Youth Joy Fund

what is the Youth Joy fund?

Thanks to National Lottery players, The LGBT+ Fund, powered by Consortium, has received £300,000 of life-changing funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to award to organisations and groups supporting LGBT+ youth across England.

The project puts LGBT+ young people in the driving seat of designing and driving the Youth Joy Fund. This will support queer young people to find moments of joy through youth work, community engagement and local events.

This has been awarded from The National Lottery Community Fund’s new You Decide programme - involving communities directly in decisions about funding good causes. You Decide is key to the funder’s efforts to put community power, agency, and control at the heart of its funding in England - supporting communities to live happier, healthier lives. This truly life-changing funding has been made possible by National Lottery players.

The aim of this fund is for organisations supporting LGBT+ young people to foster youth joy, belonging, and positivity building through projects, trips, and other enriching experiences. LGBT+ young people should have the opportunity to feel higher levels of self-acceptance, connection to community, and improved wellbeing because of the funded work.

Grants range from £5,000 to £25,000 and applicants are welcome to apply for the amount they need to undertake their work.

The fund opens to applications on Wednesday 7th October 2026 at 12pm midday and will close to new applications on Wednesday 18th November 2026 at 12pm midday.

Please note, we expect the programme to be oversubscribed and we are limited to the number of larger grants we can award. Based on similar programmes we have delivered, approximately 1 in 5 applications may be successful.

who can apply?

Applicants must be:

An England based non-profit LGBT+ organisation or youth group that currently supports young people within the age range of 11-25 years old. (e.g. an LGBT+ organisation which primarily supports LGBT+ youth).
An England based non-profit organisation or youth group that currently supports LGBT+ young people within the age range of 11-25 years old. Our work with LGBT+ young people is led by LGBT+ people. (e.g. an LGBT+ youth group which is led by LGBT+ youth workers within a wider youth organisation).

We are seeking to particularly support organisations in historically underfunded areas within the LGBT+ sector such as the North-East, East, Southwest of England, areas lacking provision, and/or work which supports intersectional LGBT+ communities. For example, those supporting LGBT+ young people with disabilities, LGBT+ global majority young people, etc.

Organisations must have been delivering youth work for a minimum of 2 years and must have existing LGBT+ youth provision to apply to the fund.

You do not need to be a member of Consortium to be eligible to apply.

Groups who have been past recipients of grants from LGBT+ Fund that have fulfilled all monitoring requirements, organisations who are currently in receipt of a grant from LGBT+ Fund, and those who have applied to open LGBT+ Funds for different projects/work are eligible to apply. If in doubt, please reach out and ask.

how to apply

Written Applications

Applications can be submitted via the online application form, but we have worked hard to minimise the amount of time it will take for organisations to apply. Please visit the eligibility checker page and read the fund guidance document before applying. We also have a frequently asked questions page.

We have a pdf version of the application form questions, which can be accessed from the introduction section of the online application form. Applicants can use this document to prepare their answers, but it cannot be used to apply. All applications must be submitted via our online forms.

Video Applications

Applications can also be made via a short video. In the interest of fairness, the video application should include answers to all the written application form questions.

Videos should be a maximum length of 5 minutes and information included in the video will be transcribed into a written application form by a member of the Giving team. No community panellists will view the original video.

Supported Applications

We also offer supported applications. We appreciate it may be some people’s first time submitting a funding application and/or some people may find form-filling challenging. We want to remove as many barriers to receiving funding as possible through this Fund. The Giving team are available to provide support and advice with your application and are also happy to do a supported application where we accept application form answers via a call.

If you think you may need assistance in applying, please do get in contact early once the fund opens to ensure there is enough time for the team to provide appropriate support: giving@consortium.lgbt. Please ensure you have read the guidance document before emailing us where possible.

decision turnaround

Once the fund closes to applications, light-touch due diligence checks are undertaken, and the Youth Panel make their assessments of the applications.

Due to the number of applications we are expecting and the involvement of young people in assessing applications and making final decisions, we anticipate communicating funding decisions by the end of March 2027.

fund timeline

Wednesday 7 October 2026

Fund Launches

The fund will open to applications at 12pm midday.

Wednesday 7 October 2026

Wednesday 18 November 2026

Application Window Closes

The fund will close to applications at 12pm midday.

Wednesday 18 November 2026

November - December 2026

Due Diligence Checks

All applications will go through a light-touch due diligence process by our Giving Team to ensure eligibility and to provide any relevant information to our community panellists.

November - December 2026

December 2026 - February 2027

Community Panel Assessments

Decisions will be made by a community panel, formed of LGBT+ people with a diverse range of lived experiences.

The panellists will look to make a collective decision on whether to award a grant, based on eligibility and priority of need.

December 2026 - February 2027

By 31 March 2027

Outcomes Communicated

All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by the end of March 2027.

By 31 March 2027

Time Left to Apply

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Applying is as simple as 1, 2, 3...

1. Check your eligibility

Check whether you are eligible to apply for this fund before you begin your application. Click on the button below to find out more.

Eligibility Checker

2. Read the guidance

It is essential that you read the fund guidance before you begin your application. Access the guidance document using the button below.

Download Guidance

3. Create your application

Once you've checked your eligibility and read the guidance, you can begin your application by clicking on the button below.

Apply Here

Frequently Asked Questions

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions, as well as some questions which are specific to this fund.
Click on the button below to find out more.

FAQ's

If you have any other questions about the fund, that you can't find answers to using the resources above, then please get in touch with the Giving Team who will be more than happy to help.