Read the Terms and Conditions.
GM Walking and Wheeling Fund
The GM Walking and Wheeling Fund (GMWWF) Grants Programme is offering grants of up to £7,000 to VCSE organisations to deliver projects to get more people walking and wheeling in the chillier months.
The fund aims to improve the health and wellbeing of communities in Greater Manchester by encouraging people who are less active or inactive to walk or wheel regularly. By wheeling, we mean using a wheelchair, mobility aid or pushing a pram. Adaptive cycling projects can apply where walking isn’t a suitable or accessible option.
The GMWWF also hopes to increase awareness of and engagement with GM Walking: a hub of information and resources that recognises the important role walking and wheeling can play in increasing physical activity levels.
This funding is provided by the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership to GM Moving and is distributed by Salford CVS working in partnership with 10GM.
This fund is no longer accepting applications.
The GM Walking and Wheeling Fund (GMWWF) is offering two grants (small and medium) to Greater Manchester-based VCSE (voluntary, community and social enterprise). The small grants programme will be offering grants of up to £2,000 to VCSE organisations with a turnover of less than £10,000, and the medium grants programme will be offering grants of up to £7,000 to VCSE organisations with a turnover over £10,000.
The GMWWF also hopes to increase awareness of, and engagement with, GM Walking, which is a hub of information and resources that recognises the important role walking and wheeling can play in increasing physical activity levels. For more information about GM Walking, or to read case stories from projects funded in previous rounds of the GMWWF, visit: https://gmwalking.co.uk
All projects must encourage people who are less active or inactive to walk or wheel regularly.
Based on the most recent Sport England Active Lives data, we will consider applications from organisations wishing to support the following priority groups which are statistically less likely to be active:
- People on a lower / no income
- Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions
- Older adults, particularly people aged 75+
- Black and Asian adults, and particularly people of Muslim faith
- Women, and particularly people who are pregnant and/or have a child or children under one year old.
Applications to support groups outside of these priorities will not be eligible for this funding.
We will be funding projects that work with and encourage inactive or less active people into movement, rather than activities for people who are already active.
There are many ways your organisation could do this, for example:
- Supporting people to take part in walking and wheeling groups
- Working with schools, faith centres or workplaces to encourage active travel
- Recruiting and training Walking and Wheeling Champions to encourage people in the community to walk or wheel regularly.
Projects in 2026/27 are also asked to demonstrate how their proposed project will link into the wider health and care system in their area, such as a local GP practice or family centre. You could do this by:
- Linking in with your local GP practice(s) for their help in promoting your walks to their patients and referring new walkers to you
- Working with social prescribing programmes, local family hubs, health visitors, midwifery teams or other health condition-specific teams (e.g. diabetes, healthy hearts etc.) to co-design and promote your walks
- Developing projects in collaboration with local partners to meet an unmet need, e.g. a walk for people with lung disease, or sight loss etc.
Find examples of how previously-funded projects have linked in with their local health and care system
Partnership applications
The GM Walking and Wheeling fund encourages partnership applications and is keen to see groups collaborating. If you are interested in working with another VCSE organisation but are unsure where to start, please contact your local infrastructure organisation (LIO).
Important dates
The GMWWF will close to applications for medium grants at 12pm (midday) on Friday 4th September 2026 with decisions expected within 6-8 weeks of the closing date. Successful organisations will have until 31st May 2027 to spend their grant.
| Fund opens | July 2026 |
| Application deadline | 12.00pm on Friday 4 September 2026 |
| Decisions expected | Within 6-8 weeks of the closing date |
| Approximate delivery period | October 2026 – May 2027 |
| End of project report due | Within one month of project completion |
How to apply
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Read the guidance for the grant you’re applying for.
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If you have any further questions about the fund, email [email protected]. If not, fill in an application form and follow the instructions on how to submit it.
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We want our grants programme to be accessible to everyone. If you would benefit from submitting your application in another format (for example, as a video or voice recording) or require adaptations to the guidance and or application form, please get in touch with the Salford CVS Grants Team by emailing [email protected].
Small Grants
The deadline to apply for a small grant was 12:00 on Friday 4 September 2026. Applications submitted after this date will not be accepted.
Decisions are expected within 6-8 weeks of applying.
Successful organisations will have until 31 May 2027 to spend their grant.
Medium Grants
The deadline to apply for a medium grant was 12:00 on Friday 4 September 2026. Applications submitted after this date will not be accepted.
Decisions are expected within 6-8 weeks of applying.
Successful organisations will have until 31 May 2027 to spend their grant.
Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions of the GM Walking and Wheeling Fund are available.
Please read this document thoroughly and ensure your board or management committee agrees to proceed with the application.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to complete a written application form?
No, we accept video or voice recording applications. If you would like to apply in either of these formats, please contact Ashley Chapman from the Salford CVS Grants team via email or telephone (0161 787 7795)
Can people who have been a part of my walking group in the past be involved in this project?
Yes. People you have worked with previously can be involved in your project. However, these individuals should not be included in your beneficiary figures. Any funding awarded must be used to support activities that encourage people who are currently inactive / who do not walk regularly to get walking more.
Will partnership applications be prioritised?
No, they will not be prioritised. GM Walking recognises the positive impacts of organisations working together collaboratively and encourages organisation to consider working in partnership however it is not an expectation. Collaboration can help increase the reach of a project in terms of the number of people engaged, improves beneficiaries’ awareness of activities happening in their local area, shares costs for organisations, reduction in duplication of work etc.
Do I need to attend the Meet the Funder?
The Meet the Funder is not a requirement; it is a support offer we provide to give organisations interested in applying the opportunity to find out more about the fund and to ask a representative from GM Moving and Salford CVS questions.
The session will be recorded and uploaded on the 10GM website.
Do you accept applications received after the deadline?
No. Applications need to be sent to [email protected] by midday (12pm) Friday 4 September 2026.
Can I use AI to help write my application form?
We understand the benefits of AI when it comes to writing an application form and we do not have an official stance on whether you can or cannot use it. However, panel reps value your organisations unique, on-the-ground perspective. They want to hear from you and the voice of your community. When reading and assessing applications panel reps will be looking for applications that are easy to understand, that clearly demonstrate how project activity has been designed based on the needs and wants of the community and will help increase the amount of time people walk. Generic answers make it difficult for the panel to understand this and removes the authenticity of what you plan to do.
What is involved in the evaluation of this project and how long will it take me?
Small and Medium grants
All successful organisations will need to complete a simple End of Project reporting form once the activity is complete. In this form we ask you to explain what you delivered, how you have encouraged people to walk more, what the benefits are for participants and your organisation, for a breakdown of your spend and for photos, videos, quotes and case studies to bring the project to life. This form needs to be completed and returned to Salford CVS one month after the end of delivery. On average this takes about 1 hour to complete.
To complete the form, you will need to have specified tools at the beginning of your project to measure behaviour change. The GM Walking and Wheeling fund doesn’t have any requirements or expectations when it comes to the type of tools you use, this is for your organisation to decide based on what works best for your communities and project. You will need to allocate an amount of time throughout your project to ensure you are collecting and analysing the data to provide a comprehensive End of Project report form demonstrating potential behaviour change. Depending on the size of your project, the number of beneficiaries and the methods and tools you use this could be 1 – 2 hours a month.
Medium grants
As well as the End of Project report form mentioned above all medium successful applicants will need to ask their participants to complete a simple Walking Habits questionnaire (see below) and report these back in the End of Project report.
| As a result of this activity, how have your walking habits changed? People can select more than one answer | |
| Date asked: | |
| Total number of people asked: | |
| No change | |
| I have increased the number of times I walk each week | |
| I have increased the length of the walks I take | |
| I feel more confident walking to places | |
Can I apply again if I have received this grant previously?
Yes, but not for the exact same project. You will need to enhance or expand your project in order to reach new people.
Do all participants need to belong to one of the priority groups?
No, however the majority of people you engage should be.
Can our project work with more than one priority group?
Yes.
How can we demonstrate that our participants are inactive or less active?
In question 17 you can explain your knowledge of the community and the challenges they face and include evidence from conversations you might have had, from previous consultations or engagement with your beneficiaries.
What is meant by long term behaviour change?
The GM Walking and Wheeling fund is all about helping people to develop walking habits that will continue after the project. It is about supporting and encouraging people to make walking or wheeling part of their everyday lives. You can explain how you plan to do this in Q19. Things to consider:
- How you will increase participants confidence to walk and wheel
- The development of peer support networks or walking groups and how these will be continued once funding has stopped
- Signposting to other walking and wheeling opportunities at the end of the project
- Ways to encourage walking as a method of travel
- Providing participants with skills, knowledge and motivation to keep walking
Do we need to keep financial records?
Yes, as Salford CVS may conduct an audit where we will ask for evidence of spend.
What will be expected of us if funded?
Have a look at the end of project reporting form (for small and medium) so that you have an idea of what will be expected of you if funded, and in order to allocate the right amount of staff time and to decide how much funding to request.
Impact
GM Walking and Wheeling Fund 2025-2026 Impact Report
Read about the impact from the GM Walking and Wheeling Fund 2025-2026.
Case Studies
We’ve been working with GM Moving to distribute this fund annually since 2022.To read case studies from previous projects, please visit the Greater Manchester Walking website.
The GM Walking Fund 2022-2023
We have published our grants data in the 360Giving Data Standard so that we are as open and transparent as possible about what we are funding.
Using the 360Giving Data Standard, our GM Walking Fund grants are available as an Excel spreadsheet. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This means the data is freely accessible to anyone to be used and shared as they wish. The data must be attributed to 10GM.
Content last reviewed on 4 September 2026
