The Gloucestershire Disability Fund (GDF) provides grants to people of all ages living with a physical, sensory, and/or learning disability, as well as to charities and other not-for-profit organisations delivering frontline services which support them.

In 2026 and following a comprehensive review, GDF has revised its grant-making policy for both individuals and organisations. There are significant changes and we recommend that you go through our updated website carefully in advance of completing an application. 

Importantly, we have replaced ‘Wellbeing Grants’ with ‘Disability Grants for Individuals’. As the new name implies, we remain committed to supporting individuals in Gloucestershire living with a physical, sensory or learning disability. However, we have strengthened our application and decision-making processes to ensure that funding is targeted more precisely to meet GDF’s charitable objectives.  

In practice, this is what our changes mean for your application:  

• We have relaxed our eligibility criteria so that applicants are no longer required to produce evidence of financial need. 
• The majority of our grant awards will continue to be under £1,000.  However, we recognise that costs are rising for specialist equipment and the grants panel may now consider awarding more than £1,000 where there is clear evidence that an item or service will address a specific challenge associated with disability, and that the solution is proportionate to the need. 
• We are unlikely to award grants for items or services which, in the grants panel’s view, are based primarily on improving wellbeing.
• We are unlikely to award grants for new or replacement items (e.g. white household goods) that would benefit most households. 

Please see What We Fund for more information.

GDF trustees and grant decision-makers are people with first-hand experience of the everyday challenges faced by people living with disability. You can be sure that all applications are assessed sympathetically, fairly, and from a position of understanding.