Active Thames Fund
Funding projects that get more people active on and beside the water. The Active Thames Fund supports organisations creating accessible and inclusive opportunities across London, Kent and Essex.
Apply now
About the fund
The Active Thames Fund is dedicated to fostering growth in water sports and enhancing the use of the Thames Path National Trail. It is focused on improving access, diversity, and inclusion, while raising awareness of the benefits of physical activity in blue space.
Now in its sixth year, the fund has awarded over £770,000 to 73 organisations since 2021, each encouraging sport and physical activity on the region’s blue space. To date, over 11,922 individuals have benefitted from Active Thames funding. In 2025 alone, the funding supported 3,539 individuals to participate in 1,490 activity sessions, with an additional 126 people developing key coaching skills and qualifications.
Now open for applications
The Active Thames Fund 2026-2027 is now open!
Applications close Sunday 27 September 2026
Funding Priorities
As in previous years, the Active Thames fund links to the recommendations of the Active Thames Participation and Workforce Survey conducted in 2021, which is available here. Identified priorities and key areas of development were also supported by a Pulse Workforce Survey conducted in 2025.
Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that align with one or more of the following objectives:
- Increase diversity in participation: Particularly among under-represented groups including:
- Children & Young People
- Ethnically diverse communities
- LGBTQ+ communities
- People with disabilities
- People with long term health conditions
- People from lower socio-economic groups
- Workforce Development: Enhancing the skills and capabilities of coaches, volunteers, and administrative support teams.
Organisations seeking to apply for amounts higher than £5,000 should be confident in their ability to deliver against multiple objectives, and ideally can demonstrate prior success in similar projects, although this is not essential.
Previous beneficiaries of Active Thames grants are welcome to apply again.
Applicants are also encouraged to clearly highlight in their applications how their projects support the wider objectives and outcomes of the Active Thames grant, namely to:
- Improve people’s health and wellbeing (physical and/or mental)
- Build greater community connections.
We want to hear from YOU, so please avoid using AI in your application.
Any opportunities which are open to the community need to be digitally accessible, too. Simply listing an activity on one platform, e.g. Facebook, would not be considered digitally accessible. More information on Open Active is available here and a free platform for all clubs to use is available here.
**Exceptions may be made for clubs formed according to unique interests or demographics, e.g., the Sea Cadets who only work with children.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Active Thames focuses on the waterways in Greater London, Kent and Essex including docks, basins, reservoirs, canals, lakes and rivers that feed into the tidal Thames and its Estuary.
The fund will not cover:
- Initiatives without a link to the waterways identified or the Thames Path National Trail.
- Retrospective costs.
- Marketing costs and expenses.
- Organisations known to be acting unsafely or harming the environment.
- Individuals.
- Any initiatives or organisations that create a conflict of interest for any of the Active Thames partners.
No. We can only give grants to formally constituted organisations with a bank account in the name of that organisation.
Funding will be awarded in December with delivery expected to commence by the start of Spring. If this is not possible, please make this clear within your application.
Impact
Active Thames is helping more people get active on and beside the water.
Explore the impact of our work so far, from supporting local organisations and creating new opportunities to helping more people discover and enjoy our blue spaces.
© 2026 Active Thames