Ministers have launched a £11.59 million Local Covenant Partnerships Fund to grow the sort of council–charity teamwork already seen in Sheffield and Greater Manchester. Published by DCMS on 21 January 2026, the programme promises practical backing for prevention and early help in 15 areas across England. (gov.uk)

Rather than a direct grants pot for every locality, DCMS has opened a competition to appoint a civil society organisation-either a single body or a consortium-to run the programme across all 15 places. The total grant award is £11.59 million in revenue funding over 2026–2029. (gov.uk)

“This £11.59 million investment is about much more than funding,” said Civil Society Minister Stephanie Peacock, who argued the programme will join up local support and change lives. (gov.uk)

For residents, the department lists priority areas including mental health, adult social care, women’s refuges and tackling child poverty. Support will be targeted where the cost of living has hit hardest, with more self‑directed care delivered close to home. (gov.uk)

In Sheffield, the Synergy VCSE Alliance for Mental Health has placed peer support workers in all 15 of the city’s primary care networks. Services are co‑designed by people with lived experience, alongside more than 110 voluntary and community groups. (gov.uk)

Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit-working with police, health, education, youth justice, councils and local charities-runs mentoring for eight‑to‑eleven‑year‑olds to smooth the move to secondary school and build confidence. Parents and carers get support too. (gov.uk)

DCMS says bidders should be able to broker relationships across sectors, manage onward grants and foster shared learning between places. This is a competition to deliver the national programme, not site‑level service grants at this stage. (gov.uk)

The 15 places will be chosen later this year with the successful applicant, using “double disadvantage”-high deprivation and low social capital-with metrics like the Community Needs Index and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. (gov.uk)

Applications are live on the government’s Find a Grant service and close at 23:59 on Monday 23 February 2026. The fund sits under the Civil Society Covenant agenda, set out by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2025 to reset relations between government and civil society. (gov.uk)

For Northern charities and councils used to short‑term pilots, the test now is simple: do the chosen places include communities where need is deep and partnerships already deliver? We’ll be watching which towns make the cut-and how much of this pot reaches the North.