Lewisham Council offers several microgrant programmes. These run annually for Tamil Heritage Month, Lunar New Year, LGBTQ+ History Month, International Women's Day, Windrush Day, Refugee Week, Borough of Sanctuary, East and Southeast Asian Heritage Month, and Black History Month.
Small Grant Funds Open Now
Refugee Week 2026 – Small Grants up to £750
As the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, we welcome those fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries and protect the rights of all migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
Refugee Week 2026 will take place from June 15th to 21st, with the theme "Courage," and is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. We are offering small grants of up to £750 to support people living or working in Lewisham as well as local organisations to develop their own activities and events in their local community to celebrate Refugee Week.We expect to fund at least seven projects, perhaps more depending on the size of grants requested.
Here are some suggestions, though we also welcome new ideas!
- Organise a street party and encourage people to come together as a community.
- A community event such as a meal with a cultural activity
- Storytelling event
- Exhibition with art, photographs or oral history contributions
- Cultural activity – music, song, poetry, arts or crafts
- Gardening or nature activity
- Podcast, social media event / campaign
There will be an online Q & A session on Tuesday 10 March 2026 12-1pm. Please save to your calendar or use the following link on that day: Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37017755307929?p=eLvIl6OZuy8615mKqb
Meeting ID: 370 177 553 079 29
Passcode: 9Mz65Un3
For further information and to apply, please see the application form. If you have read through the application document and have further questions, please contact BoroughofSanctuary@lewisham.gov.uk
Applications close 23:59 on Sunday 22 March 2026.
To see and download the information and the application questions in a word document, click here.