Applying For Funding

Our foundation runs a number of grant programmes throughout the year for organisations supporting people over 65 and an annual income under £250,000 p.a.

 

 

Dementia Grants Programme - Applications open 16th February 2026

The Foundation will be awarding grants of up to £7,500 to more than 20 dementia clubs and memory cafés across the country. These organisations play a vital role in supporting people living with dementia and their carers within local communities.

Grant applications open on Monday 16 February and close on Friday 13 March.

The Foundation team will carry out the initial shortlisting and due diligence.

A sub-committee will meet in the week commencing 20 April to review shortlisted applications.

Final recommendations will be agreed by the Trustees by 30 April.

All applicants will be informed of the outcome within two working days of Trustee approval.

Grant payments will be made by the first week of June.

Please note: applicants whose applications are not shortlisted may be contacted sooner.

See our Grant Guidance here: https://mccarthystonefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-Dementia-Grants-Guidance-v2.1-1.pdf

Creating Connections Grant Programme Autumn 2026 – Closed Application Round

The Creating Connections Grant Programme for 2026 will be a closed funding round. This decision follows an exceptionally high number of applications in 2025, which meant we were only able to award grants to a small proportion of applicants.

We recognise that this may be disappointing for organisations seeking funding in 2026. However, there will be other opportunities to apply for support, including our Dementia Grants Programme in spring 2026 and Festive Connections later in the year.

If you applied to the 2025 Creating Connections Programme and narrowly missed out on funding, we will be in touch with you in September. Payments to successful organisations will be made in late October.

While we are committed to supporting as many charitable causes as possible, we also want to ensure we do not ask organisations to invest time in applying where the likelihood of funding is very limited.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

 

Festive Connections Grants Programme - Applications open in September 2026

We’re pleased to announce that the McCarthy Stone Foundation will be awarding grants of up to £750 to support over 50 charitable organisations to provide festive celebrations and connection for the over 65’s in the most deprived parts of the country.

Core Cost Funding

The Foundation awards unrestricted core funding to grassroots charitable organisations, who have people over 65 at the heart of their work.

Unrestricted funding is only available to registered charities and community groups. We do not fund unrestricted to Community Interest Companies. 

Organisations who can demonstrate a strong alignment with our charitable aims are invited to apply for unrestricted funding, currently up to £7500. If you are unsure whether you should apply for core cost funding, please get in touch for advice.

We know that many small organisations don’t have the resources for complex or extensive grant applications and monitoring, so we will do our best to work with you to make the process simple, transparent, and fair. We will also work with you to help report on the impact the grant will have. You can also find out more in our Grant Making Policy that covers the processes and criteria in greater depth.

Project Funding

We also invite applications for Project Funding. This funding is open to registered charities, community groups, and community interest companies limited by guarantee. This funding is to support a new, or existing, programme dedicated to supporting people over 65 within an organisation.

Although this will typically be restricted, we encourage all organisations submitting an application for project funding to do so on a cost-recovery basis. You can find out more in this article.

Please do get in touch for more information.

Get in touch