What’s changing with the Which? Fund?
What’s changing with the Which? Fund?
Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to ensure the voices of all consumers are heard, and action is taken to tackle consumer harm. We work to make life simpler, fairer and safer for consumers as we all go about our lives.
But identifying consumer harm can be difficult. Sometimes it’s perfectly obvious when we’re being ripped off, but other times we might not realise that the products and services we are being sold are dangerous, overpriced or inadequate. And some communities might be more likely to experience harm than others, or experience it in different ways. For example, people with some disabilities might find it harder to shop around, meaning they get a worse deal, or people from diverse ethnic communities might be less likely to use some financial services like formal pensions, which might leave them at greater risk of hardship in later life.
What is the Which? Fund
At Which?, we recognise that sometimes other organisations will be better placed to work with these communities to understand their experiences, and work out how to address the consumer harms they face. One of the ways we support this important work is through offering funding, through the Which? Fund, our grant making initiative. The Which? Fund offers £75,000 of grant funding a year to organisations undertaking projects seeking to identify and address the consumer harms facing diverse and disadvantaged communities.
We’ve been running this initiative since 2021 and are very proud of the work we’ve supported to date. With our support:
- National Energy Action were able to persuasively make the case for government support with energy costs to be extended to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities;
- the University of Leeds undertook important research on the quality of commercial baby food, leading the government to publish new guidance asking manufacturers to stop promoting snacks for babies under the age of 1; and
- The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute called for changes to ensure people experiencing mental health problems don’t face discrimination when buying travel insurance.
Time for a refresh
After four years of running the Which? Fund, we thought it was important to take a step back, evaluate our efforts, and work out what, if anything, we should change to ensure our funding adds as much value as possible to both us and the organisations we fund. As a result of this review, we’re making a change to the Fund this year.
This year, rather than broad funding calls, we are seeking proposals specifically in two policy areas:
- Next generation energy business models supporting the clean energy transition
- Online choice architecture
Each of these is not only an area where consumers from diverse and disadvantaged communities may be more likely to experience harm, but also a focus for ongoing government or regulatory initiatives, and for our own work here at Which?. Our intention in narrowing our funding calls to focus on these specific areas is to ensure that the projects we fund align more closely with our own ongoing work, helping us to work more closely with funded organisations to maximise the impact of our grants.
More detail on each of these areas, and our other funding criteria, is available in our Guidance to Applicants.
Are you interested in applying?
The call for initial applications is open until 5pm on Monday 30 March 2026. Further details on how to apply are here. You might also find it helpful to read our guide to what makes a successful application to the Which? Fund.
Best of luck if you are completing an application - we look forward to reading your exciting ideas about how, together, we can work to tackle consumer harm facing diverse and disadvantaged communities.