Grants
Inspire Fund – public engagement grant
Grant amount:
£5,000
Grant deadline:
8 September 2025
Inspire Fund provides funding for projects that engage underserved communities with the topic of brain health and reducing the risk of dementia.
This scheme is part of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s work to build the understanding of dementia and share the benefits of dementia research.
The information here relates to the seed fund, which is open to new applicants to the Inspire Fund.
Past grant holders are eligible to apply to the follow-on fund, and should contact the Involvement & Engagement team for more information - engage@alzheimersresearchuk.org
Our next Inspire Fund round is expected in 2027. We anticipate this will focus on raising brain health awareness in underserved audiences, but is subject to change.
If you would like to be notified when the 2027 funding call opens, please check this page or register your interest:
The Inspire Fund is open to all. We particularly encourage collaborative applications, and those that build relationships between communities and researchers.
Projects can use a range of methods to engage with their audience, and we welcome applications using creative or innovative approaches to explore the topic of brain health and dementia. We encourage applicants to consider their audience when selecting methods of engagement, to ensure people are able to take part.
We are particularly interested in receiving applications from the following regions:
- Devolved nations - Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- North West England
- Yorkshire and North East England
- The Midlands
- East Anglia
Location of previously funded grants
Criteria
Inspire Fund projects must meet both core criteria:
- Projects must engage with underserved audiences on the topic of dementia, such as minority ethnic communities, marginalised or socioeconomically disadvantaged people.
- Build knowledge and understanding about brain health (in the context of dementia risk reduction) and explore ways to encourage behaviour change.
Grants will not be awarded to:
- Projects where research is the primary purpose (see FAQ for more information).
- Projects that will take place outside of the UK.
- Projects providing dementia care or other front-line services (including arts therapy).
- Projects judged to be using the scheme to further the commercial interests of an organisation.
- Cover the cost of projects that are part of an organisation’s usual programme of activities.
For more information about the Inspire Fund, please read the FAQs.
The application and review process for seed fund applications will consist of the following steps:
Scheme opens for seed fund applications - 7 July 2025
A form for seed funding applications will be live on this website, in the ‘Apply’ tab.
Information webinar – 12-1pm on 5 August 2025
We held an information webinar, which we recommend watching back before submitting an application. The recording covers the remit of the Inspire Fund, the application and review process, and we answered questions from attendees.
Application deadline – 5pm on 8 September 2025
Please apply by completing the form available on this webpage, in the ‘Apply’ tab. Once submitted, you will receive an automated email confirming your application has been received, with details of what you have submitted. If you do not receive this email, please get in touch with the team at engage@alzheimersresearchuk.org
Review
The Review Committee will meet to discuss and score applications against the Inspire Fund’s criteria. In order to make a judgement, they will need to fully understand what you are applying to do, so make sure you include key information about your project.
Applicants notified of funding decisions – by 3 November 2025
Following funding decisions, applicants will be informed of the outcome within 8 weeks of the application deadline.
For more information about the Inspire Fund, please read the FAQs.
You can read the terms and conditions of the scheme here.
Monitoring
Seed fund grant holders are required to submit a final report as project evaluation, drawing on evidence gathered throughout the project. This is an essential way for us to assess the impact of projects we fund.
Information and support on how to build effective evaluation into your project will be provided throughout funded projects.
Budget monitoring will also take place throughout funded projects. Grant holders are required to maintain complete and accurate budget records and evidence of expenditure, and supply this information to ARUK at the end of the project.
GDPR
Download our GDPR statement that explains how the Alzheimer’s Research UK Public Engagement team handles personal data about our grant applications and the rights that applicants have under data protection law. In this Notice, we refer to this type of information as “Applicant Data”.
This statement applies to all applications submitted to this scheme.
For more information about the Inspire Fund, please read the FAQs.
You can find answers to frequently asked questions here.