Redcar Fundseekers is a free directory of grants and funders for voluntary organisations, charities, and community groups in Redcar and Cleveland. This guide explains how to search for funding — including how to apply filters, browse by funder, and save grants to review later.

The directory is always free to use. You do not need to create an account or sign in to browse. However, signing in lets you save your shortlist across devices.

If you cannot find what you need, or a grant seems out of date, please get in touch with the Redcar Fundseekers team.

Starting with the homepage search

The quickest way to search for funding is the search form on the Redcar Fundseekers homepage. Enter a word or phrase into the search box — a theme, a type of work, or a funder name. Then select a geographic tier and grant size to narrow results from the start. You can also tap one of the quick-filter options (Local, Open now, or Under £1,000) before you submit.

When you press Search, the site takes you to the funding directory with your choices already applied. From there, you can carry on refining the results.

How to search for funding in the directory

The funding directory shows every grant programme in the database. You can browse it at any time without signing in.

Keyword search

Type a word or phrase into the search box and press Apply filters. The directory searches across programme names and funder names. For example, entering “arts” returns programmes with “arts” in the title, and programmes from funders whose name includes “arts”. Short or common words tend to return a wide set of results. Combining keyword search with one of the filters below usually narrows things down.

Filtering the results

Seven filters help you narrow the results to grants that suit your organisation.

Geographic tier limits results by how broadly a grant is available. National programmes accept applications from anywhere in the UK. Regional programmes focus on the North East or Tees Valley. Local programmes focus specifically on Redcar and Cleveland. If you are unsure, leave this set to All — every grant in the directory can potentially reach organisations in Redcar and Cleveland.

Grant size filters by the maximum award available: under £1,000, up to £5,000, up to £10,000, or over £10,000. The filter uses each programme’s published maximum. We therefore show a programme with a £5,000 ceiling under “Up to £5,000” even if typical awards are lower.

Organisation type filters by who can apply. Options range from registered charities only through to programmes open to unincorporated groups, CICs, and social enterprises.

Funding type filters by whether a grant funds capital costs, revenue costs, or both. Capital funding typically covers one-off purchases such as equipment or building work. Revenue funding covers running costs such as salaries or activity expenses. Select one or more options, or leave this unset to see all programmes regardless of funding type.

Beneficiary focus lets you filter by the group your work primarily serves — for example, children and young people, older people, people with disabilities, or refugees and asylum seekers. Select as many as apply to your organisation. Programmes without a stated beneficiary focus will always appear in the results alongside those that match.

Theme filters by broad subject area, such as health and wellbeing, arts and culture, or the environment. A grant programme may cover more than one theme.

Open now shows only programmes with a future or rolling deadline. This filter hides closed programmes and those with no open date yet. Use it when you want to act quickly, or when you have an upcoming deadline of your own.

Select your filters and press Apply filters to update the results. To clear all your choices at once, press Reset all.

Reading a grant listing

Each listing shows the programme name, funder, a short description, and the status (Open, Rolling, Future, or Closed). Where available, the maximum grant amount and deadline appear too. The bookmark icon on each listing saves it to your shortlist (see below). Select the programme name to open its full page. There you will find eligibility details, application guidance, and a link to the funder’s application process.

Moving through the results

If there are more results than fit on one page, navigation links appear at the bottom of the listing. Select Next or Previous to move through the pages. The navigation bar shows your current position.

Browsing the funder directory

Browse the funder directory to explore all programmes from a specific organisation. It is also the right place to start when you know which funder you want to approach but are not yet sure which of their programmes fits.

Type a name into the search box and press Apply filters. You can additionally filter by funder type — for example, to show only community foundations or national lottery distributors.

Each entry links to the funder’s page on Redcar Fundseekers. There you will find contact details, financial information, and a full list of their grant programmes in this directory.

Saving grants to your shortlist

A bookmark icon appears on every grant listing. Select it to save a grant to your shortlist. The icon fills in to confirm the save. Your browser stores saved grants, so your shortlist persists between visits on the same device even without an account.

To view your saved grants, open your shortlist. From there you can review each saved programme, remove individual items, or clear the whole list. In addition, signing in saves your shortlist to your account and makes it available across different devices.

Finding funding matched to your organisation

If you create an account, you can build a profile of your organisation — including your organisation type, the areas of work you focus on, and the groups you work with. Once your profile is complete, the My account page offers a shortcut that opens the funding directory pre-filtered to match your profile. This saves you from setting the same filters each time you visit. Your shortlist and upcoming deadlines also appear on the account page, so you can see at a glance what you have saved and what is coming up.

Getting further help

If the directory is missing a grant you know about, if a deadline looks wrong, or if you have any questions about the site, please contact the Redcar Fundseekers team. We review and update the directory regularly and welcome reports of new or changed funding opportunities.