voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
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Armed Forces Covenant: Rise Programme Pilot
Created: 03/02/2026
News/Events Category: Funding and Finance
The aim of this programme is to pilot a small number of grants to organisations to provide additional capacity to review their governance, strategic growth, maturity of impact measurement and financial resilience, to ensure they’re better equipped to support their beneficiary cohort.
All projects must meet this overarching aim and the following programme outcome:
- The organisation has developed an actionable vision to more effectively provide its services to those in the UK armed forces community who’ve given the most.
You can apply for a grant of up to £30,000 in total towards a project being delivered over a period of 6 to 12 months. In exceptional cases, the Trust will consider awarding an enhanced grant. You can request up to an additional £20,000 to enhance your project.
Enhanced awards will only be considered for organisations wishing to work alongside other organisations. The other organisation will need to be benefitting from the work and achieving similar sustainable outcomes, rather than simply backfilling support or providing some other service. For example, provision might include the legal costs of both organisations looking to merge; or perhaps exploring opportunities to merge back-office functions, to support efficiency savings.
Who can apply?
As this is a pilot programme, it is open to small or medium armed forces charities only.
Your charitable objects, as outlined in your governing document, must explicitly state that you support the armed forces community.
Additionally, the support your organisation provides must have a UK-wide reach and primarily relate to the ‘special consideration’ element of the Armed Forces Covenant. ‘Special consideration´ is defined by the Armed Forces Covenant as support for those who have given the most.
They are defining the size of the charity as follows:
Small charity – annual income of £10k – £100k Medium charity – annual income of £100k – £1m
Minimum annual income: £10,000
Maximum annual income: £1,000,000
How to apply
Before making your application to this programme, they strongly recommend you use the helpful resources listed on their website to ensure you make the best application you can.
Applications can only be made via their online portal.
The closing date for applications is 11.59am on Wednesday 18 February 2026.
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