You can apply for up to £500 to run your project.

To apply for this funding you need to complete the Project Planning and Budget Form. Please read these guidance notes carefully before you complete your application.

In addition, we will reimburse your volunteers' travel expenses which are completed on public transport within Transport for London Zones 1-6. You do not need to apply for funding for your volunteers travel expenses.

Please note that if your project is affiliated with a charity, you will need to contact the charity directly to ask about reimbursements, both for your volunteers' travel expenses and your project expenses.

Funding Criteria

Applications will need to meet the following criteria:

  • The project must meet the needs of a non-student community or number of communities within London.
  • The project must be carried out in London.
  • The project must be registered with the Volunteering Service’s Student-Led Volunteering Programme.
  • All Project Leaders must have read and signed the Project Leader Agreement.
  • The project must only involve UCL students in its delivery. The Volunteering Service can assist applicants with the recruitment of UCL volunteers.
  • The project must represent good value for money. Three quotes will be required for items costing more than £500, and two quotes for any thing under £500.
  • The project must have an approved risk assessment completed in the current academic year.

What can be funded?

You can apply for funding for running costs of your project. This can include:

  • Training for you and your volunteers (note that the Volunteering Service will provide ‘Volunteering with Children’ training ).
  • Equipment to deliver workshops and sessions.
  • Resources for participants.
  • Stationery and large print orders.
  • Social activities for your volunteers
  • Taxi travel to transport large and bulky items

All costs must be related to your project – that is, we will only provide funding for what you need to achieve your aims and deliver your outcomes.

Please think sustainably when planning the resources that you will buy for your project.  You can view our guidance on how you can run your project sustainably.

What cannot be funded?

  • Projects that only benefit UCL students.
  • Projects that do not have a direct benefit to the community.
  • Staff costs / consultancy fees.
  • Projects that take place outside of London.
  • Projects not registered with the Student-Led Volunteering Programme.
  • National charity events or Annual General Meetings (AGMs) hosted at UCL.

Application process

  1. Speak with an advisor – they will be able to advise you about completing the Project Plan and Budget Form.
  2. Fill in the application form and submit it, using your Student-Led Project’s webpage. Please submit by the appropriate application deadline.
  3. Your application will be assessed.
  4. You’ll be notified of the panel’s decision by the outcome notification date listed below.

Keep in mind that when you complete your application, the outlined budget should include the funding you will need for the entire academic year. This means that you should apply for funding based on the activities that you intend to deliver in the current academic year, this way you will be ready to start as soon as you develop your partnerships and everything else is in place!

Deadline for applications

There are several deadlines for funding applications throughout the year and projects will receive notification of the outcome of their application by the dates listed below.

During Term-Time
Application Deadline - 15th of the month
Outcome Notification Date - 1st of the following month

The final deadline for the academic year is January 15th. Please note that we won't be able to accept any applications submitted after this day.

Please get in touch if you would like to apply for funding outside of term-time.

Please ensure that you submit your Project Plan and Budget Form by the appropriate deadline to ensure that you receive funding on time.

Please note there is no guarantee of your project receiving the requested funding, and if approved, your project may receive funding with certain conditions. Therefore, you are not permitted to spend any money on your project until you receive notification of the outcome of your funding application.

If your application is successful, a Union Finance Account will be opened for your project and your funding will be managed here through the Volunteering Service.

Get in touch, if you have any questions or need additional support to complete the Project Plan and Budget Form. Once completed the form needs to be submitted through your SLP webpage.

Need more than £500?

In exceptional circumstances, the Volunteering Service will provide funding of up to £750. You will need to detail why you need the additional funding on your Project Plan and Budget Form.

If you require more than the £750 available from the Volunteering Service, you’ll need to look at other fundraising options.

There are other sources of funding you might consider. These include:

  • Other UCL grants
  • External grants (such as money from the local council)
  • Charitable Trusts
  • Sponsorship/donations from companies
  • Fundraising events like a bake sale to raise money for your project (if you’re thinking about this, please contact us).
  • You could also consider seeking sponsorship for your SLP. Sponsorship is external support, either financial or for goods in-kind, in return for some form of acknowledgement. Keep in mind that before approaching a sponsor, you need to make sure that they meet the Union guidelines. You should follow the same guidelines as Clubs & Societies do, when approaching possible sponsors.

If you have any further questions please contact us.

Completing the Form

When completing the form, you will need to include a timeline for your project. See below the tasks to include in the timeline (not necessarily in this order).

Don’t forget to include the different forms that you need to complete for your Student-Led Project in your timeline.

  • Complete risk assessment form (this needs to be completed before you start any project related activity)
  • Set up agreements with community partners
  • Complete Project Planning and Budget Form
  • Ensure all paperwork is returned to the Volunteering Service (including Project Leader Agreement)
  • Ensure volunteers complete their DBS checks (reach out if you need guidance)
  • Complete online ‘Volunteering with Children’ course (mandatory if working with children or young people)
  • Organise project specific training / induction
  • Attend Project Leader Training
  • Volunteer recruitment tasks (e.g. attend volunteering fair, create volunteer vacancy on Student-Led Projects webpage, organise information sessions etc.)
  • Regular meetings with volunteers
  • Regular Project Leader meetings
  • Approach community partners
  • Plan monitoring and evaluation throughout the life of the project (e.g. when will you collect feedback forms i.e. end of session)
  • Development meetings with an advisor from our team

Keep in mid that you’ll probably have other tasks to include that are specific to your project. See additional guidance on how to complete your timeline (including a sample timeline).

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