Guidance

Common Ground Award: prospectus

Published 19 September 2025

Applies to England

Grant summary

Purpose: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is committed to building cohesive and resilient communities. The Common Ground Resilience Fund was launched in September to support local places, and a key part of this is promoting the important role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.

The UK government’s Common Ground Award will invest capital funding into VCSE sector organisations that are bringing people together from different backgrounds, supporting the cost of constructing or renovating facilities, or the purchasing of equipment to deliver services.

Type of grant: Competed

Who can apply: The grant is open to applications from VCSE organisations with a base and operating in England, with charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes.

Funding available: Up to £1.7 million capital funding within the 2025/2026 financial year, distributed in payments of up to £10,000 per successful applicant. Applicants will be able to set out how capital investment could be scaled up beyond £10,000, up to a maximum of £50,000, which may be considered in exceptional cases - where there is a clearly demonstrated need, supported by a strong application.

Important dates:

Applications open: 13 October 2025

Deadline for applications: 21 November 2025

Funding awarded: January 2026

Introduction

The bonds that hold society together are put under threat by divisive forces, such as political polarisation, declining trust, social isolation and economic insecurity. These bonds are formed and nurtured at a local level, and often sustained by the vital work of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations that bring communities together and foster connection.  

The UK government’s Common Ground Award aims to recognise good practice across England, in promoting social cohesion, by directly investing in organisations making a positive impact.

Organisations will be assessed based on how their objectives and activities seek to build bridging social capital – this describes work that builds social connection across and between different communities.

Organisations who receive the award will also be invited to participate in a community of practice, to enable knowledge sharing between organisations, and contribute to a wider discussion on building social cohesion across the country, with government stakeholders.

In addition to inviting awarded organisations to participate in the community of practice, other organisations who were not selected for the award, or who do not apply, will be provided opportunities to engage in the future, to ensure a broad and diverse range of voices are heard.

Grant objectives

The Common Ground Award aims to:

• identify and reward good practice in building bridging social capital
• invest in the physical spaces and equipment that enables good practice
• build a community of practice, for knowledge sharing across the voluntary and community sector and with government

Who can apply - in detail

To apply for this grant, your organisation must be a VCSE organisation with a base and operating in England, with charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. This includes:

• an organisation registered as a charity with the Charity Commission
• a charitable incorporated organisation registered with Companies House and with the Charity Commission
• a company limited by guarantee registered with Companies House, that is established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes
• a community interest company registered with Companies House
• a community benefit society registered by the Financial Conduct Authority

• an unincorporated community group or organisation, or an unincorporated association that is:

  • established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes
  • has a governing body with at least 3 members
  • has an inclusive membership policy
  • has a governing document
  • can provide accounts for the last two financial years
  • has its own UK business bank account
  • can hold land or property and enter into contracts either by itself or via trustees

Those who are not eligible to apply include:

• local authorities and other public sector organisations
• profit distributing organisations
• individuals
• regulated education sector organisations (e.g. schools, further and higher education institutions, universities)

As part of our standard processes, we will carry out full due diligence checks on applicants before any funding is released.

We aim to ensure a broad geographic spread of awards, as well as a range of organisations, projects and activities, across England to enable the benefits of funding to reach a diverse range of communities. There will not be a fixed allocation by region, or project/activity, however in the event of a large number of applications, consideration will be given to these factors.

Organisations are eligible to make one application. If an organisation makes multiple applications, then we will assess the first one that is submitted.

Funding available

The maximum budget for the 2025 and 2026 financial year is £1.7 million, which we will award as soon as possible after the application window. This is likely to take place in January 2026.

There is no minimum amount of funding that you can apply for. Successful organisations will be awarded up to £10,000, as a capital grant.

Applicants are welcome to also outline how capital improvements could be scaled up further, beyond £10,000, up to a maximum of £50,000. However, such requests will only be considered in exceptional cases – subject to availability of scheme funding, and where the applicant has a high overall assessment score against the criteria set out below, including a strong justification for the proposed level of investment.

Applications must state the level of funding required, that can be committed for spending by 31 March 2026. Grant funding will be confirmed through a grant funding agreement. Organisations may be offered a lower amount of funding than requested.

Capital grants can be used to support new builds, refurbishment, and expansion of facilities used to build bridging social capital. Funding can also cover essential equipment, such as laptops or furniture for the property.

Assessment criteria

The application form is designed to keep the process proportionate and accessible to smaller organisations, whilst capturing the essential information needed to assess alignment with the grant’s objectives.

We will carry out an initial review of all applications to ensure basic eligibility criteria (for example, that you have a base and operate in England, as a relevant organisation) are met, before initiating a full assessment.

Applications will be assessed with five criteria. The application form will ask you about:

1. Strategic alignment – do your organisation’s aims and activities align with the fund’s objective to build bridging social capital?

2. Community engagement – does your organisation engage communities and other organisations effectively, in the planning and delivery of its work?

3. Community impact – what are the demonstrable outcomes from your organisation’s work for community benefit?

4.Sustainability – does your organisation plan to build on its work, and have a lasting impact in the communities it serves?

5. Use of funding – do you have a reasonable use for the capital investment requested?

This criteria is not intended to create a narrow definition of good practice, as we recognise that organisations working in this space are diverse in context, community and approach.

Instead, the criteria allows for a wide range of evidence to show how your organisation is effectively building bridging social capital. As set out in guidance, the criteria can be met in many ways. Each of the five criteria will be scored from 0 (no evidence) to 3 (exceptional evidence), and any applications scoring 0 against any criterion will not be eligible for funding. The weighting of each section is set out below.

Due to the high volume of applications we may receive, we may not be able to seek further clarification on any part of your submission. Make sure all information is clear and detailed to give your application the best chance of success.

MHCLG and ministers reserve the right to vary these conditions, and the right to not make an award, and either withdraw or reduce the funding to the grant recipient if reasonably required.

Section 1: Organisation details

This section is not assessed, but will determine eligibility for the award.

We’ll ask for:

• Details of primary contact
• Basic eligibility details (legal status of your organisation, and charity or company number if applicable)
• How many years your organisation has been operating
• The turnover of your organisation in 2024/2025

Section 2: Strategic alignment

This section is assessed.  It is weighted at 25%.

We’ll ask for an explanation of how your organisation aligns with the core objective of the fund to build bridging social capital.

Section 3: Community engagement

This section is assessed. It is weighted at 25%.

We’ll ask how your organisation engages with communities and other organisations throughout its work. Positive evidence could reference (but is not limited to):

• how relationships are built in communities
• working across multiple and diverse communities
• engaging communities in the co-design of projects
• relevant partnership working with other organisations
• seeking feedback to improve projects
• participation from historically excluded groups

Section 4: Community impact

This section is assessed. It is weighted at 25%.

We’ll ask how your organisation has made a positive impact on the communities it serves, by building bridging social capital. Positive evidence could reference (but is not limited to):

• greater levels of interaction, trust or understanding between groups
• formation of new networks, partnerships and friendships
• improvements in mental health and confidence, and reduced isolation and loneliness for participants

Impact can be demonstrated by providing an example of any recent projects or events your organization has undertaken. You can include up to 3 links to online reports, social media pages or other similar accessible webpages, as supporting evidence.

Section 5: Sustainability

This section is assessed. It is weighted at 12.5%.

We’ll ask how your organisation will continue to make an impact into the future. Positive evidence could reference (but is not limited to):

• longer term plans for projects, including how these could be sustained, improved or scaled-up further
• plans to evaluate and measure the impact of projects

Section 6: Funding request

This section is assessed. It is weighted at 12.5% and will be used to determine the size of capital grant awards.

We’ll ask for:

• how much capital funding you are requesting
• what you expect to commit funding to by 31 March 2026, with any capital improvements made in England

All applicants will be required to set out how funding of up to £10,000 will be used. If you are requesting over £10,000 you will also be asked to set out how you would scale up the proposed capital improvement, demonstrating the need for and expected impact of additional funds.

Please note that organisations may be offered less funding than requested, so it is important to consider how your proposed improvements could be scaled down.

Section 7: Declaration

This section is not assessed.

We’ll ask you to declare that:

• all information provided is correct
• that your organisation will not make a profit from the activities supported by grant funding
• that grant funding will not be used for the purposes of supporting extremist causes, undertaking political activity or facilitating exclusively religious activity

Timeline

13 October 2025: Application window opens

21 November 2025: Application window closes

January 2026: Organisations notified of application outcome and funding awarded to successful applicants

Roles and responsibilities

MHCLG will:

• provide guidance and access to support through a mailbox
• assess applications against the assessment criteria
• notify applicants of funding decisions
• provide funding as agreed in the grant funding agreement
• set reporting and monitoring requirements

If successful, you must:

• act in good faith with MHCLG
• sign a grant funding agreement, based on the Cabinet Office template and your funding request
• provide evidence of costs, if requested
• be accountable for delivery of capital spend
• co-operate with due diligence checks
• take part in monitoring and evaluation
• comply with the Equality Act 2010
• be responsible for using the funding in accordance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. In particular, this means informing MHCLG before accepting the funding if the funding might cross-subsidise an economic activity. For example, if the funded premises or equipment is used for the purpose of a business (excluding incidental or occasional use)

Successful applicants will be invited to join a community of practice, with other organisations working towards a shared goal of building bridging social capital in communities across England. This may involve future invitation to events to share good practice across the VCSE sector, and feed into consultative forums hosted by government.

Successful applicants will be asked whether they are content for their organisation to be added to a published directory of Common Ground Award recipients, and have contact details shared amongst the network of practice membership.

Unsuccessful applicants may request to see their scores and a reason for the application outcome, but we will not provide any further feedback.

Apply for funding

The application window will open on 13 October 2025.

Contact CGA@communities.gov.uk for any questions about the grant or to register your interest in applying.