Crisis and Resilience Fund: Applications now open!

Background and context

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is a new 3-year programme, funded by the UK Government, which started on 1 April 2026. CRF replaces the Household Support Fund (HSF) and has a clear shift in emphasis. While crisis support remains important, the focus is now on building resilience, supporting people to be better equipped to manage financial pressures, reduce the likelihood of repeat crises, and improve longer-term outcomes. Successful CRF activity across Leeds should change the landscape over the next three years, helping people become more financially resilient and less dependent on free emergency food aid.

The CRF in Leeds is led by a partnership of the following organisations:

Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL)
Forum Central
Leeds Older People’s Forum (LOPF)
Leeds Community Anchor Network (LCAN)
Leeds Food Aid Network (FAN)

About the fund

This is a three-year programme, and a shared journey with the sector. CRF is focused on achieving the following Resilience outcomes:

Reduced experiences of material deprivation
Reduced need for emergency food parcels
Increased access to appropriate and quality advice services
Increased savings
Reduction in priority debt
Maximisation of individuals’ incomes
Decreased need for crisis/housing payments

We understand that third sector organisations may need to progress and develop their ‘resilience offer’ during the funded period, and that your organisation may not have everything in place at the start of the grant. We are interested not only in what you are delivering now, but how you see your work developing as part of building resilience within your community. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be offered ongoing support from one of the CRF partners.
We have produced a visual guide to the types of activity that can support resilience, and this is available to download in the ‘Further Information’ section below. Please note that these are examples and not exhaustive.

Work funded by CRF helps to reduce individuals’ dependence on free emergency support (especially food) and increase independence (resilience). We know food is often an effective way for organisations to engage people, and this will continue to be supported where resilience-building is part of the approach. Funding will prioritise work that goes beyond meeting immediate need by offering more holistic, wrap-around support, including links to advice, financial assistance, skills, and wider community opportunities.

There will also be a strong emphasis on partnership working. We actively encourage collaborative approaches, where organisations come together to combine their strengths and offer joined-up support. For example, a community anchor or similar organisation may choose to submit a partnership bid on behalf of a group of local organisations, demonstrating how working together can strengthen community resilience.

CRF work should link to the following principles:

person-centred
needs-based
holistic
a ‘no wrong door’ approach to supporting individuals
trauma informed

Details of the CRF Foundation grant round

Grant applications open: Thursday, 23 July 2026

Grant applications close: Monday, 24 August 2026

Grant decisions by panel: September 2026

Amount: Unincorporated organisations can apply for a maximum of £3,000. There is no maximum amount you can apply for if your organisation is incorporated/registered.

Duration of grant (choose one only):

You can apply for a 12-month grant (starting on 1 April 2026 and ending on 31 March 2027) if your organisation has already been providing resilience activities this financial year OR
You can apply for a 7-month grant (starting in September 2026) for resilience activities until 31 March 2027

Next round of funding: A 5-month grant round is likely to open in early autumn 2026 for new applicants that can meet the CRF grant requirements, and for existing CRF grantees who wish to apply to do additional resilience work. This also ends on 31 March 2027.

You’ll be expected to collect monitoring information for the duration of your grant and submit this on a spreadsheet. We expect that most organisations will only select a minimum of one and a maximum of two resilience outcomes. If you’re applying for a smaller amount of money, we only expect you to select one outcome. Please choose carefully. This is because grantees will report back on these outcomes in their monitoring as they form a key part of expectations set by Central Government. All grantees will need to complete an online end-of-grant monitoring report, and a small number of grantees will also be asked to provide more detailed information in a case study, which we will share with Leeds City Council. You’ll find the monitoring spreadsheet in the ‘Further Information’ section below to help you develop your grant application.

What is the Grants Panel looking for?

Applications do not need to be lengthy. We are looking for:

Clear and concise answers that demonstrate how resilience-building activity sits alongside any crisis intervention work
A clear explanation of how your activities contribute to one or two CRF resilience outcomes
Information on the resilience work done since April 2026 for organisations applying for a 12-month grant
Evidence that your organisation is well connected to and trusted by the community it serves
Clear and realistic activities which are deliverable within the funding period
An explanation of how your organisation hopes to develop its resilience offer over the lifetime of the fund
Evidence of joined-up working. This does not need to be a formal partnership bid, but applicants should demonstrate how they connect people to other organisations, services, or support within their area or community
For partnership bids, applications will also be assessed on their approach to partnership working, including how organisations will collaborate, refer, and contribute to building community resilience
A clear top-line budget showing how funding will be spent and how it will provide direct benefit to communities
Realistic estimates of how many people will benefit, and how these figures have been calculated
Activities that are person-centred, holistic and build independence, rather than providing crisis support alone

Remember: You do not need to have everything in place from day one. We recognise that organisations are on a journey, and we are interested in both what you are delivering now and how you plan to strengthen resilience within your community over time.

Who can apply?

We encourage applications from a wide variety of VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social

Enterprise) organisations representative of the communities and geographies of Leeds:

Small unincorporated and unregistered organisations (i.e. not a registered charity, CIC or social Enterprise) can apply and will be eligible for grants up to £3,000
There is no upper limit to grants for incorporated or registered organisations and partnerships. Applicants should apply only for the level of funding necessary to deliver their proposed activity, taking into account the finite nature of the fund and the need to distribute resources fairly across Leeds
Organisations supporting people with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) can apply. While CRF funding should not normally be used to support people who are ineligible for public funds, they are not automatically excluded from the fund. In limited circumstances, support may be possible where the Council or relevant Authority can rely on other legal powers to meet wider duties, such as meeting eligible care needs, addressing child welfare concerns, improving public health, or preventing a breach of human rights. Where support is based on these alternative legal powers, rather than the Localism Act 2011, support may be provided to people with NRPF. Any decision to use CRF funding in these circumstances must be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking account of the relevant legal powers, duties, NRPF legislation and CRF guidance. If required, additional information is in the ‘Further Information’ section below
Schools are not eligible for this fund unless part of a partnership bid. You must show how you are offering more than just crisis intervention to be funded; this can be as part of a wider partnership, which we encourage

How to apply

We have created a range of ways that groups and organisations can apply for a CRF grant:

Online: To complete an online application via Jotform, please click this link to take you to the online CRF grant application form. This is our preferred way to receive applications.

Email: Download the application form to your computer, type your answers, save it and email it to grants@forumcentral.org.uk

Post: Call Forum Central on 0113 244 1697 to request a printed copy of the application form and guidance notes. Alternatively, download the application form, print it, handwrite your answers and post to:

CRF Grants team, Forum Central, Suite E1 Joseph’s Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds LS3 1AB

Voice recorder: Read the questions on the application form and speak your answers into a voice recorder app on your smartphone, then email this audio file to grants@forumcentral.org.uk

If you are awarded funding, we will send you a link to an online CRF grant agreement form which must be signed and returned to us for us to release funds.

Further Information

We will be hosting a Meet the Funder webinar on Wednesday, 29 July 2026 at 1 pm to discuss the fund and answer any questions you may have. To register, please visit: Doing Good Leeds | Meet the Funder Webinar

To support third sector organisations to provide relevant and timely advice to individuals, we have asked Chapeltown Citizens’ Advice Bureau to develop ‘Advice Signposting’ training. This will be freely available, and all CRF-funded organisations are expected to send at least one representative to this training before March 2027 (likely to be two half-day sessions).

If you have any questions about the grant application process, please email grants@forumcentral.org.uk or call 0113 244 1697.