These grants support youth organisations working to prevent crime, violence, anti-social behaviour, and County Lines involvement by engaging young people in positive, community-based activities.

Funded projects may include:

Sports programmes 

To promote ongoing physical activity and encourage participation in local clubs or community roles such as volunteering, coaching, or officiating. These initiatives aim to build healthy habits and reduce engagement in anti-social behaviour, crime, alcohol, and drugs.

Creative arts and wellbeing workshops

To support mental health by developing emotional resilience, addressing vulnerability, and strengthening social resistance skills.

Mentoring and personal development programmes

To help young people build confidence, life skills, and a stronger sense of belonging within their communities.

The overall goal is to help young people feel supported, stay safe, and make positive choices, while fostering long-term engagement and connection with their local environment

Physical Activity wellbeing grants support initiatives that encourage people to get moving, whether through walking groups, sports clubs, or active travel schemes. The aim is to make physical activity and active travel a natural part of everyday life, helping people of all ages and abilities stay active, improve their health, and feel more connected to their communities.

Regular physical activity lays the foundation for a healthier and happier life. It helps prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, while also boosting mental wellbeing, reducing stress, and enhancing overall quality of life.

Active travel, such as walking, wheeling, cycling, or scooting, is a key part of this vision. By choosing human-powered ways to get from place to place, people can build more movement into their daily routines. The benefits are far-reaching: healthier lifestyles, more liveable communities, and a cleaner, greener environment.

We particularly welcome applications that focus on groups who face the greatest barriers to being active, including older adults and people with disabilities.

Helping children get the best start in life is key to improving health and reducing inequalities. The early years, from pregnancy onwards, are a crucial time for building emotional, physical, and social foundations. These grants support projects that bring parents, dads, and young children together to bond, learn, and grow, whether through play sessions, parenting support, or family wellbeing activities.

Grants should be used to create or expand community-based projects that meet a clear local need and deliver against early years priorities. Priorities include:

• supporting health in pregnancy
• giving infants the best start
• improving parental wellbeing

Funded initiatives should also aim to reduce health inequalities and, where possible, link with district-based Family Hub Networks.

We recognise there are people of all ages who may be feeling lonely or isolated and we want to encourage everyone to take simple steps to help them feel more connected.

These grants support projects that bring people together in meaningful ways, because staying socially connected is essential for good health and wellbeing. 

This could be through coffee mornings, creative workshops, intergenerational activities and more. These initiatives help to build relationships, reduce isolation and create a sense of community.

We particularly welcome project ideas that engage people who are less likely to connect with mainstream services, especially groups that are at higher risk of poor health outcomes.

By fostering stronger social connections and strengthening links between communities and support offers, these projects contribute to improved mental health, greater emotional resilience, and healthier, more vibrant communities.

Healthy eating and nutrition grants are designed to support initiatives that improve access to nutritious food and promote healthier dietary habits within communities. 

These grants aim to reduce health inequalities by addressing food insecurity, encourage balanced diets and support education around nutrition. The intended health outcomes include lower rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. As well as improved mental wellbeing and overall quality of life.

For example, a grant might fund a community cooking programme that teaches families how to prepare affordable, healthy meals, or support a local food co-op that increases access to fresh produce in underserved areas. These initiatives not only empower individuals to make healthier choices but also foster stronger, more resilient communities.

Grants supporting services, organisations, or established groups delivering community work within Worcestershire.

These grants aim to improve the health and wellbeing of communities by building resilience to risks identified in the West Mercia Community Risk Register which can be accessed here: Community Risk Register West Mercia Police

Projects may address issues such as excess cold, heat, flooding, water safety, power, utility outages, wildfires, pandemics and other local risks.

The grants will focus on safeguarding and enhancing community health outcomes. Funding can be used for initiatives that strengthen wellbeing and resilience in one or multiple risk areas, and applicants are encouraged to identify all relevant risks their project addresses.

Community Creative Health Grants are designed to help community organisations, artists and creatives to work together and improve local residents health and wellbeing through creative activity.

The programme supports projects that use creativity to strengthen physical, mental or emotional wellbeing, build social connection, or engage people in meaningful ways.

Applications might include:

• creative activities that support wellbeing, such as arts, crafts, nature‑based activities, dance, literature, performance, culture or heritage
• creative and accessible ways of sharing public health messages or exploring complex health‑related subjects or experiences

All projects must be delivered with, or through, a community organisation such as a CIC, CIO or similar, and must clearly demonstrate how participants will benefit. Funding is not for individual artistic development, but for initiatives that respond to an identified community need.

Applicants should show how the health and wellbeing benefits of their project will continue beyond the funding period. This could include sustained social connections, improved confidence or skills, shared creative resources, volunteer pathways, or long‑lasting creative outputs.

Eligibility

Examples of eligible projects include:

• nature‑based or creative workshops helping residents manage stress
• a community mural project that builds social connection and reduces isolation
• creative approaches to exploring or communicating key public health topics

While artists and creatives often contribute specialist skills, the grant’s primary purpose is to enable communities to benefit from creative health approaches. Community organisations with ideas are welcome to apply directly. Creatives can also contact us to discuss how we might help connect them with a suitable partner if needed. For enquiries, email: otoye@worcestershire.gov.uk 

Funding priority

Funding priority will be given to projects working in rural areas, Public Health Priority Neighbourhood Development areas, or with underserved communities where there is a clear identified need.

The National Centre for Creative Health defines creative health as: “creative approaches and activities which have benefits for our health and wellbeing. Activities can include visual and performing arts, crafts, film, literature, cooking and creative activities in nature, such as gardening; approaches may involve creative and innovative ways to approach health and care services, co-production, education and workforce development.”

Community Wellbeing Grants are open to:

• registered community organisations
• charities
• third-sector not-for-profit organisations
• town and parish councils
• affiliated sports organisations

Who:

• have an annual turnover of £100,000 or less (with exceptions considered where appropriate)
• have a bank account matching the name of the organisation

We generally do not enter into pooled funding arrangements with other funders. However, organisations may be funded more than once within a single financial year, provided they have submitted satisfactory evidence of delivery and impact from any previous grant awards.

Grants should be used to create new, or expand existing, community-based projects. Either by reaching new groups or introducing fresh activities that respond to identified local needs.

Applications should clearly demonstrate how the project will:

• contribute to reducing health inequalities and improving health and wellbeing outcomes
• address a specific community need
• engage with local residents, ideally through co-production, listening to their experiences and shaping activities around what matters to them

Applicants must outline how they plan to sustain the project once the grant funding has ended, ensuring a continued positive impact on health and wellbeing. 

Here are organisations, businesses, activities and areas we cannot fund:

• purchases prior to funding being confirmed
• activities that promote political beliefs or are designed to impose religious beliefs on others
• on-going organisation core costs e.g., staff
• activities where funding has already been secured
• payments to individuals
• privately owned businesses
• organisations with aims that do not match ours
• anything that discriminates against individuals or organisations
• anything that promotes any illegal or immoral purposes
• significant capital expenditure
• continuation of any earlier grant initiative or programme we have previously funded

We aim to keep the grant process simple and accessible. As part of demonstrating impact, we ask organisations to share short videos, photos, and quotes from participants that show how their project has supported health and wellbeing. 

These stories help us inspire other community groups to take action and use the grant programme to turn local ideas into real benefits for residents. For past case studies, visit our Worcestershire Wellbeing Insights Webpage.

Organisations will be responsible for ensuring appropriate consent for anyone included in images and video content.