Harlow groups can bid for up to £5,000, or £12,000 in partnership, for health and wellbeing projects. Applications close at 4pm on Friday 23 October.

Harlow charities, clubs and community groups can now bid for council money to run health and wellbeing projects. Harlow Council’s Public Health Community Grant Fund is open until 4pm on Friday 23 October 2026.

A single organisation can ask for up to £5,000. Two or more groups working together can ask for up to £12,000. There is no minimum. (Harlow Council, Public Health Community Grant Fund)

The council has not published the size of the total pot, so it is not clear how many projects it expects to fund.

What it will pay for

Every project has to benefit Harlow residents and show how it will improve their health or wellbeing. It must also meet at least one of the three priorities of Harlow’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership Board:

  • promoting healthy weight and active lifestyles, at any age
  • improving mental health and wellbeing
  • tackling addiction and reducing harm from drugs, alcohol and gambling

New projects and existing ones needing continuation money are both eligible. If you are asking to keep something going, you have to show you are also looking for funding elsewhere.

The fund will not pay for:

  • the ordinary running costs of your group, such as ongoing salaries
  • staff costs not linked to the project
  • equipment or materials not used directly for the project
  • anything you have already spent

Who can apply

The fund is open to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise groups that serve Harlow residents. They must be constituted, meaning they have a written constitution or governing document.

Schools, NHS services and other public bodies can apply, but only with a voluntary sector partner. Each organisation can apply once, either on its own or as part of one partnership. In a partnership, the money goes to a lead organisation, which pays the others. The council advises a written agreement between partners before any money is awarded.

Help with the form

The council’s Health and Wellbeing team is running three drop-in sessions at the Safer to Go Stow Hub, 28 The Stow:

Day Time
Tuesday 29 September 2pm to 4pm
Friday 2 October 10am to 12pm
Monday 5 October 4pm to 6pm

You can also email health.wellbeing@harlow.gov.uk for advice before applying.

What it means for you

If you run a walking group, a youth club, a peer support group or a community kitchen, this is worth an evening of form-filling. The steps are:

  1. Check your project fits one of the three priorities.
  2. Fill in the online application form. A Word version is available from the council’s page if the online form gives you trouble.
  3. Have your risk assessment, safeguarding policy and public liability insurance ready to upload, where they apply. The form asks for them.
  4. Submit by 4pm on 23 October.

The Partnership Board reviews every bid after the deadline. The council says it usually takes about a month to contact successful groups.

If you win, the money comes in two parts:

  • 80% when you sign the funding agreement
  • 20% after your end-of-project evaluation, including what you spent

You will also need an interim report halfway through. The project must be delivered by 31 March 2028, and the final evaluation is due by the end of April 2028. If the project does not happen, or your group stops operating, the money has to be paid back.

The application form itself says projects must be delivered “within the financial year in which I apply”. That does not match the council’s web page, which gives the 2028 end date and calls this the window “for the financial years 2026 to 2028”. If your project runs beyond next March, ask the team which applies before you submit. (Harlow Council, application form)

Local groups have another deadline sooner than this one. Stansted Airport’s community fund, which covers Harlow, closes at 5pm on Wednesday 30 September: our report on the £50,000 Stansted award.

Sources