Funding and investment
Everything you need to know to find, apply for, and secure funding for projects that help people move more. Explore a range of local, national, and self-funding opportunities to support your projects.
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.
Funding
Funding opportunities that are available to support getting people across Greater Manchester moving
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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.
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GM Walking and Wheeling Fund 24-25
The GM Walking and Wheeling Fund (GMWWF) Grants programme offers grants of up to £7,000 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.
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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:
- Bolton: Bolton CVS
- Bury: Bury VCFA
- Manchester: Manchester MACC
- Oldham: Action Together
- Tameside: Action Together
- Trafford: Thrive Trafford
- Rochdale: Action Together
- Stockport: Stockport Council
- Salford: Salford CVS
- Wigan: Wigan Council
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.
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Methods to generate your own funds
There are many other ways in which you can generate funds to cover a wide range of needs.
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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.
- BBC Children in Need Grants
- VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund
- National Lottery Awards for All England
- Football Foundation funding for facility improvements
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:
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GM Moving funding for sports cubs
We have to new funds that will help clubs to become even more safe, supportive, welcoming and inclusive environments. Learn more about the two funds here.
Boost your funding bid
Strong funding bids need solid evidence. Head to our Impact section to find the data and insights to support your application.
FAQs
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What is a funding bid?
A funding bid is a request for money from a charity, the government, or an organisation to help pay for a project, initiative or programme.
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Who can GM Moving help?
Any organisation or group that is helping people in Greater Manchester to move more and live well can get help on our site.
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What type of funding does our advice cover?
We can help with:
Grants from charities
Government funding
Funding from organisations
Community fundraising/Crowdfunding
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What type of help can you find on the GM Moving website?
Using our resources and guidance, you can:
Find funding that fits your project
Find advice on how to write a strong application
Find advice on reporting back to funders
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Do you give money?
GM Moving sometimes has funds, grants and opportunities you can apply for. We also share funding from other partners on this website, but we normally don’t have a say in who gets that funding.
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Can you guarantee my bid will get money?
No, we can’t promise success. Funders make the final decision.
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Do you run training or workshops?
Yes, we often run and co-host workshops to help you write better applications, which you can find on our training and events page.
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How do I start?
Explore the resources in this area of the website. If you can’t find something, or need more guidance, contact us on info@gmmoving.co.uk.
