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Reveal and Respond programme

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Introduction
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Grants to enable access to appropriate mental health and wellbeing support for specific underrepresented groups within the armed forces community.

The Reveal & Respond programme will award grants to enable access to appropriate mental health and wellbeing support for specific underrepresented groups within the armed forces community through tailored interventions that respond to identified barriers, needs and experiences.
Closing date: 28 Oct 2026
Apply to Strand 1
Apply to Strand 2
Reveal and Respond programme

Funded by

Covenant Fund logo

Apply by

12:00 pm 28 October 2026

Grants of

£20,000 to £300,000

Requirements

Mental health and wellbeing support for specific underrepresented groups

Under the Reveal & Respond programme, the Trust will award grants to enable access to appropriate mental health and wellbeing support for specific underrepresented groups within the armed forces community through tailored interventions that respond to identified barriers, needs and experiences. Two funding strands are available – strand one will offer grants of £20,000 to £40,000 and strand two offers grants of £150,000 to £300,000.

We invite applications from:

  • UK based registered charities
  • Community interest Companies (CICs)
  • Local authorities

 

There is more detailed information about eligibility in the programme guidance. It is important that you read the programme guidance carefully before you apply.

Reveal & Respond has two funding strands. You should choose the strand that best reflects the stage of development, evidence base and intended scale of your project. Read the programme guidance for full details before choosing your funding route.

Under Strand 1 – discovery, pilot and learn grants: grants of between £20,000 and £40,000 towards a pilot project being delivered for two years that will help organisations understand barriers, test approaches and develop tailored support for underrepresented groups within the armed forces community.

Under Strand 2 – scale and strengthen grants: larger grants of between £150,000 and £300,000 towards a project being delivered for between two to three years, which builds on approaches that have already been tested or developed and are ready to be scaled, embedded, replicated or strengthened.

Organisations may submit more than one application, as long as each application is for a clearly different project and the projects do not overlap.

This programme is focused on improving access to appropriate mental health and wellbeing support for underrepresented groups within the armed forces community through tailored interventions that respond to identified barriers, needs and experiences. We want to support projects that understand the barriers people face and have designed their support around those barriers, needs and experiences.

We’re particularly keen to hear from projects supporting specific cohorts as identified through our Evidence and Gaps Map Summary. There is more information on these groups in the programme guidance.

Your project must contribute to the following two outcomes in a way that is proportionate to the funding strand you apply to:

  1. Underrepresented groups in the armed forces community are more able to access mental health and wellbeing support, because the project has removed or responded to previously unmet need.
  2. Learning and understanding of the barriers, needs and experiences of underrepresented groups within the armed forces community is increased, shared and applied to improve support, practice and collaboration.

 

Strand 1 projects must clearly address Outcome 1.

Strand 2 projects must address both programme outcomes.

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on 28 October 2026. You will receive a decision before end of February 2027.

Before making your application to this programme, we strongly recommend you use the helpful resources below to ensure you make the best application you can.

We encourage you to take a look at the application questions for Strand 1 and the application questions for strand 2 before beginning your online application to the Reveal & Respond programme. Please note, this is for reference only and applications can only be made via our online application portal.

You can also view the terms and conditions to receiving a grant.

 

Reveal & Respond programme guidance cover

Programme guidance (PDF file)
Reveal & Respond programme on a page

Programme on a page (PNG file)

Frequently asked questions

Please note, we will add to this list if and when we receive queries from applicants.

We support an underrepresented group. Does that mean our project is a good fit?

Not by itself. You must explain the specific barrier, unmet need or disadvantage your project will address.

Tell us who you will support, how armed forces life or experience affects their access to mental health and wellbeing support, and how this creates disadvantage compared with civilian peers. Your project should clearly respond to that barrier.

This programme is not intended to fund projects that broadly support the armed forces community.

Applications should focus on a specific underrepresented group or cohort and clearly explain the barriers, needs or disadvantages that group experiences. Projects providing general mental health and wellbeing support are unlikely to be a strong fit.

Yes, but you must show that you understand the different barriers and disadvantages each group faces, and how your project will respond to them. We would not expect one activity or approach to meet everyone’s needs. A single generic project for multiple groups is unlikely to be a strong fit.

For the purposes of this programme, a project is a defined piece of work with clear aims, activities, beneficiaries, outcomes, and timescales. Projects should go beyond an organisation’s routine or ongoing activities and should clearly demonstrate how they will contribute to the programme outcomes and aims.

The Trust will fund therapeutic interventions that are non-clinical in nature; examples may include life or wellness counselling, peer support, or mindfulness. Any therapeutic interventions need to be proven to work, through credible published evidence. We would not expect projects to be wholly made up of one-to-one therapy sessions for beneficiaries; they will need to form part of a wider package of support within the project.

Projects need enough time to build trust, understand barriers, and deliver support in a way that responds to people’s needs. Longer delivery periods also allow organisations to learn from delivery and demonstrate what difference their project has made.

  • Strand 1 projects run for two years and must include development, testing, and learning phases. The two-year period gives organisations time to develop or refine their approach, test it in practice, learn from delivery and use that learning to strengthen their work.
  • Strand 2 projects run for two to three years because they build on existing learning or evidence. The longer timeframe allows organisations to embed and deliver effective approaches, adapt them where needed, and generate stronger evidence of their impact over time.

If you apply to Strand 1, you only need to meet Outcome 1.

If you apply to Strand 2, you need to meet Outcome 1 and Outcome 2.

No. Strand 2 is intended for projects that are building on previous learning, evidence or established practice. If your project is testing a new approach, you should apply to Strand 1 instead.

Applicants should avoid applying to Strand 2 simply because they want a larger grant. Strand 2 projects must show that the approach is ready to be scaled, strengthened, embedded or replicated, and that both programme outcomes will be met.

Yes, but each application must be for a clearly separate project. The projects must not overlap or duplicate each other.

Before applying, you should consider whether your organisation has the capacity, staff, resources, management oversight and partnerships needed to deliver more than one project at the same time. If more than one application is successful, you must be able to manage and deliver each project properly.

Yes. However, your project must have a clear connection to the armed forces community. You should work with one or more partners that have relevant armed forces knowledge, experience or relationships.

Your application should explain why your expertise is needed, how the armed forces context has shaped the project, and how your partners will help deliver it. We would expect these partnerships to be in place before you apply.

Yes. Reveal & Respond is a collaborative programme. We expect projects to involve partnership between armed forces organisations and specialist non-armed forces organisations.

Your application should explain why the partnership is needed and what each organisation will bring. This could include specialist knowledge, trusted access to a specific group, referral routes, accessible delivery, understanding of barriers, or support with learning and evaluation.

Yes. You can use AI to help draft your answers, but you must check, edit, and take responsibility for anything it produces.

You must not use AI to invent information, including stories, quotes, case studies, evidence, or statistics. Everything in your application must be accurate and based on your own project.

You should also make sure any use of AI follows your organisation’s data protection responsibilities, including UK GDPR.

All the information needed to determine whether a project is a suitable fit for the programme is included in the programme guidance. To ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently, the Trust is unable to provide individual advice on project ideas before submission. The Trust can only provide technical advice about the application process

Awards Made

We haven’t made any awards under this programme yet. New awards will appear in this section once they have been announced. 

You can view a full list of awards made under all our programmes on our Projects we’ve supported page.

Ready to apply?

If you've read the guidance and you're ready to begin your application, please click here

Apply to Strand 1
Apply to Strand 2

Programme news

Introducing Reveal & Respond programme

Reveal & Respond: improving access to support for underrepresented groups

Some people in the armed forces community face extra barriers to mental health and wellbeing support. Reveal & Respond offers grants to help organisations identify these challenges and provide tailored, practical support.
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