Home Office

The Home Office, the United Kingdom's interior ministry established in 1782, serves as the lead government department for public safety, national security, and secure borders, led by the Home Secretary. Its enduring mission is to protect citizens by reducing serious violent crime, tackling terrorism and organised crime, controlling migration, enhancing policing, and safeguarding vulnerable people from exploitation, modern slavery, violence against women and girls, and human trafficking. With a distinctive outcome-led approach, it emphasises innovation through technologies like rapid DNA profiling and surveillance, fosters cross-sector partnerships with police, MI5, Border Force, and local authorities, and coordinates national resilience initiatives, primarily focused on England and Wales but with UK-wide reach in select areas.

It funds time-limited projects addressing knife crime, youth violence prevention, community safety, neighbourhood crime reduction (e.g., Safer Streets Fund), asylum transformation, and emergency response infrastructures. Beneficiaries include police and crime commissioners, local authorities, and third-sector organisations like grassroots groups and specialist charities delivering measurable security improvements and social cohesion.

Eligible applicants encompass UK-registered charities, CICs, and community groups of any size (no income thresholds), including unincorporated entities and partnerships, with no geographic restrictions for many schemes like the Community Engagement Fund. Applications are via online forms on the GOV.UK portal with required documents (governing docs, accounts, bank statements); some funds are restricted to specific invitees.

Typical grants range from £5,000 to £10,000 for project costs only (no core funding, capital, or fundraising unless specified), with the next deadline 28 May 2025 (16:00) for the 2025/26 Community Engagement Fund—decisions by 31 July 2025, projects ending 31 March 2026. Uniquely positioned as a statutory funder with sector-wide influence, it prioritises evidence-based, collaborative interventions over general support, distinguishing it from philanthropic bodies through its governmental authority and high-impact public policy alignment.