The Your Voice Your Town Hanwell Town Team is inviting applications for the Your Town Your Future Fund.
Do you have a brilliant idea to improve Hanwell? We are looking for ideas that:
Your idea could be the seed and the spark that makes a real difference to your community.
Before you make an application to Hanwell Your Future Fund, please take the time to read the information available here. It is designed to help you prepare a strong application and ensure your project idea aligns with what is important in our Town.
The Your Town Your Future Fund is designed by the Hanwell Town Team to support projects that make a difference to the Town. The funding is to help support change powered by communities, recognising that some of the best solutions and ways to improve our Town come from the community itself. The funding is supplied by Ealing Council, but the process is designed by the Town Team.
For smaller grants under £1k we welcome applications from everyone. You can be
For larger grants between £1,000-£6,000 you need to be a registered organisation. This can be:
The work must make a difference for the people and places of Hanwell.
You can apply for your grant here
Do you need help with your application?
Ealing and Hounslow Community and Voluntary Service (EHCVS) offer a range of funding surgery sessions and support across the borough and are also happy to help. Get in touch by emailing dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk with YVYT Hanwell in the subject line. The Town Team is planning to host a number of ideas cafes to support people to develop their ideas. These are fun and imaginative sessions that will help you develop an idea and also hear more about what is going on locally. We’d love to have you join us, look at our meetings and events listings for updates.
The deadline for applications is 1pm on Thursday 3rd December 2026 .
The Hanwell town team will be inviting shortlisted applicants to meet the team in person on Tuesday 12th January 2027 in The William Hobbayne Centre, St Dunstan’s Road, Hanwell W7 2HB. Please do keep this free in your busy calendars so you can attend. More details will be sent to applicants once the application date is passed.
We will let applicants know if they have been successful, or not, by Friday 12th February 2027.
If you require a hardcopy of the application form, please email dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk and add “Hanwell Your Voice, Your Town Community Fund” in the subject of the email, and provide your full name and postal address.
There is a total of £40,000 and grants of up to £6,000 are available.
We have two pots of funding available:
For small sparks grants under £1,000 we welcome applications from individuals and organisations.
For growing ideas grants of between £1,001 – £6,000 you need to be (or work in partnership with) a registered organisation. This could be a faith group, registered charity or charitable incorporated organisations, company limited by shares, company limited by guarantee, a Community Interest Company, or a school or other corporate body.
For all successful applicants we require the project to be completed by 30th December 2027.
There are some rules and restrictions which applicants must adhere to
We want to encourage a wide range of applications, but funding cannot be provided for projects which fall into the following categories:
Yes, the funding can be used for capital improvements as well as costs to run activities. If the funding is for a capital project you need to consider what permissions you will need to get in order to carry out the work. You will need to understand that it can take some time to get permissions, if you haven’t already started this process. Projects will be more likely to meet the criteria if you demonstrate you understand the permissions you will require and that your plan takes this into account.
If you need to consider permissions on the use of land advice is available at Land Registry – Do Something Good. But do get in touch if you have questions about permissions and we will try and help.
We encourage applications from schools, but the activity funded shouldn’t be for the regular delivery of educational or school activities.
We are looking for projects that align with our priorities to help shape a better future in Hanwell:
Applications will be assessed by the Town Team. They will look at 6 key elements (0–5 per criterion).
Each criterion is scored from 0–5, giving a maximum total of 30 points.
Applications will be assessed in proportion to the amount requested. A smaller funding request isn’t expected to deliver as much as a larger one, but it should still show clear value for the money.
A strong application will:
But we want lots of people to feel funding can be for them. The Town Team are planning a number of ways to help people to develop their applications, More information will be available here soon. In the meantime, if you have a question, email dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk with ‘YVYT Hanwell Community Fund’ in the title or call 07841591236 and the Ealing Council team will help you.
There are also some rules and restrictions which applicants must adhere to:
The funds may only be used for the purposes as stated in the application
The funds must be used to provide a benefit to people or places in the Town
The funds cannot be transferred to another person
No, we welcome applications from individuals and organisations. However, If you are applying for a growing ideas grant over £1001 you need to be an incorporated organisation (a company, charitable incorporated organisations, community interest company, cooperative, or public body such as a school) or work in partnership with an incorporated organisation, so that you are able to receive the funding.
Individuals
We encourage individuals to apply and would recommend that you work with people in the community to evidence the need for your project. If you apply as an individual and are successful, you will receive the funding on providing references from two people from the community, which can confirm your reliability and dedication to the proposed project.
Suitable referees may include local teachers, faith leaders, pharmacists, community workers or other respected individuals who are familiar with your work and standing in the community. Referees must not be family members.
Constituted Groups
If you apply as a formal or constituted group (such as a registered charity or company) and are awarded a fund you will be asked to provide a copy of your constitution and details of your bank account.
Unconstituted Groups
If you apply as an unconstituted group, any award will be made on the basis that your grant is held and managed on your behalf by an eligible constituted organisation (“a Grant Managing Organisation”). The Council will arrange this with you after decisions are made. No payments are made directly to unconstituted groups.
We know this looks like a lot of questions, and we want it to be easy to apply. Short answers are welcome throughout, and the word limits keep the form quicker to complete and fair to compare.
We ask the same core questions of every application because we have learned that we still requires similar information no matter the size of the grant. It is also important that we treat everyone fairly, check that projects are eligible and be able to show clearly how decisions were made. We also hope the questions will help you think about some aspects that will make your application and project stronger.
Applications are assessed in proportion to the amount requested, so a small grant isn’t expected to show as much delivery or impact as a large one.
If you’d like some help with putting your ideas together ready to make an application the Town Team is planning to host a number of ideas cafes to support people to develop their ideas. These are fun and imaginative sessions that will help you develop an idea and also hear more about what is going on locally. These will be posted in the meetings and events listings.
More information will be available here shortly. In the meantime if you have a question, email dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk with ‘YVYT Hanwell Community Fund’ in the title or call 07841591236 and the Ealing Council team will help you.
If your project involves working with children, young adults and/or adults who experience vulnerabilities, you will need to have some basic safeguarding measures in place.
Safeguarding measures are steps that help protect children, young people, and vulnerable adults from harm when they take part in community projects. For a community group, this usually means having a safeguarding policy in place, which is a simple document that explains how you will keep people safe. You should also make sure that anyone working directly with these groups has passed the necessary background checks (such as a Disclosure Barring Service check), and that there is a named person responsible for safeguarding who people can talk to if they have any concerns. Training for volunteers and staff on how to spot and report concerns is also helpful. These steps make sure that everyone involved is protected and knows what to do if something doesn’t seem right.
If you are a constituted group you may already have a safeguarding policy in place, a named safeguarding lead person and DBS checked staff/volunteers, information you can provide on request if your application is successful.
If you intend to collect personal data on people who will uses your service, this information will require a clear process on how you will handle, share, store and retain that data. If you don’t have the above and need support with this, if your application is successful, we can help you put the right steps in place.
If your project involves using land or property that does not belong to you, you may need to get permission from the owner or Ealing Council before starting. If you need to seek permission, we suggest you have at least contacted the people and discussed what it would take to get permission. The process for getting permission should be part of the plan you outline.
If you’re running activities where someone could get hurt or something could get damaged, you should have public liability insurance to protect your group. If your project involves making or selling food, you might need food hygiene certificates to show you can handle and prepare food safely.
It’s important to check what’s needed for your project and make sure you have everything in place before you begin. If you need help with understanding what permissions and documents you may need, you can contact Ealing and Hounslow CVS at info@EHCVS.org.uk
If you are awarded a grant, depending on whether you are a constituted group, an unconstituted group or an individual, we will require documents that will help with due diligence and support the payment process:
The deadline for applications is 1pm Thursday 3 December 2026
Your full application, which includes personal information such as your group’s name, contact details, and project info etc. will be seen by Ealing Council staff, evaluation partners and shared with a small number of people from the community known as the Town Team, to help make funding decisions to Ealing Council. To know more about who the Town Team is, please go to Hanwell Town Team.
The Town Team will only use this information to assess your application and may contact you to request additional information. For more details on how the information you share with us will be stored, used, retained and restricted please read the Data Sharing Privacy Notice
The Town Team will review your application and may get in touch for more information.
Shortlisted applicants may be invited to meet or speak to the Town Team to share more about your application. This meeting or chat will happen on Tuesday 12th January 2027, and we will let applicants know if they are successful, or not, by Friday 12 February 2027.
Yes, the Town Team will ask you for a short report or feedback at the end, including how the money was spent and what difference it made. This will be as simple as possible. In some instances, the Town Team may wish to visit your project and will arrange a date and time with you. Take photos if possible and think about ways that you might want to share the story of your brilliant work.
If you need help with your application you can call 07841591236. or email dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk with YVYT Hanwell Community Fund in the subject line.
The town team are finalising plans to host a number of ideas cafes to support people to develop their ideas – watch this space from 23 October.
Yes, we would be excited to have applicatons from young people directly. However, if you are under 18, to receive funding you will need to have a sponsor parent/ guardian or organisation, such as a youth group or school. This means they will be able to safely hold the money. If you need help or support with this get in touch, as the Town Team is happy to help.
The Ealing Town Town Team have independently worked to create the Ealing Town Thriving High Streets and Neighbourhoods Fund, as they recognise the huge potential in our Town. The priorities are different than the Thriving Towns Fund but we think that they are hugely complementary.
The main differences are that:
We are working closely with the Regeneration Team, and will share projects that are submitted. If you have any questions regarding which fund to apply for, get in touch and the Ealing Council Team will help you navigate the information. Email dosomethinggood@ealing.gov.uk. or you can call Kofi Nyamah at 020 8825 5818.