. The deadline for Stage One applications is 28 September 2026.
Apply at Foundation Scotland: Volant Charitable Trust Large Grants Programme
Gardening with Disabilities Trust
The Trust provides financial support to enable individuals and groups to adapt gardens and access basic equipment.
The aim is to help applicants return to gardening by addressing practical barriers that can arise from physical, mental or visual disabilities.
No upper or lower grant limit is stated. Awards are typically 'for hundreds of pounds.
Applications are considered from individuals and groups across the UK. Applicants are required to join the Trust's Garden Club, with membership offered free of charge.
Support can cover adaptations to private gardens to meet specific needs, alongside help for special gardens in hospitals, centres and schools.
Eligible costs include items such as tools, planting tables, raised beds, paving, wheelchair access, handrails and greenhouses. The Trust also provides information on garden aids and techniques.
Grants can be used for raised beds, poly tunnels, greenhouses, tools, small-scale adaptations such as access pathways, plants or shrubs and compost.
The fund is open on the Gardening With Disabilities Trust website. Applications can be made at any time.
Apply at Gardening with Disabilities Trust
Michael Tippet Musical Foundation
Grants of between £500 and £3,000 for projects across the UK that support young musicians and composers, new music, and music education initiatives.
For 2026, the trustees welcome applications for grants for projects that support group music-making, especially those that involve young people in composing and the development of creative ideas..
The fund is open on the Michael Tippett Musical Foundation website. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2026.
Apply at Michael Tippett Musical Foundation
Nuffield Foundation – Essential Employment Skills Fund
The initiative aims to strengthen evidence on what support helps young people aged 16-24 who face significant barriers to work develop essential employment skills and progress into good jobs.
The Foundation is seeking applications that initiate or develop partnerships between stakeholders, including employers, educators, third sector providers and local and regional government, in order to sustain support for young people.
Grants of up to £500,000 are available.
The Foundation will accept bids from partnerships already established between frontline delivery organisations and independent evaluators. It also expects the support to encourage new collaborations involving employers, educators, charities, researchers and local government.
Eligible costs include work to evaluate UK-based provision, improve mechanisms for sharing learning and advance approaches to measuring essential employment skills, with the intention of informing wider scaling-up of effective practice.
The fund is open on the Nuffield Foundation website.The deadline for applications is 10 December 2026.
Royal Society of Edinburgh – Healthy Planet, Healthy People
Community groups and organisations in Scotland can apply for grants to deliver research projects that promote health through environmental improvements, access to nutritious food and community wellbeing.
Funding is aimed at pilot-scale demonstrator projects that support community-led research and practical solutions. Projects should encourage inclusive participation, particularly from underserved groups, and generate approaches that can be scaled to address local challenges.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available for projects lasting up to 12 months. Funding may be used for research, data collection, community engagement, practical interventions and dissemination activities.
Eligible projects should focus on themes of climate, nature or food and may involve elevating community voices, analysing local issues or trialling place-based solutions.
In addition, this year there is also the new Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Change Award which is a £100,000 funding incentive to further support community-led research across Scotland.
As this initiative is an expansion of the Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Award, the Change Award is open to current and future holders of a Catalyst Award. Two standout projects will receive major funding to grow and scale their work: one grant of up to £75,000 and one grant of up to £25,000 are available.
The fund is open on the Royal Society of Edinburgh website.The deadline for applications is 1 December 2026.
Scops Arts Trust
Grants for registered charities and other constituted, not-for-profit organisations across the UK, to deliver projects and activities that help people to understand, participate in, and enjoy the arts, particularly the performing arts (music, drama, opera, and dance).
The third and final funding round of 2026 will support children's and young people's music education (choirs excluded).
Funding is for programmes that give children and young people opportunities to learn, create, experience, and progress, with a particular interest in applications that concentrate on teaching instrumental playing.
The fund is open on the Scops Arts Trust website.The next deadline for Stage 1 applications is 15 September 2026.
The Arts Society
Grants of up to £3,000 for registered charities with an annual turnover of less than £1 million across the UK to deliver arts and heritage projects and activities.
The theme of the Autumn 2026 funding round is 'Community Engagement'. Proposed projects should meet all of the following criteria:
- focus on public arts or heritage events and festivals
- centre on community participation and cohesion
- bring the arts or heritage into shared public places
The fund is open on the Arts Society website.The deadline for applications is 30 September 2026.
Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT) Charity
Grants of between £5,000 and £15,000 to UK registered charities for projects within the UK that improve digital inclusion, accessibility and participation, particularly for people who face barriers to accessing or using technology.
The funding is for projects that use technology in a meaningful way and support one or more of the charity's priority areas:
- education
- inclusion
- tech for charities
- public understanding of technology
Applications will open on 14 September 2026 and close on 3 November 2026 (or when a cap of 50 applications is reached).
Apply at Worshipful Company of Technologists (WCIT) Charity
East Ayrshire Council Community Grants
To check the next deadline date for applications please contact Democratic Services at Council Headquarters on 01563 554400 for further information.
Apply for a Community Grant
Renewable Energy Funds
To check the next deadline date for applications please contact Democratic Services at Council Headquarters on 01563 554400 further information.
Apply to the Renewable Energy Fund
Tincornhill Quarry Fund – Sorn
For further information on application criteria and deadlines please email secretarytqf@gmail.com
Previous funding alerts
CIT Funding Alert 11 September 2026 (337 KB)
CIT Funding Alert 28 August 2026 (PDF 303 KB)
CIT Funding Alert 10 August 2026 (PDF 355 KB)
CIT Funding Alert 17 July 2026 (PDF 316 KB)
CIT Funding Alert 3 July 2026 (PDF 333 KB)
East Ayrshire 4 Community
You can also search for grants and check your eligibility at East Ayrshire 4 Community, which is a free service.