What We Fund

What do we fund?

We award grants to non-profit organisations including social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups, which tackle inequalities and help those most in need across the Borough of Guildford.

We also focus on supporting those organisations with an emphasis on delivering education, skills and opportunities leading to employment.

These include:

  • Supporting projects which offer training opportunities, offer work experience and/or encourage the development of new skills, particularly for those not in education or employment
  • Supporting social enterprises, including their development and sustainability
  • Supporting initiatives which work with the community to reduce inequality
  • Increasing income generation by relevant charities and community and voluntary organisations, and to help them to become more sustainable 
 

Grants may fund existing services or facilities, new initiatives and specific projects or can contribute to either capital costs such as funding new equipment or support on-going running costs.

All grant applications put forward to Guildford Philanthropy by the Community Foundation for Surrey are reviewed by our panel who make the final decision to award the grant.

Apply for a grant

Click the button to be directed to the Community Foundation for Surrey’s grant application page to complete an Expression of Interest Form.

The Community Foundation for Surrey Grants Team conduct preliminary due diligence into grant applications before they are considered by the Guildford Philanthropy Panel.

Previous grants

Here are a few of our previous grants click on them to view how they helped our community.  To see all of the grants we have awarded to the community click the view all stories button below.

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Management –...
Funding is sought to...
Oakleaf Enterprise – Grants
“Having been out of...
Home-Start Guildford – Volunteer recruitment
Guildford Philanthropy has kindly...

Grants for carers

Guildford Philanthropy, through two sub-funds that sit under its umbrella, provides support to unpaid and often unseen carers in our Community. Below you will find more information about both sub-funds.

Guildford Young Carers

A young carer is normally someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative who has a condition, such as a disability, illness, mental health condition or a drug or alcohol problem.  Most young carers look after one of their parents or care for a brother or sister.  They do extra jobs in and around the home, such as cooking, cleaning or helping someone to get dressed and move around.


Spending a lot of time caring for someone can impact on how well a young carer does at school or limit their opportunities to do the same things as other children or young people.  Guildford Young Carers aims to support young people who find life replaced by caring for a relation within the family unit that causes a negative outcome and lost time and who are unable to access help.


We award grants to support young carers in the Borough of Guildford.   Grants will support young carers by providing services or equipment that will help them with their educational, emotional and social needs, but will not cover duties that are statutory responsibility of local authorities.

Examples of eligible costs that may qualify for grant support include:

  • additional non-statutory support in school or college
  • extra tuition or educational support outside school or college
  • IT or other equipment to support educational needs
  • school trips, outings or residential activities
  • courses
  • music, sports or play activities or other clubs outside school (including membership fees)
  • opportunities to meet other young carers

Carers Support Guildford

Will award grants to support carers who are in need and who live in the borough of Guildford.  Grants will support carers with the costs of respite from their caring role, or provide a service or equipment that supports them in that role but will not cover the duties that are the statutory responsibility of the local authorities.


The Sub-Fund will support carers with the following which will not be exclusive:

  • contribution towards respite holidays or breaks
  • club membership
  • courses
  • second-hand computers or other IT equipment
  • holiday play schemes
  • travel costs for specific activities
  • cover for the carer when engaged in a respite activity