Grants, generally for up to £15,000, are available to UK charitable organisations, including registered charities and Community Interest Companies, for a wide range of projects and activities, from helping soldiers to adapt to life after service, to assisting elderly veterans maintain their independence.
Formerly known as ABF The Soldier’s Charity, the Army Benevolent Fund provides grants to individuals and organisations. Organisational grants, featured in this item, provide grants for registered charities and organisations for projects and activities that directly benefit the Army Community in the following 6 priority areas:
- Education and employability
- Elderly care
- Families
- Housing
- Independent living, and
- Mental health or fitness
For the purposes of the Charity’s grant support, the term “Army Community” includes veterans, serving soldiers, their families and immediate dependants.
While there is no minimum or maximum award level, most grants made to organisations are for less than £15,000, particularly for applicants with which the Charity has no previous grant-making relationship. For applicants with an established relationship, awards can be for higher amounts. The Charity normally expects a matched funding contribution from applicants. Around 100 grants are normally awarded each year. The Army Benevolent Fund prefers to support charities working at a grassroots level with beneficiaries.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the Charity’s website.
Applications must be made by using the application form available on the Army Benevolent Fund's website. Completed forms should be submitted by email using the address below. Please note that new applicants (ie those that haven’t been supported by the Army Benevolent Fund within the previous 2 years) are required to contact the Fund in the first instance to discuss their grant requirement.
Meetings to consider grant requests are normally held in February, June and November annually. The current application window opened on 24 March with a deadline of 28 April 2026.
Applications will be considered at the charity’s June meeting.
A further application window is scheduled to open on 25 August and close on 6 October 2026. Applications will be considered at the charity’s November 2026 meeting.