Local Community Grants

We support our local projects here in Kirklees through our well-established grant scheme.

Supporting Our Community

We are proud of our West Yorkshire home, but recognise the challenges faced by communities in the local area.

The Foundation operates a community grants scheme, designed to support local grassroots community organisations in the Kirklees area.

Currently, grants of between £100 to £500 are available for activities which benefit the community and/or local environment.

The scheme was launched in 2023 by Dark Woods Coffee but has been run by the Dark Woods Foundation since the start of 2025.

2026 Grant Dates

Round One Applications Open2nd February
Round One Applications Close22nd March
Round Two Applications Open1st April
Round Two Applications Close21st June
Round Three Applications Open1st July
Round Three Applications Close20th September
Round Four Applications Open1st October
Round Four Applications Close30th November

Some Previous Grant Recipients:

  • Home Valley Mountain Rescue

    This wonderful volunteer team do vital work supporting emergency services in incidents in our local rural area. They received a grant to purchase Personal Flotation Devices, these help to keep the team safe when searching near water.

  • Umbrella Yoga

    Umbrella Yoga is a not-for-profit organisation that provides yoga sessions adapted to suit a diverse range of participants. With help from our grant they delivered 6 free community yoga classes in Birstall.

  • Artish Huddersfield CIC

    Artish are a local creative organisation who aim to inspire and encourage creativity through high-quality, affordable art & craft courses. Our grant enabled them to purchase art packs for teen participants in their Summer Holiday Club.

  • Focal Community Centre

    Focal Community Centre run their Fabulous Fridays programme to provide a safe space for members of the community to come together and engage with a variety of activities. Our grant went towards including outdoor learning and cooking as part of this.

  • Honley Ladies Choir

    Honley Ladies Choir organised the ‘Abreast the M62’ event to raise money and awareness for local breast cancer charities. They used the grant towards advertising their events and printing fliers to promote it. The campaign ended up raising over £16,000.

  • Almondbury Action

    Almondbury Action are a community organisation dedicated to improving and upkeeping their villages. They regularly organise litter picks in their village, our grant was used to purchase more durable litter picking equipment.

Grants at a glance

Location

Organisations must be based within Kirklees or the project must take place within the Kirklees area.

Community Focus

Support given to voluntary, community, and faith groups with local members and elected committees.

Environmental Focus

We support projects promoting environmental and social sustainability.

Grant Amount

£100 to £500 available for qualifying community projects and environmental initiatives.

Review Schedule

Applications are reviewed at the end of March, June, September, and November.

Grant Programme Outcomes

Our Grant Programme Outcomes are a list of our stated aims. All grant applicants need to progress at least one of these in order to be eligible, most of the grants we have funded meet several.

  • Enabling improved health and wellbeing for local people
  • Supporting local communities to access nutritious food and drink
  • Enabling access to safe spaces where people can build relationships and feel supported
  • Local people experience improved personal budgeting, financial stability, and a reduction in personal debt
  • Improved health outcomes, both physical and mental, and confidence through participation in physical activities, sport and cultural activities
  • Older, vulnerable or isolated residents are supported to feel that they are part of the community and are less socially isolated
  • Enabling communities to celebrate and improve their neighbourhood
  • Supporting communities to build resilience in response to the impacts of climate change, such as hotter, drier summers, erratic rainfall and temperature changes
  • Supporting waste reduction
  • Enabling measured and sustainable carbon emission reduction
  • Sustainable benefits to the natural environment, such as improved biodiversity or reduction in pollution
  • Supporting forestry and tree-planting initiatives

Eligibility Criteria

You are a voluntary, community or faith group, with local members and an elected committee (or trustees/directors).

You have a bank account in the name of the group, with at least two non-related people required to sign cheques. We cannot pay funds to an individual.

Your project is open and accessible to the community it serves.

You have a serious approach to safeguarding if you are working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You are based within Kirklees – or the planned activity will take place within Kirklees.

You meet the terms and conditions of the scheme (see our T&Cs).

Impact since 2023*

Community projects funded
Total grants awarded
Towns and villages supported

*The community grants scheme was launched by Dark Woods Coffee in 2023 and has been run by the Dark Woods Foundation since 2025

Apply for a Grant

I confirm that I have read and understand the Eligibility Criteria*
I confirm that I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions. *

Section 1. Applicant and Organisation Details

Applicant & Organisation Details. The applicant is responsible for all aspects of project delivery and reporting. The grants team will liaise with the Applicant on all issues.

Select the description that applies to you. If you are a registered organisation, tell us your registration number
Does the organisation have a constitution or a written set of rules?

Insurance Information

Do you have insurance in place to cover the activity or project you want to undertake?

Safeguarding

It is an expectation that all organisations and projects that work with children or vulnerable adults have a clear safeguarding policy and procedure relevant to those activities. We expect you to: Have a Named Person who is committed to children and young people’s wellbeing and safety; Have safeguarding policies in place that are appropriate to your organisation’s work; If you are regularly working with children/young people you must undertake Child Protection Training; Renew Disclosure and Barring Service certificates at least every three years; Provide safeguarding training or guidance to staff and volunteers.
Does your organisation work with vulnerable groups in any capacity?
Does your organisation hold relevant, up to date policies and procedures as outlined above?
Unless we request it, you are not required to supply the certificate copy. Applicants should ensure they have read and understood their obligations outlined in the Terms & Conditions that all successful grant applicants must sign.

Section 2. Project / Activity / Purchase Details

Project Summary (No more than 250 words) Tell us about your project, activity, or purchase. To help you, we have provided some questions, below, that you can answer. If you already have something written that explains your project, you can attach it, or send it to us. Just make sure that it includes all the information that we need. 

1. Describe the activity you are planning, or the items you want to purchase – provide some detail so we can understand what you are trying to do. If you want a grant to buy equipment or tools, list the items, describe why you need them, what they are for.

2. Tell us about the benefit to the community, or environment from the activity or items purchased. Try to describe what difference this activity or purchase will make to local people or the local environment and how many people will benefit. Please tell us which of our outcomes (from the list at the end of this form) your activity meets. 

3. How many people will benefit from this project, activity or purchase? (Approximately).

Section 3. Grant Programme Outcomes

Please check off which of our stated outcomes your activity meets. You can choose as many as apply, these should be supported by the information given in your project summary. 

Social Outcomes
Environmental Outcomes
When will your project start? We cannot fund projects that have already occurred.
When will your project end? For purchasing projects, this will be the date you finalise all spending.
Have you carried out a risk assessment for this project?
If appropriate

Section 4 – Project costs

Item/Activity

£ Requested from Dark Woods
(max £500)

£ Requested from other sources / self-funded

£ Total Cost

Notes

Total

This is the total amount you are requesting from this grant. This must not exceed £500.00
This is the total amount you are requesting from other sources, or funding yourself (if any)
This is the total amount of your project or purchase

Section 5 – GDPR Transparency Statement 

The information requested on this form is required by Dark Woods Coffee Ltd to assess whether a Small Grant can be awarded. We may make enquiries and collect information relevant to the grant for any purpose, including assessment, monitoring, reporting and for promotional material including media releases, websites, brochures and any other material.

We will only ask you to provide information that we need to effectively assess your grant application and communicate with you. We will store your information securely and will not share it with any third-party.  

I confirm that I have read and agree to the above data protection statement. *

How to Apply

Online Application

Complete and submit our online form

Email Application

Download and fill in the Word document, then email to:

hello@darkwoodsfoundation.org

Postal Application

Download, print and complete form, then post to:

Dark Woods Foundation
Unit 3 Holme Mills
West Slaithwaite Road
Marsden
West Yorkshire
HD7 6LS