£54,000 from the council's contractors is open to Stevenage groups, clubs and charities. Bids close on 18 October. Here is who can apply.

Stevenage community groups, clubs and charities can bid for a share of about £54,000 this autumn, and the council says it is the biggest round the fund has ever run. Applications close on 18 October 2026.

The Stevenage Works Community Chest Fund is not paid for out of council tax. The money comes from contractors working on Stevenage Borough Council contracts, who put it in through their social value commitments. The council then spends it in the areas those firms are working in.

Councillor Coleen De Freitas, cabinet member for skills, economy and young people, said that groups should not rule themselves out. “You don’t have to be a large organisation or have a huge project to apply,” she said. “If you have an idea that could benefit people in our community, we want to hear from you.”

Who can apply

The council’s fund page lists four kinds of applicant:

  • community groups and clubs
  • charities and voluntary organisations
  • local organisations
  • individuals working with or on behalf of a community group

It adds that small groups are “particularly encouraged” and that you do not have to be large to have an idea worth funding.

What it will pay for

The published list is broad, which is the point. Funding can go towards:

  • running activities, events or community programmes
  • buying equipment or resources
  • improving a community facility or space
  • supporting children and young people
  • tackling loneliness and isolation
  • supporting health and wellbeing
  • creating new opportunities for local residents
  • starting a new community project, or expanding one that already works

Stevenage Works Community Chest Fund 2026 at a glance Approximately 54,000 pounds is available. 18 contractors and organisations contributed. Applications must be received by 18 October 2026. No maximum grant per applicant is published. Community Chest Fund 2026, at a glance £54,000 18 18 Oct available, the largest round so far contractors and organisations contributed 2026, the date bids must be received by No maximum grant per applicant is published, and no list of this year’s criteria. Source: Stevenage Borough Council, Community Chest Fund page and news release of 4 September 2026. Graphic by Stevenage Today.

Where the £54,000 comes from

Under the Public Services (Social Value) Act, the council has to weigh economic, social and environmental benefit as well as price when it buys services. Its own social value page sets out five principles it applies: promoting local skills and employment, supporting responsible regional business, healthier and safer communities, decarbonising, and promoting social innovation.

The Community Chest is the cash end of that. The council names 18 contributors to this year’s pot: Coulter, Sureserve, TSG, Chas Berger, Etec, Equans, UI, SSR, Getfix, R G Carter, PiLON, Sudbury Dry Lining (Hill), Jewson, Bugler, InPost, Bell, Modebest (Morgan Sindall) and EEM.

These are, for the most part, the firms building and maintaining the town: housing repairs, construction and materials. Councillor De Freitas thanked them for “helping put investment back into Stevenage’s communities”.

What the council has not published

Three things are missing, and they matter if you are deciding whether to spend an evening on an application.

  • There is no maximum grant. Neither the news release nor the fund page says whether the ceiling is £500 or £5,000, so there is no way to size a bid from the published information.
  • There are no published criteria or scores. The pages describe what the fund can pay for, not how bids are judged or who judges them.
  • There is no list of previous winners. The council’s own site menu describes the Community Chest page as covering “winning bids”, but the page carries none. The 2025 Impact Report, which the council links, is published as a scanned PDF with no readable text.

If you are unsure whether an idea qualifies, the council’s advice is to ask before applying. The Stevenage Works team is on 01438 242999 or Stevenageworks@stevenage.gov.uk.

What it means for you

If you run anything in Stevenage that brings people together, from a football club to a lunch club, this is the largest single pot of small grants the borough puts out, and the deadline is five weeks away. The council is explicitly asking for small applicants, and it is asking people who assumed they were not eligible to test that assumption.

It is also worth knowing what this money is not. It is not council tax, and it is not a service. If you want to know what the council does with the money you pay it, that is a different question, and our council tax page sets out what each band costs this year. This pot exists because firms with council contracts agreed to put something back, and the council has decided to hand the choice of what to spend it on to local groups.

Applications and the full guidance are on the council’s Community Chest Fund page.

Sources

All three council pages were read on 12 September 2026.