Changing Futures 2026-29: Lived Experience Support Grant
This grant will fund a national lived experience provider to work with partners and the central government team to strengthen cross-area learning, and ensure lived experience plays a central role in program design, delivery and system change both locally and nationally to improve services for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
- Opening date:
- Closing date:
Contents
Summary
Changing Futures is a £55.8 million cross-government programme that builds on the learning from the first phase of Changing Futures, which was delivered over five-years in 15 areas. The programme demonstrated the value of a place-based, whole systems approach in improving outcomes for people experiencing multiple disadvantage and reducing repeat demand on public services.
The next phase of Changing Futures targets 18 of the most deprived upper-tier areas across England, comprising a mix of areas from the first phase of the programme and new areas. This phase aims to build on existing learning by providing a stronger framework and guidance to help areas go further on systems change.
The grant competition will appoint one lived experience provider to play a critical role in supporting delivery across the next phase of the programme. The provider will be expected to work with local authority-led partnerships at different stages of system maturity, tailoring support accordingly, and supporting shared learning across areas.
The lived experience provider will work closely with the learning and support provider (funded through a separate grant) to maintain a coherent national offer and ensure lived experience continues to play a central role in programme design, local delivery and systems change. This will be through two interlinked strands of work:
providing advice, support and guidance to local partnerships, specifically local leads who have responsibility for lived experience in their areas, and
establishing mechanisms for bringing lived experience into the national programme and related policy.
In this way, the provider will work closely with the central government team, which may include third-party research partners, to ensure people with lived experience directly influence and inform national multiple disadvantage policy, as well as programme development and evaluation.
We encourage applicants to consider how their proposals will support effective coordination, clear communication, and targeted, purposeful activity that is responsive to local need and avoids placing unnecessary burden on areas.
The provider should expect to deliver a mix of support approaches, including significant targeted in-person engagement, recognising that some areas, particularly those newer to this work, may require more intensive support at certain points. Applicants should therefore consider travel, regionality and capacity to work alongside areas on the ground as part of their delivery approach.
Where activity is delivered online, applicants should demonstrate how they will ensure accessibility and inclusion, recognising that digital access and confidence may vary across partners and participants. Proposals should show how activity will be clearly communicated, well signposted and coordinated to avoid duplication or overburdening areas.
Eligibility
To apply for this grant, your organisation must be a voluntary, community or faith sector (VCFS) organisation, operating in England, and established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. You can apply if your organisation is one of the following:
A Company limited by guarantee registered with Companies House
A Charity registered with the Charity Commission or recognised as an exempt charity
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with Companies House and with the Charity Commission
A Community Interest Company (CIC) registered with Companies House
A Community Benefit Society (CBS) or Co-operative Society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
A Parochial Church Council (PCC)
You cannot apply if you are:
An individual
A sole trader, partnership, or for-profit company
An unincorporated or informal group
A public sector organisation (such as a statutory body, local authority, school, college, university, educational trust, MAT, museum or NHS body etc)
Not registered with the appropriate regulator for your organisation type
An organisation primarily engaged in political activity
In addition to being the type of organisation listed in the eligibility criteria above you must as part of your application submission:
· demonstrate that the grant aligns with the organisation’s core purpose, complements the wider multiple disadvantage system, supporting change, learning and improvement at local and national levels
· demonstrate a minimum of three years' experience of working within, or supporting, the multiple disadvantage landscape. This includes experience of applying co-production principles, supporting people with lived experience to shape services and policy, and delivering and coordinating lived experience activity at a national level.
· demonstrate an understanding of the policy and delivery context for multiple disadvantage and an ability to keep lived experience offers under review as policy, evidence and local practice evolve.
· Demonstrate experience of organising interactive in person learning events and facilitating stakeholder workshops, action learning sets and mentoring schemes.
· operate in England
The eligibility lists are not exhaustive. Clarification should be sought from MHCLG if a potential applicant believes that the status of their organisation is not listed
As part of our standard processes, we will conduct full due diligence checks on applicants before any funding is confirmed.
Organisations may submit only one application. If an organisation makes multiple applications, then we will assess the first one that is submitted. Please note that once an application has been submitted, it cannot be withdrawn and will be regarded as your only submission
The full scoring and assessment process is set out in the “Changing Futures Lived Experience grant: Scoring Framework” document which details the criteria that will be used to assess all eligible applications
Objectives
We are seeking proposals to:
1. Embed meaningful involvement of lived experience in the design and delivery of the Changing Futures programme at both local and national levels.
2. Support and develop lived experience leadership across the multiple disadvantage landscape, at both local and national level.
3. Strengthen local participation infrastructure so lived experience informs programme design and wider system influence, such as governance and commissioning
4. Integrate lived experience into delivery and systems change across Changing Futures areas, working closely with the national learning and support provider
5. Ensure lived experience informs the design, delivery and evaluation of the national Changing Futures programme and wider multiple disadvantage policy across government
6. Work with the learning and support provider to capture, synthesise and disseminate learning from lived experience participation and co-production activity to inform local practice and national policy development through reciprocal engagement
7. Develop and co-ordinate a mutual mentoring scheme between people with lived experience and policy makers at local, regional and national levels ensuring both parties benefit from the relationship.
The lived experience provider will play the central convening role in supporting delivery of these objectives, and ensuring lived experience is at the heart of programme delivery and driving wider local and national influence. They will need to support areas to consider the skills development and progression of the individuals with lived experience involved in the programme, and how lived experience input is embedded more sustainably in local systems over time.
The lived experience provider will be expected to work with the programme’s evaluation and wider learning activity. This may include supporting opportunities for people with lived experience to contribute to evaluation activity, for example through the use of trained peer researchers that support engagement with beneficiaries in qualitative insight gathering.
The lived experience provider will also be expected to work within the emerging Multiple Disadvantage System Maturity Framework being developed through the Changing Futures programme. The framework is intended to support local authority-led partnerships to understand and reflect on their progress in developing mature, whole-systems approaches to multiple disadvantage, based on learning from Changing Futures and predecessor programmes. In particular, the provider will support areas to strengthen the lived experience and co-production elements of the framework, helping partnerships embed meaningful participation of lived experience within system design, decision making and service improvement. This will inform how they prioritise resource and focus throughout the programme and is likely to influence the issues areas require support with. Maturity themes are expected to be Leadership & Governance, Data & Insight, Lived Experience & Co-production, Workforce, Funding & Commissioning, and Coordinated Support
We encourage providers to consider how their proposed lived experience offer would be tailored to partnerships at different stages of system maturity, focusing on providing the right type and intensity of support at the right time rather than a one-size-fits all approach. We are also interested in how providers would manage the dynamics of relationships and participation in a programme network where many of the members have existing, close relationships with each other and the national team as well as extensive Changing Futures experience, while others are completely new to the programme. Moreover, some members of the Changing Futures network will no longer be receiving funding and will therefore be receiving a less intensive offer. We want the provider to create safe, inclusive and welcoming spaces where people with lived experience, local partnerships and wider programme stakeholders can participate meaningfully, build confidence and contribute to systems change.
Dates
Competition launch
30 March 2026
Competition end
21 April 2026
Moderation of applications
May 2026
Due diligence checks
May 2026
Issuing of grant funding agreements
June 2026
Launch and mobilisation
July 2026
How to apply
Apply for funding
Applications will open for this fund on 30 March 2026.
Full details, including how to apply, are available here on GOV.UK.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us at cfp@communities.gov.uk.
Supporting information
Supporting documents, including full scoring and assessment process can be found here.