Evolution

About the pillar

Our Evolution grants focus on innovation and scaling up work. We will support organisations and partnerships developing innovative approaches and ideas to use sport and physical activity to enhance the lives of children and young people, or to scale up work which has already been tested and had a demonstrable impact.

 Our first round of funding is now closed and our next round will open in 2024.

  • Grants of up to £150,000 for a maximum of three years, but you can apply for a much smaller amount too 
  • Available for organisations and partnerships that demonstrate creative, innovative and collaborative approaches to reduce inequality, improve life chances of young people, and help build a fairer London through sport and physical activity. 
  • There will be annual rounds of Evolution funding over at least the next 3 years 
  • The next round of Evolution applications will open in 2024 – join our mailing list to be the first to know! 

You should apply for an Evolution grant if you have a new approach you want to pilot or if you want to scale up a successful program and take your work to the next level. The grant can also be used to introduce a sporting element to non-sporting programmes.

About our grantees (round 1)

Find out more about the grantees from our first round of funding by clicking the options below.

Projects per borough

London Borough of Camden 

  • British Somali Community Centre (£149,464, Evolution grant) – to embed a football programme and safety hub for young Somali, Muslim and refugee women and girls in Camden over the next three years, to build a legacy of female empowerment, leadership and community cohesion. 

London Borough of Croydon 

  • Rising Stars Support CIC (£131,184, Evolution grant) – to reach more than 200 vulnerable young people in Croydon through a mixed martial arts and cognitive behavioural therapy programme. 

London Borough of Haringey  

  • Jacksons Lane (£69,171, Evolution grant) – to develop a successful circus and physical activity youth programme for the next three years in nine schools in Haringey, to open up the creative industries to disadvantaged young people. 

London Borough of Havering  

  • You and Me Counselling (£149,677, Evolution grant) – towards the three-year ‘Reboot’ project, delivering sports activities and mental wellbeing sessions such as group therapy and one-to-one psychotherapy, to improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and families in Havering. 

London Borough of Tower Hamlets 

  • Maslaha (£50,000) – to deliver a programme of fencing, creative workshops and coaching activities for young Muslim women in Tower Hamlets. 
Multi-borough projects
  • Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (CARAS) (£149,304, Evolution grant) – to support refugee and asylum-seeking young people in South London to be active – at an individual level by supporting access to sport and activities, and at a sector-level by creating a best practice guide to ensure sports programming meets their needs. 
  • Fight4Change Foundation (£148,728, Evolution grant) – to scale up the ‘Beat the Count’ programme to deliver non-contact boxing sessions and wrap-around support in four Pupil Referral Units/Alternative Education sites in Lambeth and Southwark. 
  • The Change Foundation (£100,166, Evolution grant) – to deliver the free Young Mums Active Community programme in Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Southwark, supporting young mums through physical activity and mentoring sessions. 
  • UKLatin Community CIC (£50,000, Evolution grant) – to develop two ‘Sports Academies’ in Lambeth and Tower Hamlets to train more than 200 young people from Latin and other diverse communities in sports and nutrition.