- Eligibility Criteria
For the Community Radio Fund:
– Grants can only be made to community radio stations licensed by Ofcom (Stations licensed under The Community Radio (Guernsey) Order 2013 are not eligible for funding);
– C-DSP stations, licensed under the Small-scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019, are now eligible for the Fund in addition to stations licensed to broadcast on AM and FM;
– Applicant stations must be on air as at the date of their application for their application to be considered by the Panel. Payment can only be made to stations that have launched;
– For analogue community radio stations, there should be a minimum of fifteen months remaining on the licence from the closing date for applications. If there are less than fifteen months remaining on the licence, the licensee must have submitted an extension application to Ofcom by the closing date. C-DSP licences do not have an end date. In either case, they expect the services to continue to broadcast for the full length of the grant tenure if an application is successful;
– Applications can only be submitted by, and awarded to, the licence holding company. The grant must be paid to the bank account of the licence holding company;
– There will normally be two rounds of grant awards in each financial year. Normally, if a Licensee has received a grant for a particular station in one funding round, that station will not be considered for a further grant under another round in the same financial year. The licensee for such a station can apply in the next year and subsequent years. Licensees which have been awarded a grant in a previous funding round must report on the spending of that grant before submitting a new application;
– Joint applications may be submitted by two or more Licensees, for example to co-fund a shared post. However, one Licensee should be nominated to manage the grant and it will be paid to that company (and not split between two or more). - Type of Funding: Programmatic
- Target Region: United Kingdom
- Application Language: English
The Ofcom is inviting eligible stations to apply for awards from the second round of the Community Radio Fund 2024-25.
The Community Radio Fund is allocated by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and managed by Ofcom. The Community Radio Fund helps to fund the core costs of running Ofcom-licensed community radio stations, broadcasting on AM, FM, or via a C-DSP licence on a digital radio multiplex.
The Community Radio Fund supports the core costs of running Ofcom-licensed community radio stations, including:
- Management
- Fundraising to support the station (eg, grants, commercial funding)
- Administration
- Financial management and reporting
- Community outreach
- Volunteer organisation and support
Funding Information
The total amount available over the course of 2024-25 is £411,759.2.
See here to learn more and apply.
Access the Fundraising Guide for expert advice on how to improve your fundraising applications and to identify prospective donors.