Under 18 Better Starts Grant

1. Read the full criteria to ensure your group/project is eligible to apply for this grant. A PDF version of the criteria can be found here.
2. Contact your local Community and Customer Champion to discuss your funding needs. Applications need to have the endorsement of an Asda Community and Customer Champion, who work out of Asda’s largest stores across the UK. You can find your local Champion by using the locator here.
3. Once your Champion has assessed your eligibility and group needs, they may nominate your group for a grant. Once nominated, you will receive a nomination email from the Asda Foundation inviting you to apply for a Grassroots Grant on our grant management system. Make sure to save this email as it will be required during your application.
4. Use the details provided in the nomination email to register on our grant management system. If you have already registered, you can skip this step and log in using your details.
5. After you have registered your organisation, you will then be able to apply for the Grassroots Grant that your Community and Customer Champion nominated you for. All applications must be for the amount agreed with your Community and Customer Champion, this must be one of the following amounts: £400, £500, £800, £1,000, £1,200, £1,600 or £2,000.
6. For detailed guidance on how to apply, read the full guide here.

*Community and Customer Champions may not be able to support every group that expresses an interest in this grant. Each superstore has a limited budget and therefore Champions reserve the right to decline an application if their store budget is reached or the project doesn’t meet criteria. 

We’re here to support a wide range of activities but sometimes we have to say no. Below is a list of what we don’t fund under our Grassroots Grant programme. Please read this section carefully to avoid disappointment.

We don’t accept applications from groups which:

• Are based outside the UK or benefit people/communities outside of the UK.
• Have animal welfare as their main focus
• Are third party grant making organisations (grantees must directly deliver the service/activity).
• Promote ‘Pub Culture’
• Are schools (PTAs with their own bank account are welcome to apply)
• Have a clear affiliation with a particular political party.

All groups looking to apply for an Under 18s Better Starts Grant must meet the following criteria:

• Be not-for-profit, as demonstrated in their governing document
• Have an income below £1 million
• Have suitable governance
• Have a bank account that accepts cheques, and a bank statement which verifies their payee name
• Have a visible local presence
• Benefit people
• Charge a reasonable amount for their activity/event
• Have not received another Grassroots Grant this calendar year

For further details on eligible groups, see our full criteria here.

This grant is for groups who support solely under 18s in your community (for example, school holiday clubs and youth groups). If the activity being delivered benefits a mix of children and adults, then it would be an Empowering Local Communities Grant.

Below you can see a list of options including examples of the kind of things we would fund.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list. If you have any concerns or want to discuss something specific, please speak to your Community and Customer Champion who will be happy to help. The full list of What We Would Fund can be found on page 3 of our criteria here.

Food and Basic Essentials

Funding for the essentials to address an immediate need and/or situation. This can include items such as: food and hygiene items, and blankets, bedding and essential clothing.

Items to Improve/Maintain a Service

Funding to transform and/or improve a space/activity. Funding also to be used to bring people together for ongoing services. This can include items such as: furniture and long-term fixtures, items and equipment for group activities or essential sports clothing (maximum £400).

Volunteering

Funding to support Volunteer costs enabling them to continue supporting their groups and communities (maximum £120 per volunteer). This can include items such as: DBS checks, essential training course costs or travel costs to the volunteering location for delivering services.

Community Events

Funding to host community events. Group applying for Community Event application can apply for this ONLY. Maximum £400 for any one-off event, 1 event per group. This can include items such as: food for communal meals (maximum £12.50 per person) and decorations, entertainment and single-use items (maximum £100 combined).

Grant money can’t be used for the following:

• Part funding as a contribution towards an item that costs more than the amount applied for. Items requested must be purchased and costed in full.
• Projects which are only for the benefit of one individual person.
• Equipment which will be kept by individuals, rather than the organisation applying or equipment that is not essential to the activity taking place.
• Transport costs (unless it’s a vital part of your core service, e.g. food provision delivery, volunteer travel costs to deliver essential food and services).
• Admin/ core running costs (e.g. overheads and wages)
• Work considered a core state responsibility e.g. school lessons, social care.
• Short term rental of items.
• Promotional or advertising costs (unless this is in relation to volunteer recruitment).
• Raffle prizes / Trophies / Gifts / Alcohol / Vouchers / Selection Boxes.
• Excursions / Day Trips / Restaurant Meals / Eating out / Overseas Travel.
• Memberships / Insurance/ Subscriptions.
• Projects where a high attendance fee is charged. We want to fund inclusive projects.
• Sponsorship / Fundraising / Fundraising only events.
• Promotion of religion or political lobbying.
• Volunteer / staff only celebration events.
• Projects which could negatively impact the reputation of Asda Foundation.

*This is not an exhaustive list. All applications will be judged on merit and the impact and value they add to your local community. Reach out to your local Community and Customer Champion if you require any support or would like to discuss anything specific.

Asda Foundation aims to process an application within 6 weeks of receipt from the Community and Customer Champion. While we encourage you to stay in touch with your Community and Customer Champion throughout the process, we kindly ask that you do not ask them for regular updates.

If we require further information, we will contact you within the grant management system; please ensure that your contact details are accurate; if our team are unable to get a response from you within 10 days, you risk the application being unsuccessful.

If any amendments need to be made to your application (for example, if some of the items for which you have requested funding do not meet our criteria) we will notify you.

Approved grants

Once a grant has been approved by Asda Foundation, your Community and Customer Champion will be notified by email, so they can get in touch with you to deliver the good news! A cheque will then be posted to the address you provided on your application form. You will also receive an email to let you know that your cheque is on its way.

Your Community and Customer Champion may wish to arrange a visit with your group to see the impact of our funding in action, and to get a better understanding of the impact our support has had. They may also want to take some pictures of the activities taking place (subject to you and your members’ permission), to celebrate the success of your funding application.

Unsuccessful grants

We receive a lot of applications and sometimes we must make difficult decisions. We reserve the right to make a judgement call in relation to the criteria outlined in this document. The decision of Asda Foundation is final and at our discretion. We value every penny that we spend. Applications which Asda Foundation considers do not provide best impact for money may be unsuccessful.

If a grant is unsuccessful, you will be notified by the Asda Foundation team and given feedback. You will be unable to submit a new application during the same grant round but are welcome to try again in any future grant round (provided that any concerns raised by Asda Foundation have been addressed, and subject to any new criteria and guidelines for those future grant rounds, as these are updated on a round-by-round basis).

Retired grants

If Asda Foundation is missing information or does not receive a reply from the applicant group regarding any additional information that is required within a set timeframe, the grant will be retired. As above, you would be unable to submit a new application during the same grant round but would be free to reapply in future grant rounds.