Boosting Advice Fund: Round 3

Building on the success of the first two Boosting Advice funding programmes in 2024 and 2025, we're investing further in the advice sector to enhance the support available to people aged over 65 living in financial hardship.

Grants will be for a three-year period and eligible organisations will be able to apply for:

• up to £150,000 (£50,000 per year);
• or a shared total of up to £210,000 (£70,000 per year) if applying in partnership with (an)other organisation/s.

Eligible areas in the UK

The Boosting Advice Fund will distribute up to £1.6 million of funding in total to deliver projects in five targeted areas across the UK.

England

• Kingston upon Hull
• Nottingham
• North London – boroughs of Camden, Islington and Haringey

Scotland

• Argyll and Bute
• Highlands
• Na h-Eileanan an Iar
• Orkney
• Shetland

Wales

• Wrexham

These areas have been selected based on various factors, including the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and census data highlighting populations of older people.

This is our third round of funding for the Boosting Advice Fund. The projects from Rounds 1 and 2 are all currently in active funding with Independent Age.

• Read about Round 1
• Read about Round 2

For us, an improved life is increased financial wellbeing, enabling greater choice and independence in wider areas of life. We will therefore provide funding for advice organisations whose work is helping older people improve their financial well-being and will achieve outcomes against the following themes:  

Income – Older people facing financial hardship will have sufficient income and receive the financial support they're entitled to e.g. Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance (Pension Age Disability Payment), Carer's Allowance (Carer Support Payment).

Costs – Older people facing financial hardship are protected from unfair or avoidable costs. This might include work around: bill reduction, supporting an older person with housing repairs, dealing with rent increases and supporting an older person who is homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Applications will be in two stages.

Stage 1: Expression of Interest (EOI)

Closed at 2pm on Wednesday 25 February 2026.

We’ll let applicants know the outcome of their EOI by 6 March 2026.

Stage 2: Full application

If successful at EOI stage, applicants will have until 2 April 2026 to submit a full application.

We’ll let applicants know the outcome of the full application by mid-June 2026, with funding for successful applicants available from 1 August 2026. Funded projects should begin no later than 1 October 2026.

Support from Independent Age during the application process

We want to do everything we can to support you through this process. For any queries not covered in the guidance or FAQ documents, please contact the grants team at grants@independentage.org, or call 020 7605 4460.

If you have any access requirements that might pose a barrier to application, please let us know and we’ll do everything we can to support you through the application process. We’d be happy to arrange a phone call or video call if that would be helpful.

We may be able to offer additional time to complete the EOI and/or application form if you need it due to an access requirement – for example, if you use British Sign Language and are working with an interpreter to complete the form. Requests for extra time will be reviewed individually.