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Community Grant Scheme

Applications for RCUK’s Community Grant Scheme are now closed.

As part of our Restart a Heart 2025 campaign, we reopened our popular Community Grant Scheme in March following its success the previous year. Small charities and community groups could apply for grants of up to £1,500 to help educate people about CPR and defib use. 

Research shows that 94% of UK adults agree CPR training is crucial, yet nearly a third said they wouldn’t know what to do if someone was unconscious and not breathing normally. Resuscitation education is vital to increasing the chances of survival from cardiac arrest in your community.  

What was new in 2025? 

Increased funding 

Due to the large number of applicants in the previous year, in 2025 we doubled the number of organisations we awarded grants to so we could make a greater impact, particularly in underserved areas, where bystander CPR rates are lower, and cardiac arrest incidences are higher. 

Live webinar 

To ensure greater accessibility, we introduced a live 45-minute webinar, which offered guidance and support to potential applicants, ensuring those who may not be familiar with applying for a grant could navigate the process with confidence.  

2024 success stories 

In 2024 our Community Grant Scheme enabled 18 organisations and charities to empower their communities with lifesaving skills through CPR and defib education. Read below how grantees across the UK made a difference in their communities. 

A group of ten people, diverse in age and gender, seated in a classroom-style setting and smiling towards the camera.

Case Study: Donegall Pass Community Forum promotes lifesaving skills in Inner South Belfast

Donegall Pass Community Forum has been working to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in the Inner South Belfast Neighbourhood Renewal Area - one of the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland. With high levels of heart disease and poor general health in the community, access to CPR and defibrillation training is vital.

Image of someone practicing CPR and defib use on a manikin

Case Study: Thanet Community Development Trust equips local leaders with essential CPR knowledge

With support from Resuscitation Council UK’s Community Grant Scheme, Thanet Community Development Trust has been equipping local leaders with essential CPR and AED skills.

Frequently asked questions

The Community Grant Scheme is a funding initiative by Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) aimed at increasing CPR and defibrillator awareness and making local communities ResusReady. It offers grants of up to £1,500 to small charities, community groups, and faith-based organisations to help promote CPR training and defibrillator awareness in their local communities.  

Please note applications for 2025 are now closed.

To be eligible for funding, your organisation must meet the following essential criteria: 

  • Small charities with an annual income of less than £500,000 
  • Community and faith groups 

Priority will be given to organisations that meet the desirable criteria: 

  • Organisations working in underserved areas where cardiac arrest survival rates are lower than the UK average.  
  • Priority is given to organisations working in areas that are most affected by the 'inequalities present in resuscitation across the United Kingdom'. Please read the 'Every Second Counts' report to find out more about these inequalities (pages 15 & 16) and how this may be relevant to your application. 

Applications are welcome from all organisations that meet our essential criteria, but priority will be given to those that also meet the desirable criteria. 

  • Organisations, companies or charities with an annual turnover of £500,000 or more. 
  • Schools   
  • Local authorities, including town and parish councils. 
  • Organisations that conflict with RCUK values such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, weapon-related companies, or organisations whose activities may be damaging to health 
  • Politically affiliated groups   

The grant supports projects focused on: 

  • CPR and defibrillator training 
  • Raising awareness about cardiac arrest response 
  • Addressing misinformation and barriers to CPR and defibrillator use  

Applications for 2025 have now closed.

The Community Grant Scheme is part of the Restart A Heart campaign, which takes place every October. This initiative focuses on training more people in CPR  to improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Grants must be spent during October 2025. 

For further details, you can contact the team at grants@resus.org.uk.  

       

     

Still from Lifesaver

Lifesaver

Resuscitation Council UK’s game-in-a-film puts users at the heart of the action as they learn CPR and defibrillation skills through decision making.

Two school children doing CPR on manikin

How to do CPR

Learn how to perform CPR so you can give someone the chance of survival if they collapse and stop breathing.

Person completing form on their phone. Screen is lit up with text reading "Are you ResusReady?"

ResusReady

Signing up as ResusReady lets us know that you have the vital skills to help save a life, and provides us with data to help pinpoint where we need to target our efforts to ensure everyone, has an equal chance of survival.

Two young women giving CPR to manikins at RCUK conference

Restart a Heart

Every year, we lead a fantastic group of organisations in delivering Restart a Heart Day, a campaign that encourages the public to learn CPR skills, so they are prepared to help in an emergency.