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Active Lives

Opportunities through sport and physical activity

Enabling life-enhancing opportunities for individuals living in the most disadvantaged areas in the UK who encounter physical, mental, social, or economic barriers.
Using participation in grassroots sport/physical activity as a catalyst to develop personal and life skills, assisting individuals in discovering and fulfilling their potential.

Eligibility checker How to apply

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Active Lives projects

Through Active Lives we make grants totalling about £700,000 per year. Due to a high volume of applications we were only able to provide a contribution towards 12% of the applications received in the last funding round. Therefore, the Trustees have decided to focus our limited resources. To avoid wasting your time, please ensure you meet our eligibility and funding criteria before starting an application.

We fund applications for physical activity initiatives that: 

Offer high-impact, life-enhancing opportunities for those who live in the top 10% of areas of deprivation 
Remove barriers to participation for disabled or disadvantaged people  
Focus on grassroots involvement rather than elite participation in physical activity 
Focus on skills development and confidence building for individuals 
Incorporate effective strategies for wider impact, perhaps through training, partnerships and/or dissemination activities 
Demonstrate a high degree of involvement across the organisation from beneficiaries and those with lived experience 
Have a well-developed plan for sustainability and seek to deliver a legacy 
Reflect our values:   Excellence, Entrepreneurship, Integrity, Sustainability

Type of funding: We will consider applications for capital, project or core funding.

Location of project: Anywhere in the United Kingdom.

Our funding priorities

Applications which evidence that they meet the funding priorities below will have the best chance of being successful.

Meet income level priorities 

SMALL GRANTS – In your last set of accounts, your organisation’s annual income was under £500,000 
MAJOR GRANTS – In your last set of accounts, your organisation’s annual income was under £5,000,000

Focus on deprivation 

Provide high-impact, life-enhancing opportunities for those who live in the top 10% of areas of deprivation

Are experienced 

Have significant experience using physical activity to engage disabled individuals and/or those who face severe and multiple disadvantage

Provide high impact opportunities 

Focus on using physical activity to provide opportunities for individuals to build their personal skills and self confidence 
Committed to removing barriers to participation in these life enhancing opportunities for disabled or disadvantaged people

Prioritise grassroots and community engagement 

Prioritise grassroots involvement rather than elite participation in physical activity 
Have Trustees, staff and beneficiaries who include people with personal and lived experience of the challenges your community faces 
Understand your community’s needs

Demand excellence 

Support, implement and disseminate best practice
Seek to have a wider impact, perhaps through training, partnerships and/or dissemination activities [major grants only]
Have a strong leadership and can show us the difference your charity has made in your community 
Have good governance in place including signed Safeguarding and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policies, and efficient financial processes. 
Are best placed to deliver the solution

Have an entrepreneurial mind set 

Operate with ambition, inspiration and determination 
Have a vision for your charity’s future 
Seek to find ways to maximise the impact of your work, including the sharing of information with others

Work with integrity  

Act responsibly, respectfully, reflectively and transparently  
Know your strengths and challenges

Strive for sustainability 

Seek to deliver significant outcomes that leave a legacy 
Have plans for financial and environmental sustainability for the initiative and organisation

Eligibility criteria

Your project / activity must:

take place in the UK
provide opportunities for personal or skills development through participation in physical activity
meet the needs of people who face physical, mental, economic or social disadvantage

Your organisation must:

be either a registered charity or a registered CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club)
have been registered with the charity regulator for two years or more (charity applicants)
have been registered as a CASC for two years or more (CASC applicants)
have produced independently examined or audited accounts for at least one full year of operation

Previous grants and applications:

If you have received a grant from PHF before, it must be at least two years since you submitted your final grant report.
If you have applied to PHF before, it must be at least 1 year since you were notified your last application was unsuccessful.

Check if you are eligible

We do not fund

Organisations who already have an active grant with PHF
Individuals
Community Interest Companies (CICs)
Exempt charities
Requests for retrospective funding
Activities that are primarily the responsibility of central or local government
Overseas projects
Adventure challenges or expeditions in the UK or abroad
Projects that are solely for the promotion of religion
Capital works solely to fulfil building regulations regarding accessibility, without strong evidence of existing engagement with target audiences

We provide two levels of funding

Small grants: Up to £5,000

We prioritise applications from organisations with a turnover of under £500,000 

- Projects in Surrey: apply via the Community Foundation for Surrey
- Projects anywhere else in the UK: apply using PHF's online application form

Major grants: £5,001 – £30,000

We prioritise applications from organisations with a turnover of under £5,000,000 

- All major grant applications should be submitted using PHF's online application form

How to apply for a small grant within Surrey How to apply for all other grants

When to apply

Our Trustees meet quarterly to consider grant applications. The timescales for assessment and decisions are:

Application deadline	Decision
1 January	30 April
1 April	31 July
1 July	31 October
1 October	31 January

** Please note that grant applications are currently closed. Applications will re-open on 1st November 2024, and the next application deadline is 1st January 2025 **