Grassroots organisations play a vital role in improving health and wellbeing, building trust and creating lasting change in their communities. That’s why in 2026, Foundation for Future London is partnering with the NHS Race & Health Observatory to launch a new community grant programme pilot to provide funding directly to organisations rooted in the communities most affected by those inequalities.
The NHS Race & Health Observatory Community Grant Programme Pilot will invest £400,000 in organisations led by and working alongside racialised communities, supporting community-led approaches to tackling ethnic and racial health inequalities across England.
Through this pilot initiative, we’ll fund organisations that are already making a difference, while helping to strengthen the long-term capacity, leadership and resilience of the Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities they serve.
The NHS Race and Health Observatory is an independent body that identifies and works to address ethnic and racial inequalities in health and care across England.
Total funding: £250,000
Grant size: £10,000–£15,000
English Regions: West Midlands, South West, Yorkshire and Humber
The Perinatal Mental Health Grants Pilot will support organisations working with racialised communities during pregnancy and the early years of parenthood.
Total funding: £150,000
Grant size: £5,000–£10,000
English Regions: East London, North East and Midlands
The Communities Small Grants Pilot will support community-led action that tackles ethnic and racial inequalities and improves long-term health and wellbeing.
NOTE: The above regions have been prioritised based on evidence of racial health inequities and high levels of deprivation.
Through both grant pilots, we want to:
You do not need to contribute to all these areas. We recognise that organisations will make a positive difference in different ways.
Examples of the kinds of outcomes we hope to see include:
This is more than a grant programme. It’s a chance to help shape how communities, funders and partners work together to tackle ethnic and racial health inequalities.
As a pilot programme, learning is at the heart of what we’re doing. We want to understand not only the difference funded organisations make, but what we can learn together about creating fairer funding and stronger communities.
We’ll look beyond project outputs to explore what really helps communities thrive, including leadership, trust, relationships and belonging.
This learning will be shared. Funded organisations won’t simply report back—they’ll help shape the questions we ask, the insights we gather and what happens next.
Together, we’ll build evidence that can influence future funding, strengthen community-led approaches and help shift power towards the organisations and communities closest to the issues.
This programme exists to address racial and ethnic inequalities in health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes. By anti-racist practice, we mean actively working alongside communities to understand, challenge and reduce these inequalities – recognising how structural racism and other forms of discrimination can affect people’s lives, health and opportunities.
In practice, this can mean addressing barriers to access, valuing lived experience and community knowledge, sharing power and resources, reviewing organisational practices and culture, taking action to improve equity and building equitable partnerships. We recognise there is no single model of anti-racist practice and that organisations will be at different stages of this work. We welcome organisations that are reflective, committed to learning and to taking meaningful action in ways appropriate to their communities, and have designed this register of interest with that proportionality in mind.
The process matters as much as the outcome. Whilst we don’t expect to get everything right with this pilot, these are the anti-racist priorities guiding us:
If you’re part of a grassroots organisation led by and working alongside racialised communities, we’d love to hear from you.
Find out more about each programme and register your interest:
Organisations invited to submit a full application will receive guidance and support throughout the process.
The NHS Race & Health Observatory Community Grant Programme Pilot is commissioned by the NHS Race & Health Observatory and delivered by the Foundation for Future London. The programme has been shaped with support from an independent Steering Group and regional delivery partners, who have helped inform its design, outreach and evaluation to ensure it reflects the needs and experiences of local communities.
The NHS Race & Health Observatory is an independent body that identifies and works to address ethnic and racial inequalities in health and care across England.
Foundation for Future London is an independent charity that designs and delivers community investment, skills, culture and participation programmes. We help funders, businesses and public bodies work alongside communities to create opportunities, strengthen local organisations and ensure investment benefits local people and places.
By combining grant-making, partnership delivery and community engagement, we help turn investment into lasting community benefit.
The Steering Groups provide strategic advice, community insight and oversight throughout the programme. Bringing together lived experience, local knowledge and sector expertise, members act as critical friends to help ensure the grant programmes are equitable, anti-racist, community-informed and accessible.
The groups support the co-design of the programmes, contribute to fair and transparent funding decisions and help capture learning to strengthen future approaches to tackling ethnic and racial health inequalities.
The steering groups include regional partners.
Our regional partners bring trusted local relationships, community knowledge and expertise to the programme. They support local engagement, outreach, learning, and evaluation, helping to ensure that funding reaches the communities it is intended to serve.