The Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund will make grants to grassroots charitable organisations across southern Oxfordshire, supporting Amazon’s commitment to help foster communities in the areas in which it operates.
Grants will be awarded to charitable organisations across the Didcot, Abingdon and Wallingford areas, which are working tirelessly at the heart of their neighbourhoods to support local people.
Oxfordshire Community Foundation is proud to be supporting both the well-established Didcot Powerhouse Fund and the brand-new Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund to deliver their separate grant-making through a coordinated approach in 2027.
With overlapping areas of geographic focus, similar application timelines, and complementary funding themes, Oxfordshire Community Foundation has worked with both Funds to streamline the application process so that organisations eligible to apply to both Funds only need to submit one application.
Find out more about applying to both funds
Find out more about The Didcot Powerhouse Fund
The information on the page below provides information about the Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund only.
The fund will support charitable organisations delivering projects within the target themes:
- Creating local social impact
- Supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education
- Local skills development
- Environmental sustainability
Your organisation must be structured as follows:
- The size of a group’s income must be between £1,000 and £1m. If organisations are making a joint bid, this applies to the total group income
- Applicants must be one of the following: Registered charity; Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO); Unincorporated Club or Association; Community Benefit Society; Community Interest Company (CIC); Company Limited by Guarantee (companies limited by shares are ineligible)
- Applications from individuals, for profit companies, public bodies or statutory organisations are not eligible
- You must have at least three trustees or directors or committee members who are not related to each other
- Applicants must have a bank account in the organisation’s own name with at least two unrelated signatories, which has been open for three months or more at the point of submitting an EOI.
- Applicants must be able to provide detail on organisational finances, whether through audited accounts for the most recent financial year, recent management accounts or a comprehensive income/expenditure document
- Applicants must have been in operation for at least one year: if constituted for less than one year but active for longer please demonstrate activity.
Please also read our updated Grants Policy which sets out in detail the criteria that apply to all OCF grant-making.
The Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund covers a 7-mile radius from the centre of Didcot, covering Abingdon and Wallingford, as shown by the orange circle on the map below. At least 90% of beneficiaries of a grant must live inside the prescribed radius.
Funding is provided for projects. Project operating costs, including a proportionate share of overheads allocated to the project (but not grants exclusively for general overheads of the organisation) are eligible.
The application process for the Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund is in one stage, which is an Expression of Interest only. There is no Detailed Application stage.
The Amazon Powerhouse Grants Panel will review your EOI and you will be notified of its funding decision by 9th March. If successful, you will be asked to provide three Outcome Measures and Indicators, which will be recorded in your Grant Agreement. You will also need to provide the following documents within one week of request:
- A redacted copy of a bank statement confirming bank account details in your organisation’s name
- A copy of your safeguarding policy
- If you are not registered with the Charity Commission, we will also ask for a copy of your latest audited accounts or management accounts, or a summary of your current income and expenditure; and confirmation that you have three unrelated Trustees
Grants will be paid by Wednesday 31st March 2027.
We will be holding a webinar at 12.30pm on Wednesday 9th December for any groups considering submitting an EOI to either fund. You will have the opportunity to hear more about each fund and ask questions. For details of the webinar and to register your place please use this link.
Please note that attendees must register in advance to join the webinar.
If you have any further questions about applying to the Amazon Powerhouse Community Fund, please email grants@oxfordshire.org, call us on 01865 798666 or WhatsApp us on 07927 539699.
- Tuesday 1st December – Expression of Interest opens
- Wednesday 9th December – Potential applicant webinar
- Monday 11th January, midday – Expressions of Interest close
- By Tuesday 9th March – applicants notified of decision
- Wednesday 31st March – grants paid