Clarion Futures reaches £5m milestone in grants awarded to community projects nationwide
Clarion Futures has announced that it has awarded more than £5 million in grants to partners supporting its residents in communities nationwide.
Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, was established to transform lives and improve communities through one of the UK’s biggest social investment programmes.
Since its launch in 2016, Clarion Futures has awarded grants to hundreds of community-based organisations which have delivered almost 1,200 projects nationwide. These include innovative projects that help tackle digital exclusion, support people in managing financial problems, encouraging and facilitating community activities and promoting health and wellbeing.
Community gardens and art classes, parkour and skateboarding lessons have all been supported, providing opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to learn new skills, improve the places they call home and meet new people from all walks of life.
Clarion Futures grants
Since 2016, Clarion Futures has awarded £5 million in grants to support residents across the country.
Our partners discuss the impact this funding has made.
The Clarion Futures grants programme has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of both residents and partners, and has awarded more than £725,000 to projects providing vital support to Clarion communities during the pandemic and almost £1.5m to projects helping people through the cost-of-living crisis.
In 2023, Clarion Futures launched a new capacity building project to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations create greater impact for the communities they serve. Delivered in partnership with housing association Places for People and the Fusion21 Foundation, the Resilience Programme provides business support alongside core cost funding, going further than just offering one-off grants.
2024 saw the creation of two new grant programmes, providing funding to organisations delivering environmental projects in their local communities and to those offering free activities for children and young people during school holidays.
2025 is Clarion’s 125th anniversary. 125 years since founder William Sutton bequeathed his fortune to the working poor. A new Clarion Futures community grants programme with a funding pot of £125,000 will mark this milestone.
One of the organisations to receive funding through a recent round of grants is Play Place Innov8 CIC which, along with other provider partners, run wellbeing spaces at three of Clarion’s community centres in southeast London. These wellbeing spaces offer activities to support physical and mental health alongside a chance to save on energy bills, and are open to all local people, not just Clarion residents.
Funding provided for wellbeing spaces by Clarion Futures has been boosted by a donation of more than £525,000 from the Rothesay Foundation, the charitable foundation of the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist, Rothesay, helping to reach even more people through the programme.
Phil Miles, Director of Clarion Futures, said:
“We know that we can make a bigger difference for our residents and communities by working with like-minded partners, and that’s where our grants programme comes in.
“We’re delighted to have reached this £5m milestone, which is testament to the commitment of our partners on the ground in Clarion communities nationwide. Over almost a decade, this funding has helped local residents and community groups, both big and small, to make positive changes to the places they call home – something of which I’m immensely proud. And as we mark Clarion’s 125th anniversary, I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Chris Hennis, Business Director at Play Place Innov8 CIC, said:
“Without the grant funding we receive from Clarion Futures, Play Place Innov8 CIC would not be able to deliver these great wellbeing projects across our three Bromley hubs. By working together, along with our other delivery partners at Woodland Mindfulness and Quest Soul Theatre CIC, we have been able to provide all sorts of wellbeing activities to support local people – something which is becoming even more important in the face of cuts to statutory services. It’s fantastic to see Clarion Futures reaching this £5m milestone, and I look forward to continuing our partnership for many more years to come.”
Find out more about the grants available through Clarion Futures.