Community foundation · Registered charity 1052061
Essex Community Foundation: grants and who they fund
Essex Community Foundation published 1,346 grants to organisations from 4 Oct 2023 to 26 Mar 2026, worth £8.6m in total. The typical (median) grant was £4,444, and Colchester was the area funded most often.
Stated aims
What the charity says it does (Charity Commission register):
Essex Community Foundation is an independent charitable trust. Founded in 1996, it has built an endowed fund of nearly £50 million, and has awarded over £47 million in grants to community-based voluntary groups in Essex, Southend and Thurrock.By acting as a broker the Foundation helps donors achieve their charitable objectives, and local voluntary groups secure funding for their work.
Charitable objects (governing document):
2.1(a) The promotion of any charitable purposes for the benefit of the community in the county of Essex and its immediate neighbourhood;(b) Other exclusively charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and elsewhere which are, in the opinion of the Directors, beneficial to the community with a preference for those in the area of benefit.2.2 Nothing in these Articles shall authorise an application of the property of the Charity for purposes which are not charitable in accordance with any statutory provision regarding the meaning of the word "charitable" or the words "charitable purposes" in force in any part of the United Kingdom.
Where it operates (Charity Commission register):
- Essex
Grant sizes
Grants to organisations from 4 Oct 2023 to 26 Mar 2026. Smallest £100, largest £327k, average £6,365.
| Grant size | Grants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under £1,000 | 160 | 12% |
| £1,000 to £4,999 | 569 | 42% |
| £5,000 to £9,999 | 453 | 34% |
| £10,000 to £49,999 | 150 | 11% |
| £50,000 to £99,999 | 10 | 1% |
| £100,000 to £249,999 | 3 | 0% |
| £250,000 or more | 1 | 0% |
| Year | Grants | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 167 | £879k |
| 2025 | 545 | £3.1m |
| 2024 | 543 | £4.1m |
| 2023 | 91 | £498k |
Example recipients
Registered organisations that received grants, largest first. Organisations only: grants to individuals are never shown.
| Organisation | Grants | Total | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHESS Homeless | 3 | £434k | 9 Sept 2024 |
| Citizens Advice Essex | 1 | £234k | 7 Nov 2024 |
| The Cirdan Sailing Trust | 4 | £210k | 28 Aug 2025 |
| Hamelin Trust | 2 | £152k | 15 Jan 2026 |
| Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse | 6 | £144k | 6 Feb 2026 |
| Cranfield Trust | 3 | £123k | 4 Feb 2026 |
| Pioneer Sailing Trust | 3 | £118k | 26 Mar 2026 |
| Maldon & District Community Voluntary Services | 7 | £113k | 20 Mar 2026 |
| Active Christian Trust | 2 | £93k | 7 Nov 2024 |
| Saffron Hall Trust | 5 | £87k | 13 Feb 2026 |
| Action for Family Carers | 6 | £82k | 9 Feb 2026 |
| Tendring Community Voluntary Services | 6 | £81k | 10 Nov 2025 |
| Chelmsford Council for Voluntary Services | 2 | £69k | 10 Jun 2025 |
| Welcome to The UK | 4 | £67k | 5 Feb 2026 |
| Home-Start Essex | 6 | £61k | 2 Oct 2025 |
Areas funded
Beneficiary locations given in the grant data, by number of grants.
| Area | Grants |
|---|---|
| Colchester | 66 |
| Essex | 53 |
| Chelmsford | 48 |
| Harlow | 39 |
| National | 39 |
| Basildon | 22 |
| Braintree | 22 |
| Southend | 20 |
| Harwich | 17 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 14 |
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Source: grants data published by Essex Community Foundation through 360Giving (GrantNav data, fetched 23 Oct 2026), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Figures are our own summary of that data: 1,346 grants to organisations awarded 4 Oct 2023 to 26 Mar 2026 (from the most recent records published). Stated aims, charity number and areas of operation are from the Charity Commission register.
Licence: Contains public sector information from the Charity Commission for England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Open Government Licence v3.0. Grants data from Essex Community Foundation, CC BY 4.0.
Last updated: 23 October 2026. Information only, not funding advice; check the funder's own guidance before applying. Brightbench is not connected to Essex Community Foundation.