Community and voluntary organisations across Northern Ireland are being encouraged to prepare for the launch of the second round of the Northern Ireland Office's (NIO) Connect Fund, which will offer up to £500,000 in grants.

The Connect Fund, first announced at the East West Council earlier this year, aims to support work in sectors directly affecting local Northern Ireland communities. Its core purpose is to encourage East-West collaboration across the UK and to help local groups tackle shared challenges and access opportunities with communities in Great Britain. The overall initiative represents a funding pot of up to £1 million distributed over two financial years, with up to £500,000 allocated each year.

To date, the first round of the fund has already benefited thirteen organisations, distributing almost £400,000 for projects. These schemes range from establishing an East-West LGBTQIA+ Forum and addressing environmental issues to building relationships between veterans' groups and promoting gender economic equality across the UK.

Matthew Patrick, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, urged local groups to apply in the New Year: "The Connect Fund has been making a real difference to community and voluntary groups across Northern Ireland and the UK for several months, and I've been delighted to visit groups such as the Castle Communities Trust and CO3 - the Chief Officers Third Sector East West Forum- to hear first hand about its positive impact on their work. "I would encourage community groups who are seeking to strengthen East-West connections to seize the opportunity to apply to the second round of the Connect Fund in the New Year. "The Connect Fund could be the key which unlocks delivery of your community project."

One local beneficiary of the first round is Belfast-based youth organisation, YouthAction. The organisation is using its grant to join forces with groups in England, Scotland, and Wales. Their plans include strengthening East-West civic relationships through a Youth Leader Summit in Belfast for young leaders aged 18 to 35, and a separate CEO Leadership Summit in England to reinforce organisational alignment with cross-nation partners.

Dr Martin McMullan, CEO of Youth Action, praised the initiative: "The NIO Connect Fund phase 1 announcement has provided an excellent fit for YouthAction NI's goal of nurturing East-West opportunities for young people and youth work, allowing us to build on our established East-West Strategic Youth Work Partnership with Youth Cymru, UK Youth, Youth Scotland and our Youth Work Strategy for 2023-2028."

The second round of the Connect Fund will open for applications on 7 January 2026 and will remain open until the closing date of 12 February 2026. Unlike the first round, applications will be assessed within a single submission window rather than on a rolling monthly basis. Projects successfully awarded funding must be delivered within the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

The application process for Round 2 will go live on the Gov.uk 'Find a Grant' platform on 7 January 2026.