Grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 are available to UK charitable organisations with an annual income of between £40,000 and £400,000 for the creation of safe spaces for people to meet and be together.
During 2026, the Asda Foundation will again be investing over £1 million through its Local Community Spaces Fund. Grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 are available to community groups throughout the UK to provide a safe space for people to meet and be together.
Applications must address one or both of the Fund’s priorities of:
- Repairing and maintaining community spaces - essential repairs or maintenance to ensure the facility remains safe, functional, and able to serve the community effectively, and/or
- Expanding and improving community spaces - enhancing or adapting spaces to better meet the needs of service users.
Grants can be used for:
- Community Centres or spaces that host a variety of established community groups catering for a wide range of ages, demographics and needs and which offer a variety of activities throughout the week.
- Centres that support the most vulnerable, in areas of high deprivation (eg homeless shelters, food banks, dementia and elderly support, community cafes), and/or
- Youth centres offering targeted support to youths in areas of high deprivation in a space that offers a variety of activities, making a positive difference to health, wellbeing and the lives of young people.
Projects must start after September 2026 and be completed by December 2027.
Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Be a not-for-profit organisation with an annual income of between £40,000 and £400,000
- Have unrestricted reserves no more than the equivalent of six months of operational costs
- Able to evidence financial stability and need
- Have a governing document such as a constitution
- An up-to-date Safeguarding policy for children, young people and vulnerable adults, and
- A bank account in the applying group’s name.
Community spaces must be accessible for community members to interact, seek support and access a variety of services and activities. Applications from groups with free-to-access services that are inclusive to many are encouraged, but groups with fees that prevent participation are less likely to be funded.
Applications are welcomed from:
- Amateur sports clubs who have diversified their sport offering to wider services that strengthen the community, and whose buildings serve as a community hub, offering a variety of services for a range of groups other than those involved in the main sport being offered.
- Community Centres, Community Hubs and Village Hall that are used by a wide range of groups, particularly in isolated areas which might have fewer community spaces.
- Religious buildings that are community hubs for people of all faiths in areas with limited community facilities.
- Scouting, guiding and cadets groups, etc: applications for a space that is a community hub in an area with limited community facilities and where the space is used by multiple different group types outside of the Scouts/Guiding/Cadets community would be considered, and
- Youth clubs whose space hosts a range of activities and groups with a large number of service users, particularly groups who provide services in a low socio-economic area.
Applications that can demonstrate the following are likely to be prioritised for grant support:
- A good track record of ongoing work in a community-hub setting.
- Are providing a local community space in an area of heightened economic and social deprivation.
- Have a wide range of users throughout the community, or those who predominantly support at least one of the following demographics:
- Older people/the elderly
- People on a low income
- Teenagers and young adults, and
- Vulnerable people.; and low-income users
- Groups that would be unable to continue offering their service without the work taking place, and
- Groups that can provide well-thought-out costings which are deemed good value for money
The Foundation gives the following examples of projects that could be supported through the Community Spaces Fund (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
- Boilers and heating
- Building extensions
- Creation of a new permanent space
- Disabled access ramps to a community building
- Essential building security upgrades
- Kitchen and bathroom refurbishments
- Removable items (eg soft furnishings, tables and chairs, white goods and electrical items, garden machinery) provided they only make up a small portion of a wider application to repair, renovate, or develop a community space.
- Roof and floors repairs
- Transformation of a disused space into a functional space, and/or
- Upgrades and replacements to windows and doors
Please note that there is a very long list of exclusions for this funding so do check these before applying. They can be found under the 'we are unable to consider applications from' section of the website.
The programme opened to applications at 10am on Tuesday 14 April 2026 with a short, 2-week application window. The Fund will close to applications at 10am on Wednesday 28 April 2026. However, the Foundation may close the programme earlier than the scheduled deadline if it becomes oversubscribed. Early application is therefore advised. Successful applicants are expected to be notified by the end of July 2026.
Further information and guidance, including an application form, is available on the Foundation's website.