Guidance on small grants fund 2025/26

Reading Borough Council has allocated £150k for small grants to the voluntary and community sector for the year 2025/26.  

The council is inviting applications for funding to support the aims of our Tackling Inequality Strategy which focuses on enabling our residents to become more self-sufficient, built on a bedrock of valued educational attainment, strong skills and practical knowledge that enables them to realise their potential through accessing suitable employment opportunities.   

The deadline for application is 31/10/25 We aim to notify outcome of the application by w/c 15/12/25 

If you have any queries, please contact Bikal Shrestha, Funding Officer-Community and Government Programmes email:  bikal.shrestha@reading.gov.uk / tel: 0118 937 3324 

Purpose of the funding 

The council’s Corporate Plan 2022-25 ‘Investing in Readings Future’ sets out the vision for Reading to reach its potential and to ensure that everyone living and working can share the benefits of our town’s success.  This commitment is also central to the council’s Tackling Inequality Strategy 2023-26 which demonstrates how the council will go beyond our existing activities and strategies to achieve a more consistent quality of life for our residents in our most deprived areas. 

The specific scope of the Tacking Inequality Strategy is to focus on supporting and guiding our residents to become more self-sufficient, built on a bedrock of valued educational attainment, strong skills and practical knowledge that enables them to realise their potential through accessing suitable employment opportunities.  We will deliver this through an innovative and targeted place-based approach to addressing the underlying determinants of deprivation within the borough that adversely affect education, skills, and training. 

The small grants fund is focussed on supporting the broader objectives of the Tackling Inequality Strategy to create further opportunity for local voluntary and community organisations to play an active role in making Reading a more equal place to live for its residents. 

What can you apply for? 

Grants of up to £5,000 are available for smaller local VCS organisations who are not already financially supported by the council or who have received less than £20,000 in support during 2024/25. 

A proportion of the Small Grants Funding will be used to support bids under £2,500.  This is to provide direct support to smaller scale local activities within our communities. Bidders should provide evidence on how activities are not already provided within local area. 

Who can apply? 

The grant is available to smaller local VCS organisations : 

• With expected income threshold below £100k. 
• Who are not already financially supported by the council or supported below a specified level (£20,000). 

The grants programme is aimed at voluntary and community groups and schools based in Reading borough: 

• Charitable organisations 
• Voluntary organisations 
• Community groups 
• Faith groups 
• Sports groups 
• Arts groups 
• Cultural organisations 
• Uniformed groups (scouts, guides etc.) 
• Schools 
• Not-for-profit social enterprises 

Who can’t apply? 

• Individuals or business organisations. 
• Organisations with income thresholds above £100k.  
• Bidders who have already received £20k or more grant funding via Reading Borough Council (2024/25) will not qualify to apply. 
• Bidders are not eligible to apply for projects that are identical to or a continuation of those for which they received funding in the previous round. 
• One bid per organisation therefore second bid is not allowed to submit by same organisation. 

What will be funded? 

The intention is to encourage small local VCS organisation and innovative community action, and the criteria is non-prescriptive to enable communities to apply for funding to support activities that are right for their community, but applications should demonstrate how they support some, or all of the following key elements of Tackling Inequality Strategy.

 Tackling Inequality Strategy

1. Sharing Reading’s success
   Prioritise support in communities that need it most, so we can achieve our collective ambitions and ensure all residents can benefit from Reading’s success. 
2. Driving skills and employment
   Improve access to skills, education and training, quality employment and volunteering opportunities in areas with the highest levels of need. 
3. Supporting people with greatest needs
   Ensure all communities can access growth and achievement opportunities .
4. Supporting residents experiencing disadvantage
   Closing the gap between the life experiences of our residents.  
5. Making Reading a more equal place to live
   Ensure all communities can access growth and achievement opportunities.

Grants can be awarded for purposes such as:

• One-off local events 
• Running events 
• Minor start-up costs (e.g. to get a new idea/project ‘off the ground’) 
• Purchasing equipment 
• Sessional costs 

To make sure that the funding is not dominated by the more established VCS organisations funding will only be given to a project or activity that addresses an unmet need of Reading residents and is not funded or able to be funded through other sources. Applicants will be expected to disclose their other funding sources. 

What should applications include? 

Within the provision of the information about the application, bidders will need to provide details of the following to demonstrate the impact and realistic viability of their proposals: 

• Project title and aim of the project 
• Current annual Income 
• Evidence of need (data, research, community feedback, examples) 
• Description of what the grant will be used for and how many people are expected to benefit 
• Statement of how it will make a difference/how this will address the need 
• A realistic plan for delivery with a key timeline and potential risks 
• Realistic Budget or expenditure breakdown 
• Details of any match funding and the source of this funding 
• Provide the organisation’s constitution if your organisation is not a registered charity or CIC 

Small Grants Fund 2025-26 Scoring Matrix

Funding conditions 

The project activities proposed for funding must not already be available within local area. 

The funding will be required to be spent within 12 months of the award. Successful applicants will be expected to provide an Interim report on their project after 6 months and a Full report at the end of the project (12 months). 

Decisions 

• Applications will be reviewed against the criteria set out in the background information above and we will aim to notify bidding organisations  w/c  15/12/25. 
• Decisions will be recorded and published on an Officer Decision Notice (ODN). This is a requirement for decisions which can be taken by officers without the approval of a committee where the total of all grants is greater than £100k. 

Appendix 1: SMART objectives example

Are your objectives SMART?

Specific	Measurable	Achievable	Relevant	Timely
Is your objective clear and defined?	Can you provide measurable evidence, such as statistics or percentages, for this objective?	What do you hope to achieve in this timeframe?	How will your objective make a meaningful difference to people in Reading?	When do you hope to achieve your objective? Provide a timeframe
✅ Provide 50 free legal advice sessions for ethnic minority women facing workplace discrimination by Oct 2025.	✅ Increase the number of disabled beneficiaries accessing our services from 30 to 50 by Dec 2025.	✅ Recruit and train 20 volunteer equality ambassadors from underrepresented communities within the next 6 months.	✅ Launch a mental health support programme for LGBTQ+ youth in partnership with local schools and clinics	✅ Every community centre to have free WIFI by end of 2025
❌ Support women facing discrimination	❌ Reach more disabled people	❌ Empower all communities to speak	❌ Support mental health for everyone	❌  Every community centre to have free WIFI