The Future Places Fund is now open for applications!

What could your community look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years’ time? The Future Places Fund, delivered in partnership by Leeds Community Foundation and Leeds Civic Trust, invites communities across Leeds to come together, think boldly, and reimagine the future of the places they care about most. We’ll support creative community-led projects that give people a real voice in shaping their future, producing powerful ideas and tangible outputs that spark action, influence decisions, and leave a lasting legacy.

• Grant size: £20,000 (fixed grant, £10,000 per year)
• Location: Leeds
• Duration: 2 years
• Deadline: 07/12/2026 at 12 noon
• Decisions: March 2027
• Read more and apply here

Key information

• We actively welcome more applications from, or benefitting, people under-represented in our grant making, for example LGBTQIA+, racially minoritised, d/Deaf or disabled people
• Funding can support projects that explore the future of a place aiming to influence local action, planning or decisions
• A place can be a defined geographic area (such as a neighbourhood, high street or local site) or a community of interest with a strong shared connection to place or identity.
• Organisations and activities must be based in Leeds
• Applicants must be registered for at least 2 years with the Charity Commission, Companies House or FCA with income of under £750,000 in the latest set of published accounts
• Only one application per organisation can be considered

Examples of activity that can be funded

Below are some examples of types of activity that could be funded, but groups are not restricted to these.

• Community workshops or creative engagement with local people to develop a shared long-term vision
• Street surveys, pop-ups or walking tours to understand, explore and document how a place could change (e.g. The future of a neighbourhood, site or community of interest)
• Work with local communities and partners that sets out clear next steps to influence future action or decisions for a future place

Organisations must create a tangible output or “future artefact” (e.g. report, map, model, exhibition, film) as part of the project.

Who can apply?

• Incorporated not-for-profit organisations (e.g. CIO, CIC limited by guarantee, charitable companies) registered with the Charity Commission, Companies House or FCA Mutuals Public Register.
• Registered charities that aren’t an incorporated structure. These cannot use grants for PAYE staff, only self-employed workers.

Not eligible for grants: 

• Small unincorporated and unregistered organisations.
• For-profit, overseas and statutory (e.g. schools and hospitals) organisations or activities.

All organisations, regardless of size and structure, must have:

• A minimum of three unrelated trustees/committee members/directors, with none registered as Persons with Significant Control.
• A governing document showing how your group is managed (e.g. constitution, memorandum and articles of association) with a dissolution clause/asset lock that ensures the organisation is fully constituted as not-for-profit.
• A bank account in the organisation’s name with at least two unrelated signatories, and at least two signatories required to authorise all transactions.
• Financial accounts that clearly show the organisation’s gross income (or, if you are a new organisation, an income and expenditure report, including details of any assets and reserves and policies relating to them). We do not accept draft accounts.
• Relevant safeguarding policies if working with children or vulnerable adults.

Read more and apply here

Leeds Community Foundation

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