Stansted £50,000 Grant: Harlow Groups Have Until 30 Sept

A Harlow charity, club or community group has one week left to bid for up to £50,000 from Stansted Airport’s community fund. Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday 30 September.

This is the fund’s Flagship Award, handed out once a year. It opened on 1 July and it is the largest single grant the fund gives.

What the money can pay for

It is a capital grant. That means things, not running a service. The fund says it expects projects to have match funding or other money alongside it, and it will not consider running costs.

The categories it names as priorities are:

• projects of special help to specific social groups, naming voluntary youth groups such as scouts, guides and youth clubs, and projects for elderly or disabled people
• projects supporting community life in general, such as improvements to village halls
• infrastructure that supports community use
• community drama, art, music and sporting or leisure activities
• environmental and conservation schemes supporting access to the countryside and outdoors

What will get your application thrown out

This is the part most coverage skips, and it is the part that wastes groups’ time. Across the fund’s two awards, the published rules bar:

• running costs, consumables, salaries, rent, venue hire and maintenance. The fund buys equipment, furniture and building work, not the cost of keeping something going.
• applications without the paperwork. You need quotations for the work, your organisation’s constitution, and annual financial information including details of any other funding.
• most schools and preschools, unless they can evidence that the items will be used by the wider community, including people who do not attend the school.
• statutory bodies, except where the project falls outside their statutory responsibilities. A parish council or a school can qualify, but only on that test.
• anyone who has had a grant in the last three years. The fund’s smaller award requires a three-year wait before reapplying.

One more thing worth knowing before you spend a week on the form. The fund reserves the right not to award the full £50,000 at all: “The Community Fund Committee withholds the right to split the Flagship Award and award two smaller grants dependent on the number of applications we receive.”

Is Harlow actually in the area?

Yes, but check the map rather than the description.

The fund describes its catchment as a ten-mile radius of the airport. Harlow town centre is further than that. What matters is the airport’s own Area of Benefit map, which shades whole parishes and districts rather than drawing a circle, and the shaded area takes in the Harlow district, Roydon, Sheering and Gilston. Harlow sits at the south western edge of it.

If your group is close to that edge, confirm eligibility with the fund at community@stanstedairport.com before you gather quotes.

What it has already paid for near here

The fund has awarded more than £500,000 to more than 122 groups since it relaunched in 2023, and it meets quarterly. Its committee is made up of independent members, local authority representatives and airport staff, chaired by Councillor Maggie Sutton.

Two awards it picked out as standouts in 2025 show the range:

• The Parent Hood in Harlow received £20,000 to replace the roof of its family hub. Marika Opara, from the charity, said: “A new roof means we can continue offering a safe, warm space for families in Harlow.”
• Molehill Green Village Hall, out near the airport rather than in Harlow, received £30,000 to install a permanent electrical system.

Both are the same shape of project: a building fix that a small organisation cannot fund from subscriptions, with a life measured in decades.

If you miss Wednesday

The fund’s smaller award reopens straight afterwards. The 2026-27 London Stansted Airport Community Award gives up to £5,000 for tangible items of lasting benefit such as equipment and furniture. It opens on 5 October and closes at 5pm on 6 November 2026, with decisions notified in the week beginning 7 December.

That is the right route for a set of goalposts, a kitchen refit, staging, IT equipment or a minibus fit-out. The £50,000 award is for the roof.

What it means for you

• If you run a Harlow group with a capital project, the deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 30 September. Applications go through the MAG Airports Community Funds portal, and the paperwork alone takes a day or two to assemble.
• If you cannot make Wednesday, do not rush a weak bid. The £5,000 award opens on 5 October with a five-week window.
• If you have had money from this fund before, check the three-year rule before you start.
• If you are unsure whether your address qualifies, email community@stanstedairport.com rather than guessing from the ten-mile description.

If your group runs an event or has news for the town, you can send it to us. More on what is happening locally is on our things to do in Harlow page.

Sources

• 2026-27 London Stansted Airport Flagship Award, MAG Airports Community Funds for the up to £50,000 capital grant, the 1 July 2026 opening, the 5pm 30 September 2026 deadline, the December 2026 decision, the funding priorities, the supporting information required, the match funding expectation and the committee’s right to split the award.
• 2026-27 London Stansted Airport Community Award, MAG Airports Community Funds for the up to £5,000 award, the 5 October 2026 opening, the 5pm 6 November 2026 deadline, the week commencing 7 December notification, the three-year reapplication wait, and the rules on schools and statutory bodies.
• MAG Airports Community Funds and its Area of Benefit map for the shaded catchment covering Harlow, Roydon, Sheering and Gilston.
• London Stansted Airport media centre, Community Fund hits £500k milestone, 24 June 2025 for the £500,000 total, the 122 groups since the 2023 relaunch, the ten-mile radius, the quarterly committee and its chair, and the awards to The Parent Hood in Harlow and Molehill Green Village Hall.

Checked on 23 September 2026. Deadlines are set by the fund and can change; confirm on the portal before you rely on one.