Hardship grants
Hardship grants are one-off payments of up to £500, delivered alongside a holistic signposting service to support you through life’s unexpected challenges
The RCN Foundation is an independent charity and we are not linked to any trade union activity. Our purpose is to support and strengthen nursing and midwifery to improve the health and wellbeing of the public. We do this by:
- Providing grants to nurses, midwives, and healthcare support workers for hardship and education
- Providing research and innovations grants to organisations
- Our grants are accessible to all nursing and midwifery professionals - you do not have to be a member of the RCN to receive our support.
Meet the nurses we support
We provided a hardship grant to Lily, a single mother and qualified nurse who was made homeless by her landlord. Hear Lily's story, in her own words:
Our grants
The RCN Foundation are here to help.
Education grants
Apply for a professional development or student grant.
Research & practice development grants
We invest in the nursing and midwifery professions and improve patient care.
How you can support us
The nursing and midwifery community needs your support now more than ever. Your generosity will help us care for those who care for us at a time when the nursing and midwifery community need us most.
Make a donation
Donate online and support nurses, midwives, and healthcare support workers facing financial hardship
Leave a gift in your Will
And support nursing and midwifery teams for generations
Fundraise for us
There are endless ways to fundraise and support nursing and midwifery professionals across the UK. However you’d like to fundraise, we'll support you all the way
Recent news and events from the RCN Foundation
Sign up to the RCN Foundation email newsletter and get all the latest news from events and fundraising to available grants and funding. By joining our mailing list you agree to our Privacy Policy.
Tool to support people with a learning disability access urgent and emergency care
Following funding, the UCAN (Urgent Care Access Now) study, undertaken by Keele University and partners, has developed the careLeD tool
Damehood for Chair of the RCN Foundation!
Congratulations to our Chair, Professor Jane Cummings, in being made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in His Majesty the King’s 2025 Birthday Honours
NAMED study
Nursing And Midwifery professionals’ Experiences of Domestic abuse (NAMED) study will explore the domestic abuse experiences and support needs of nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers across the UK