Ealing Council’s Borough of Sanctuary Community Fund provides grant funding to voluntary, community, faith and not-for-profit organisations to deliver projects that welcome and support sanctuary-seeking communities in the borough.
The Fund forms part of the council's Borough of Sanctuary programme and supports community-led initiatives that respond to local need, improves access to support and help people to feel safe, connected and able to participate in community life.
A total of £90,000 is available through this funding round. A separate allocation of £10,000 was used to support Refugee Week activities (15 to 21 June 2026) and is not included within this funding round.
Who the Fund supports
The Fund is open to projects supporting sanctuary-seeking communities in the borough. This includes people seeking asylum, refugees, people arriving through resettlement or humanitarian routes, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people, and people facing serious insecurity connected to forced migration or protection needs.
Priority beneficiary groups for 2026-27
For this funding round, the council particularly welcomes applications that support people:
- who are currently going through the asylum process, including where an asylum-related appeal or review is ongoing
- within 12 months of receiving an asylum decision, whether that decision grants protection or does not grant protection
These priority beneficiary groups will be considered as part of the assessment process but does not constitute an eligibility requirement. Projects supporting other sanctuary-seeking communities remain eligible where they provide a compelling evidence of unmet need.
Dependent family members may also benefit from funded activities where this is directly connected to the needs and outcomes of the primary beneficiary group.
Amount of funding available and grant tiers
|
Grant tier |
Amount |
Typical use |
Application route |
Monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Small |
£1,000-£3,000 |
Short community activity for example, outreach, workshops, pilot activity or translation. |
Small grant application form |
Short final report and spend summary |
|
Standard |
£3,001-£10,000 |
Time-limited or higher-intensity projects, for example, group work, advice, wellbeing or targeted support. |
Standard application form |
Midpoint check-in and final report |
|
One Large grant |
£10,001-£20,000 |
One exceptional, high-impact project with strong evidence of need, wide reach, consortia or partnerships with demonstrable capacity to deliver measurable outcomes. |
Standard application form plus additional strategic questions |
Detailed midpoint and final reports, evidence of project spend |
There is no fixed number of small or standard grant awards. One exceptional high-impact award of between £10,001 and £20,000 may be made. An award above £10,000 is not guaranteed. If no application meets the criteria for an exceptional award, the funding may instead be allocated to small and standard grants.
The council reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to award less than the amount requested and/or impose conditions on an award where it considers that a reduced grant would still enable the project to be delivered successfully.