The People’s Postcode Lottery is offering grants of between £500,000 and £1.5m.

Charities are being invited to apply for a share of £3m funding for their “dream projects”.

The People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) is offering grants of between £500,000 and £1.5m from its Dream Fund to organisations working to develop solutions to “society’s most challenging problems”.

Funding will be awarded over 36 months, with three areas identified as priorities for grants – the environment, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

Applicants are encouraged to present projects which are original, ambitious and collaborative in nature, as well as being a “genuine dream”.

Laura Chow, head of charities at PPL, said: "This announcement marks the start of an exciting process that will see £3m raised by our players awarded to truly inspirational projects.

"The Dream Fund has made a remarkable difference to so many projects over the past nine years, and I have no doubt that we’ll see many more bold and courageous ideas submitted this year."

All applications must come from a partnership of at least two organisations, the lead of which must be a charity with an income of at least double the amount of funding sought.

Applications for funding close on 15 October, with the best applicants being asked to submit more detailed plans by 6 December.

Those who progress past this point will be invited to make a presentation to the assessment panel in January 2020 before the winners are revealed in March.