Grants
Our grant-making
LCRF awards grants of up to £1,000 every Spring and Autumn to multiple refugee projects across London for the purchase of phone credit, travel cards, hygiene items, nappies, and food, and for emergency payments, to give to the thousands of destitute asylum-seekers in London who come to them for help. LCRF grants cannot be used for course fees, rent, or ongoing costs. LCRF does not make grants directly to individuals.
Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
In 2022 the Fund received £41,739 in donations. With Gift Aid and the sale of Christmas cards, our total income was £50,752. We made grants of £52,400 (our highest-ever figure) and incurred just £1,361 in overheads - half of which related to the printing and distribution of cards. That left us with a small deficit of £3,009 for the year.
In 2023, we have to date helped the following 28 different organisations listed here with grants of up to £1,000. Grants are capped by the funds available at the time of the awards.
In the rare cases when we reject an application it is normally because it is not felt to contribute directly to the relief of destitution among refugees and asylum seekers in London.
Organisations supported to date in 2023
AFRIL
African Refugee Community
Women against Rape
Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile
Babylon Migrants Project
Citizens of the World Choir
Otton Tree Trust
Croydon Refugee Day Centre
Dost Centre for Young Refugees and Migrants
Freedom from Torture
Hackney Migrant Centre
Happy Babby Community
Hope for the Young
Housing Justice
Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants
JCORE
Jesuit Refugee Service
LEWCAS
Migrant Voice
Migrants Organise
New Citizens’ Gateway
NNLS Asylum Seekers Drop-in
Notre Dame Refugee Centre
Refugee Council
Room to Heal
Union Chapel
Waging Peace
Waltham Forest Migrant Action
Apply for a grant
How to apply
For Autumn 2023 applications, the maximum grant an organisation can apply for is £1,000. As before, applications may be scaled back if resources are insufficient. The Fund’s Objects require us to support only work with destitute refugees and asylum-seekers in the London area.
Round 35 (Autumn 2023) Our Autumn round is now open. You may also sign up for our email list to receive information including when the grants round is open. The Closing date for applications is October 15th 2023.
Please download and read the Guidance Notes and Terms & Conditions carefully before completing your downloaded application form.
The forms can be accessed below, and you must use our latest form to apply. Please note that we require Safeguarding Policies to be submitted for review at least every TWO years. If the last time you sent us your policy was before the autumn 2022 application round, you will need to send an updated policy this time. If you have updated your safeguarding policy in the last two years, please send us the latest one.
Applications should be emailed to grants@lcrf.org.uk, as shown on the form.
Dear Friend
On behalf of the London Churches Refugee Fund, I am pleased to invite organisations to apply for funds to support your work with asylum seekers and refugees. All applications must be made on the form that you can download from this site, and in accordance with our Terms & Conditions.
The Trustees are appreciative of the hugely difficult but valuable work that charities and community groups continue to perform and hope that the Fund will develop in such a way that it becomes a constant and reliable source of support.
With every good wish,
Revd Chris Brice
Chair of Trustees