Edgar E. Lawley Foundation Announces Launch of its 2025–26 Grants Programme (UK)
The Edgar E. Lawley Foundation has announced that its 2025–26 that its grants programme is open for applications.
UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations working in medicine, elderly care, disability, education, and youth services are invited to apply.
The Foundation typically awards £1,500 to £2,000 per grant, with around £150,000–£200,000 distributed annually. Preference is given to smaller, community-focused charities making a tangible difference within the UK.
Funding is unrestricted but must be used for charitable purposes aligned with the Foundation’s priorities. Projects supporting health care, community wellbeing, arts education, or skills development in commerce and industry are all eligible.
Applications must be submitted via the Foundation’s online form—no additional documents are required. Successful applicants will be notified by mid-December 2025, with payments released before 31 March 2026.
Given the volume of applications and limited award pool, the Foundation encourages organisations to apply early.
The closing date for applications is the 31 October 2025.
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Grants Available for Disabled Individuals and Groups to Play Tennis (UK)
Individuals who are disabled and groups working with people with disabilities can apply for grants that will help them play tennis. The funding is being made available through the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, which offers grants of up to £600 for individuals and up to £1,600 for groups, clubs, or projects. These grants aim to facilitate access to tennis for people with various disabilities, including physical impairments, deafness, learning disabilities, and visual impairments.
The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust welcomes applications from a variety of groups aiming to support disabled individuals in playing tennis. Eligible applicants include disability groups and programmes, tennis clubs, schools, and associations across the UK.
The grants can cover expenses such as coaching lessons with LTA-licensed coaches, court hire, tennis wheelchairs, and equipment like rackets. For individual applicants, the Trust provides assistance in acquiring sports wheelchairs, with specific models available that require a personal contribution alongside the grant. Group applications can seek support for initiating or enhancing disability tennis programmes, covering costs such as indoor court hire, coaching fees, and equipment. All programmes are encouraged to work towards self-financing and sustainability.
To apply, individuals and organisations should complete the appropriate application form—either for individuals or for groups/clubs/projects—available on the Trust's website.
The Trust holds four funding meetings annually and the next closing date for applications is the 26th October 2025.
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Grants of up to £150,000 to Tackle Barriers for Disabled Passengers (UK wide)
The National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat), a UK initiative dedicated to making transport accessible for disabled people has opened applications for its 2025–26 Scaling Innovation Programme.
The programme offers funding and support for projects that tackle key barriers faced by disabled passengers. Delivered by Connected Places Catapult and funded by the Motability Foundation, the scheme aims to build a barrier-free transport system by combining research, technical expertise, and the lived experiences of disabled people.
This round invites proposals addressing three core challenges:
- accessible vehicle stop design,
- improved travel assistance services,
- and better access to live travel information.
Applicants must demonstrate meaningful involvement of people with disabilities throughout their project, which carries the highest weighting in the assessment process.
The programme will run in three phases.
Up to 20 projects will each receive £10,000 in the planning stage. From there, 12–15 selected projects will secure between £50,000 and £150,000 to deliver live trials, with further funding of up to £150,000 available for 8–10 projects progressing to the pre-demonstrator stage.
The competition is open to UK-registered organisations of any size, including academia, research and technology organisations, charities, industry, and local or central government.
Applications close on 7 November 2025, with interviews scheduled for early 2026.
Funding for Respite Breaks for Disabled Children and their Families (UK wide)
Families and groups of children, schools, organisations, and other registered charities can apply for financial assistance from the Adamson Trust for the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children with physical, mental, or emotional impairments.
To be eligible, the child must be a resident of the UK and between the ages of 3 and 17. The Trust requires evidence of their disability or illness from a medical or social services professional. Grants from the Trust usually only cover a portion of the holiday expenses.
The next application closing date is 31 December 2025 for the February 2026 meeting.
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Funding for Projects that Address Severe Learning Disabilities (UK)
UK charities, voluntary organisations, and schools can apply for grants to help children and adults suffering from severe learning difficulties and autism. The funding is being made available through the Baily Thomas General grants programme and can be used to purchase equipment, support capital works as well and cover project and core costs. Previous grants have been used to support capital works for residential, nursing and respite care, and schools; employment schemes including woodwork, crafts, printing and horticulture; play schemes and play therapy schemes; day and social activities centres; support for families, including respite schemes; independent living schemes; support in the community schemes; and Snoezelen rooms. The next deadline for applications seeking funding over £9,000 is the 1st December 2024. Applications for £9,000 and below can be submitted at any time.
Equipment Grants for Disabled and Disadvantaged Young People (UK)
Schools and not-for-profit organisations can apply for funding through the Wooden Spoon Society's Capital Grants programme. Wooden Spoon is a British and Irish Rugby charity that supports projects that help mentally and physically disadvantaged children under the cognitive age of 25. Each year, the charity supports around 70 projects.
Through the programme, funding is available for:
- Buildings and extensions
- Equipment and activity aids
- Sensory rooms and gardens
- Playgrounds and sports areas
- Soft playrooms.
The funding available is for capital items only and will not support revenue costs such as staffing and other ongoing costs. There is no maximum grant limit, However, it is unlikely that a project of a physical nature that is under £2,000 will have sufficient substance and scale to qualify.
Wooden Spoon’s contribution may be up to 100% of the cost, though beneficiary organisations will be encouraged, where practicable, to raise a proportion themselves.
Since its founding in 1983, the Wooden Spoon Society has awarded over £31 million in grants to more than 1,400 projects.
If a project is educational, health and wellbeing or disability sports-focused, a key sport (preferably rugby) element must be used to engage children and young people.
Projects funded in the past have included:
- Ashmount School in Leicestershire received a grant of £13,500 towards a sensory room.
- Enfield Heights Academy in London received a grant of £23,000 to improve its play areas.
- The Colehill & Wimborne Youth & Community Centre received a grant of £8,000 towards a wheelchair lift.
Applications can be submitted at any time.
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Grants of up to £2,000 for Projects Tackling Loneliness Amongst Older People and Adults with a Disability (England, Scotland and Wales)
Grants of up to £2,500 are available to charitable organisations for projects that tackle loneliness amongst older people and adults with a disability. The funding which is being made available through the Barchester’s Charitable Foundation offers these grants to support projects that connect or re-connect people with others in their local community. This could include activity projects, equipment and materials, member transport, and day trips.The foundation also offers grants of up to £1,000 to help individuals with mobility issues. Grants can be used to purchase wheelchairs, scooters, bikes, or car adaptations. There are no deadlines and applications can be submitted at any time.