The Asda Foundation has opened a £1m grant programme for community groups seeking funds for repairs and renovations. 

The foundation’s Investing in Spaces and Places programme is offering grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 to help transform local community spaces run by locally-led organisations. 

The grant programme is open to community-led organisations that support people from a building or space. 

The funding will support building repairs to spaces or places that already exist, building development to enhance the quality of a space already in use or give more people the opportunity to use the space, or outdoor development to create or improve on an outdoor space for the benefit of the community.

The building space or development must be owned or leased by the group applying and funding will not be given to assist with the purchase of a space or place, the foundation said. 

To be eligible for the grant programme, organisations must be based in the UK or benefit communities in the UK and must not earn more than £100,000 in annual income. 

Organisations interested in applying should be true to their community mission, efficiently run, people centred and locally focused, the grantmaker said. 

The foundation said it was particularly encouraging applications from groups that are based in an area of deprivation, are inclusive and encourage diversity, are tackling food poverty, are tackling local crime or anti-social behaviour or have a positive environmental impact.

The foundation said it would not accept applications from animal charities, organisations that have a clear affiliation with a political party or have previously been successful in applying for the programme.

Interested organisations can apply using the foundation’s online application form before 28 July, though the foundation said it might close applications ahead of this date if it receives a high volume.

Successful applicants will be informed in September, following a review of all applications in July and August.

In 2023, the foundation awarded 31 community groups with grants totalling more than £600,000. 

Since the Investing in Spaces and Places programme was launched in 2022, it has supported 90 groups, with projects including the upgrade of a community kitchen, refurbishing a whole community building to improve accessibility and creating an outdoor nature and sensory trail.

Martin Kendal, communications and impact adviser at the Asda Foundation, said: “For many people, community spaces can be their lifeline, and we know many groups are in desperate need of funding to help maintain, develop and repair these spaces to continue delivering their crucial services, and that’s where the Asda Foundation can help.”