Funding

Funding opportunities that are available to support getting people across Greater Manchester moving

Below you will find a number of local, national and self-funding opportunities to support you.

If you are submitting funding bids, ensuring they are backed by valid evidence is essential to give you the greatest chance of success.

Head to our data and learning section to find the data to support your funding application.

You can also use the Office for National Statistics website to find local data, Build a custom area profile - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).  

The Movement Fund

The Sport England Movement Fund provides crowdfunding pledges, grants and support to help projects that get more people active. The Movement Fund supports projects that promote physical activity, including active travel, walking, cycling, dance, fitness, and sporting activities. Projects providing opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity are of particular interest, such as: 

  • People living on low incomes 
  • Disabled people or those with long-term health conditions 
  • Older people 
  • People from culturally diverse communities 
  • Pregnant women and parents with very young children 
  • Girls aged 5-16 
  • LGBTQ+ people 
  • People who are in foster care 
  • People who provide care without pay

The fund is also particularly interested in projects that address the challenges faced by individuals with combined characteristics, such as people with long-term health conditions alongside caring responsibilities.

Grant amount: £300 to £15,000

Applications can be submitted at any time.

GM Walking and Wheeling Fund 24-25

The GM Walking and Wheeling Fund (GMWWF) Grants programme offers grants of up to £5,000 to voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to deliver projects to get more people walking and wheeling.

The GM Walking and Wheeling Fund is now closed for applications.

More information

Buddle (formerly Club Matters)

Buddle provides a guide to grant funding on their website, with some useful tips and resources: Grant funding guide
They also run webinars on a range of subjects, including Raising Money, that you can access through their website: Learning with Buddle

Local support

If you're looking for local advice, grants and funds or need support to write better bids and diversify your income, take a look at what support you can find in your area: 

Forever Manchester also provides updates about funding opportunities available across Greater Manchester: Forever Manchester  

The above websites are updated regularly and have funding bulletins with new opportunities, so you can register for email updates or check back regularly.  

Methods to generate your own funds 

There are many other ways in which you can generate funds to cover a wide range of needs. 

National Funding 

  • Sport England offer a range of funding to support project funding, diversifying the volunteer workforce and improving community assets. Visit the Sport England funding page. If you're unsure if the funding is right for you, visit Sport England FAQs.

Some websites provide news updates of funding streams available or a grant search function. Many are national grant schemes, and not specific to Greater Manchester:

Some funding streams are open but have location criteria:  

Large supermarkets often provide funding for community projects. The criteria and eligibility for these funds change frequently, so you should check them regularly for updates:  

Some large organisations run their own grant giving schemes. They may be open at different points of the year or have different funding cycles, so you should check them regularly for updates: