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 2023 the Fund received £48, 603 in donations. With Gift Aid and the sale of Christmas cards, our total income was £59,530. We made grants of £53,400 (our highest-ever figure) and incurred just £ 1,385 in overheads - half of which related to the printing and distribution of cards. That produced a surplus of £4,745 for the year.
In 2023, we were able to help 40 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 in 2024
Action for Refugees Lewisham (AFRIL)
African Refugee Community
Babylon Migrants Project
Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile
CAWS Homeless Project
Cartesian Academy (Choir) Supplementary School (CASS)
Citizens of the World Choir
Cotton Tree Trust
Croydon Refugee Day Centre
Freedom from Torture
Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
Hackney Doorways
Hackney Migrant Centre
Happy Baby Community
HIAS/JCORE
Holy Trinity Church Hounslow
Hope for the Young
Housing Justice
Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants
Islington Mind
Jesuit Refugee Service
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network
Life Seekers Aid
London Catholic Worker
NNLS Asylum Seekers Drop-in
Notre Dame Refugee Centre
Peaceful Borders
Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL)
Room to Heal
St James Church Piccadilly
St Jude and St Paul’s Church, Mildmay
Salusbury World Refugee Centre
Waging Peace
Waltham Forest Migrant Action
West London Welcome
Women Against Rape (Asylum from Rape)
​Young Roots
Globe Community Project
Apply for a grant
How to apply
For Autumn 2024 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 37 (Autumn 2024) 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 application closing date is Monday 21 October to be sent to grants@lcrf.org.uk. Please DO NOT SEND APPLICATIONS TO INDIVIDUAL TRUSTEES.
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 Spring 2022 application round, you must send an updated one 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,
Simon Loveitt
Chair of Trustees