£250,000 Over Five Years for Specialist Domestic Abuse Counselling — The Henry Smith Foundation
The Henry Smith Foundation has opened its Domestic Abuse: Counselling fund, offering five-year grants of £250,000 to UK organisations delivering specialist, longer-term counselling to victim-survivors of domestic abuse. Around 15 grants will be awarded in total, with five ring-fenced for services supporting children and young people.
Before anything else: there’s a live information webinar on Tuesday 15 September 2026, 11:00am–12:00pm. If you think this fund is for you, that hour is the single most useful thing you can do before applications open. It’s your chance to hear directly from the Foundation’s team what a strong application looks like, and to ask questions before you commit time to an Expression of Interest.
Applications open at 9:00am on Wednesday 23 September 2026, and the EOI deadline is 5:00pm on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
About the Funder
The Henry Smith Foundation is one of the UK’s largest independent grant-makers, and this fund sits within its Safer Futures Programme. Its aim here is straightforward: to help sustain access to specialist domestic abuse counselling at a time when that provision is chronically hard to fund.
Many people who have experienced domestic abuse need longer-term counselling to recover from trauma, rebuild confidence and wellbeing, and move forward with their lives. Yet specialist organisations routinely struggle to secure funding for counselling that stays available for as long as people actually need it. This fund is designed to close that gap with genuinely long-term, flexible money.
Don’t Miss the Information Webinar
The Foundation is running a live information webinar on Tuesday 15 September 2026, from 11:00am to 12:00pm — ahead of applications opening on 23 September.
With around 15 grants available and a tightly defined set of criteria, this session is the quickest way to work out whether your organisation is a genuine fit before you invest time in the eligibility quiz and EOI. Details and registration are on the Foundation’s fund page, linked at the bottom of this post.
How Much Funding Is Available
Grants are £250,000 over five years — £50,000 per year. Funding can be used as revenue, project or core funding towards specialist domestic abuse counselling services.
Around 15 grants will be awarded, with five ring-fenced for organisations providing this support to children and/or young people.
Organisations that need support to apply can request up to £250 towards the EOI stage and up to £500 towards the full application stage by contacting the Foundation’s Grants team.
What the Fund Supports
The Foundation is looking to fund counselling that is:
- Person-centred — 1-to-1 sessions tailored to the individual
- Longer-term — at least 12 sessions, ideally weekly
- Holistic — delivered alongside other services such as advocacy, practical support or safe accommodation, either in-house or through partnership
- Trauma-informed — following established standards around safety, trust, choice, collaboration and empowerment
Who Is Eligible
The fund is open to charitable organisations registered in and operating within the UK, including registered charities and CIOs, not-for-profit Community Interest Companies with an asset lock, exempt or excepted charities, and other not-for-profit charitable organisations.
Applicants must also:
- Be a specialist domestic abuse organisation with at least three years’ experience delivering counselling to victim-survivors
- Have an annual income below £2,000,000 in the most recent published accounts
- Have at least one year of audited or independently examined accounts filed
- Hold an up-to-date safeguarding policy
- Employ counsellors who are qualified or registered members (including student/trainee members) of BACP, UKCP or an equivalent body
The Foundation will not fund current holders of a grant from its Domestic Abuse ‘led by and for’ fund, organisations with income over £2m, individuals or unconstituted groups, work outside the UK, statutory bodies or work replacing statutory responsibilities, retrospective costs, or proselytising and religion-focused activities.
The Application Process
Applications follow a two-stage process. From 23 September, applicants complete an online eligibility quiz and then submit an Expression of Interest through the Foundation’s portal by 21 October. Shortlisted organisations are notified in the week commencing 23 November and invited to submit a full application by 18 December, followed by an assessment call with a member of the Foundation’s team in mid-January to early February 2027.
You’ll need your governing document, your most recent published accounts (audited or independently examined — plus draft or management accounts if the published ones are more than 10 months old; CICs must include income, expenditure and a balance sheet), and up-to-date safeguarding policies and procedures. At full application stage you’ll also need a completed income projection form.
Key Dates
- Information webinar: Tuesday 15 September 2026, 11:00am–12:00pm
- Applications open: Wednesday 23 September 2026, 9:00am
- EOI deadline: Wednesday 21 October 2026, 5:00pm
- EOI outcomes: week commencing 23 November 2026
- Full application deadline: Friday 18 December 2026, 5:00pm
- Assessment calls: mid-January to early February 2027
- Final decisions: March/April 2027
