Latest 18 Grant Recipients Announced – The largest Powerhouse grant-give to date!
The Didcot Powerhouse Fund has announced its largest ever annual grant round, awarding £132,000 to 18 local charities and community groups in 2026 — bringing its cumulative total over five years to more than half a million pounds.
In its fifth year of grant-giving, the Didcot Powerhouse Fund has set a new record, surpassing its previous high of £108,000 to direct £132,000 into 18 organisations working across health, education, youth services, community wellbeing and more. Please click here to view the full list of 2026 grant recipients.
The theme for grants in 2026 is “Powering a Healthy Didcot“, a theme that embraces health in its broadest sense, from physical wellbeing to mental health and community resilience.
For each grant at least 90% of beneficiaries are local, living in the Powerhouse area, which stretches right across Didcot to the villages of Culham in the North, Blewbury in the South, and includes the science campuses of Harwell, Culham and Milton Park.
Grants have now closed for 2026 and will re-open again for 2027 applications in December 2026.
Didcot First was instrumental in enabling The Didcot Powerhouse Fund to establish itself in 2021, by providing funding as a Quantum donor and by supporting its mission to address inequality in the area. Powerhouse wanted to help the community at a particularly challenging time by sustaining organisations providing much needed services to local people.
The Didcot Powerhouse Fund is administered by charity Oxfordshire Community Foundation and works in close partnership with Didcot First. Powerhouse volunteers are drawn from the area who represent the many faces of the town; from social care to businesses; charities and community organisations; schools and colleges; to cross-party political representation, all offering their professional expertise and local knowledge to the Fund. On a day to day basis, The Didcot Powerhouse Fund is managed by an Advisory Group and conducts its grant-giving activity through a Grants Panel, working closely with Oxfordshire Community Foundation.
Powerhouse Donors have been essential in providing the funding behind Powerhouse’s annual grant-giving and clearly demonstrates the will for businesses, fundraisers and individuals to engage with the community to share positive outcomes. Didcot First is a Quantum Donor into The Didcot Powerhouse Fund and if you are a business owner or fundraiser who would like to get involved with Powerhouse, please email the team at the contact details here.
Elizabeth Paris, Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and Chair of The Didcot Powerhouse Fund said “It’s inspiring to hear from our grant recipients how Powerhouse funding has enabled their efforts to support individuals and families locally. We are grateful for all the support we have received from our donors and community fundraisers to be able to achieve this.”
Powerhouse Pathway
In September 2023 a new pilot scheme was announced called the ‘Powerhouse Pathway’, providing a route to employment and apprenticeships for students aged 16+ who participate in the programme. You can read more the partnership between Powerhouse and local charity SOFEA here and on the Didcot Powerhouse Fund website here.