Lasting Impact Small Community Grants Programme

Supporting community-led health and wellbeing projects across Grampian

Our Lasting Impact Small Community Grants Programme supports local charities and community groups to help deliver projects which improve health and wellbeing for people across Grampian. Grants of up to £10,000 are available to support activities which aim to make a lasting difference for NHS Grampian patients, families, and communities.

NHS Grampian Charity has been supporting community-led health and wellbeing initiatives since the launch of its Community Grants Programme in 2020.

Since then, we have awarded more than £1.5 million to more than 150 local projects, helping charities and community organisations to support people across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray.

The Lasting Impact Small Community Grants Programme builds on this work, bringing our community funding together under the wider Lasting Impact Programme and focusing on projects which can create meaningful, long-term benefit for people across Grampian.

The image shows five women sitting on a row of plastic chairs. The woman to the right of the photo has blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wears a black t-shirt with black trousers. The other women have grey hair and wear glasses. They are wearing a mixture of t-shirts, jumpers and cardigans. All the women have thrown small yellow and blue yoga balls into the air and are looking at the balls as they try to catch them.
Image shows a mum with a baby on her lap, talking to another lady. The mum is wearing a pale yellow t-shirt and has long, brown hair. She is holding a small baby, who is wearing a blue knitted jumper. The other lady is wearing a white t-shirt and has short brown hair. She is holding the baby's sip cup, and handing the mum and baby a cellophane-wrapped toothbrush and toothpaste.

Who can apply?

The Lasting Impact Small Community Grants Programme is open to local community groups and charities who are delivering projects which support health and wellbeing in Grampian.

What can the grant be used for?

This funding can be used to support capital or equipment costs, or to help organisations test a new project, activity, or way of working which responds to local needs.

Up to a maximum of 15% of your application can be for overheads or running costs of that specific project. By this, we mean things like management or admin costs, rent, utilities, resources, and marketing materials.

Your project must demonstrate a clear benefit for the people of Grampian, and the charity prioritises funding for projects that:

  • Delivers clear and tangible benefit for patients in Grampian
  • Supports prevention, wellbeing and mental health
  • Reduces health inequalities and improves access to care
  • Enables people and communities to live well
  • Promotes positive health outcomes for children, young people and families
  • Tests new or innovative approaches with potential wider benefit

How much can we apply for?

Organisations can apply for up to £10,000, and requests should be based on the specific needs, costs, and anticipated impact of your project.

We encourage applicants to carefully consider the amount of funding required and to demonstrate how their proposal represents good value for money, rather than applying for the maximum amount available by default.

Applications can be made to support projects up to 12 months in duration, and projects must be started within three months of the grant being awarded.

Image shows a close up of a lady painting. She is wearing a white jumper, with only her hands and arms visible. Art supplies including pots of pink, black and white paint and a mixing palette are arranged beside her. She is painting a polar bear with its mouth open, using a printed image for reference.
Image shows a group of five men sitting around a circular table. They are drinking from mugs of tea and conversing with each other.

Would another grant programme be more suitable?

The Lasting Impact Small Grants Programme is designed for local charities and community groups seeking up to £10,000 to support community-led health and wellbeing initiatives. One of our other Lasting Impact Programme funding strands may be more suitable if your project does not fit this programme.

Lasting Impact Small Research Grants Programme:

This programme may be more suitable if your project is a pilot or preliminary research study. Grants of up to £20,000 are available to NHS Grampian staff and researchers at Grampian universities to support research projects which have the potential to change NHS Grampian care and attract future external funding.

We anticipate this programme will open in August, at which point further details will be available.

Lasting Impact Large Grants Programme:

This programme may be more suitable if your project is larger in scale, requires more than £10,000, or would benefit from funding over a longer period. It will offer funding for up to three years with no upper financial limit, and will be open to local charities, community groups, NHS Grampian services, and Grampian universities.

We anticipate this programme will open in mid-October, at which point further details will be available.

How do we apply?

Applications for the Lasting Impact Small Community Grants Programme are now open. Please download and read the guidance notes before completing and submitting your application.

Download the Application Form
Download the Guidance Notes

The charity will be holding an information session for prospective applicants via Teams on Wednesday 5th August at 11am. Please click here to register for the information session.

We will walk applicants through the application form and provide an overview of what we are looking for in your answers, and we will answer general questions about the programme. Please note, we are unable to answer questions about specific projects (e.g. “will you fund this project?”).

Applications close on Wednesday 31st August.

Following this, all applications will be reviewed and shortlisted by an internal panel, before being reviewed by a Patient & Public Involvement & Engagement panel.

We anticipate that applicants will be notified of the outcome in late October or early November.

Please note than any changes to this timescale will be shared on our social media channels. We are unable to notify individual organisations due to the high volume of applications anticipated.

Meet our previous Community Grants Programme recipients