ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT TO APPLY TO SOCIAL INVESTMENT FUND’S SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME FOCUSED ON ARTS, CULTURE, HERITAGE AND SPORT
There are only two weeks left for organisations to apply for grants of up to £15,000 from the Social Investment Fund’s (SIF) Small Grants Programme, aimed at assisting charities and non-profit organisations (NPOs) which support Bailiwick residents.
This is the first round of small grants applications in 2026. This round is open exclusively for applications related to arts, culture, heritage and sport, areas which have previously seen high demand for funding.
A second round of small grants will open later in the year in which applications from all sectors will be accepted. In total, there is around £330,000 available to award to charities under this programme this year.
Since the programme was launched in 2021, 140 small grants have been awarded, totalling over £1.3 million.
Applications are open to registered charities or NPOs operating within or to benefit the Bailiwick of Guernsey and applications should be focused on people in the community, on the services and support they need, or be of benefit to the community.
Under the programme, organisations can apply for a grant of up to £15,000 to put towards one-off projects, capital expenses, or running costs of up a year’s duration. Applications for salary costs within specific projects, usually of up to one year’s duration, will be considered and any other salary costs may be considered on an exceptional basis for no more than one year.
Applications must support one of the following outcomes:
• Improving the lives of people with specific needs, disadvantages or vulnerabilities
• Employment, education or training opportunities
• The protection of our natural environment, culture and heritage
• Improved health and wellbeing for our community
• An inclusive community, which challenge the barriers causing disadvantage or discrimination
In the last round of small grants at the end of 2025, 21 charities received a total of £148,540 across a diverse range of causes.
Guernsey Football Club were awarded £5,000 to support the welfare of girls and women within football via the GFC women’s and girl’s pathway; The Youth Commission for Guernsey and Alderney received £15,000 towards a holiday playscheme for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities; Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Charitable Trust were awarded £7,000 towards costs for assisting some students to attend a school exchange trip to Les Masnieres and Guernsey Arts Commission received £5,700 towards a project for the Year of the Normans in 2027.
Charities in Sark and Alderney also benefited, with the Royal Connaught Residential Home receiving £14,880 towards the provision of 24-hour domiciliary respite care; Alderney Amateur Boxing Club were awarded £6,180 towards Levels 1 and Level 2 coaching course costs; Sark Art Gallery and Museum were granted £4,300 towards the renovation of a storage room.
Tim Barker, Chair of the Social Investment Fund, said:
“SIF values the importance that arts, culture, heritage and sporting activities hold for health, wellbeing and education across the community. We encourage charities of any size across the Bailiwick working on activities or projects in these sectors to apply for support.”
Charities are advised to read the guidelines before completing an application, which can then be submitted online through SIF’s grant application portal. Organisations can review full information about the grants programmes and how to apply, including recipients at: https://sif.gg/grant-programmes/small-grants-programme/
Complete applications for Small Grants must be received by 12pm on Wednesday 1st April.
For enquiries about SIF’s Small Grants Programme please contact Caroline Barby on Caroline.Barby2@gov.gg or 01481 223613.