A monthly bulletin facilitated by your membership of the Rural Services Network highlighting a selection of current funding opportunities

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Covid-19 statements from funders

Many national funders have made specific announcements regarding their funding over the coming months in relation to the covid-19 crisis.

These include reference to existing grant-holders as well as potential future applicants.

You can read a range of these responses via the following links:

• National Lottery Community Fund:
  https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/coronavirus-updates

• National Lottery Heritage Fund:
  https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/heritage-emergency-fund-launches-help-sector

• Sport England:
  https://www.sportengland.org/news/coronavirus-information-sector

• Power to Change:
  https://www.powertochange.org.uk/get-support/covid-19/

• Arts Council England:
  https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19

• European Structural and Investment Funds:
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-structural-and-investment-funds-coronavirus-covid-19-response

• Pledge from a range of funders:
  http://covid19funders.org.uk/

Covid-19: Support for Business – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Public Health England

The Chancellor has set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.

This includes a package of measures to support businesses including:

• a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
• a Self-employment Income Support Scheme
• a Statutory Sick Pay relief package for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
• a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England
• small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
• grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
• the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
• a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans
• the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

Information on all these items can be found via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses

Coronavirus Appeal – National Emergencies Trust

The National Emergencies Trust (NET) has launched a fundraising appeal to help those most affected by the coronavirus emergency. The appeal aims to raise funds for local charities and grassroots organisations that can provide vital support to people in the quickest way possible.

The fundraising appeal administration will be run by the British Red Cross, on behalf of the NET. The British Red Cross is working with the NET to make it simple and easy for people to give. The British Red Cross will transfer funds to the NET, who will work with UK Community Foundations. Each of the 46 community foundations is described as having “an in-depth understanding of their local area, what the priority needs are and how best to address these issues, so they can ensure the funding goes where it is most needed and can make the most impact.”

Individuals and charities should not apply directly to the NET for funds but should contact their local community foundation. You can read more and find out details of your local Community Foundation via the following link:

https://nationalemergenciestrust.org.uk/coronavirus/

Covid-19 Support – Arts Council England

The Arts Council have re-purposed all their investment strands to be able to offer individuals and organisations working in the cultural sector financial support during the current crisis.

A total of £160 million funding will be available as follows:

• £90 million available to National Portfolio Organisations to ‘reboot’ their cultural work and alleviate financial pressures.
• £50 million available to organisations that are not in receipt of regular funding from the Arts Council. Organisations who have applied to National Lottery Project Grants are welcome to apply for this support.
• £20 million available to individuals, so they can sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months.

These emergency funding streams are stated to be open to applications “very soon.”

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19

CAF Coronavirus Emergency Fund – Charities Aid Foundation

In this time of national crisis, CAF has launched this rapid response Fund to help smaller charitable organisations affected by the impact of Covid-19. Grants of up to £10,000 will help them to continue to deliver much needed support to our communities across the UK.   

This is intended as a rapid response fund, and the Foundation aim to make payments to selected organisations within 14 days of application.

High numbers of applicants are anticipated and, unfortunately, it is likely that they will not be able to offer a grant to all eligible applicants.

You can apply for unrestricted funding for core costs, staffing, volunteer costs, supplies and equipment, communications or other critical charitable areas.  You must be able to describe how an emergency grant will improve the situation for your organisation and community.

https://www.cafonline.org/charities/grantmaking/caf-coronavirus-emergency-fund

Covid-19 Support – Sport England

Sport England are making up to £195 million of funding available to help the sport and physical activity sector through the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

The package, which is a combination of National Lottery and government funding, is made up of the following:

• A £20 million Community Emergency Fund, which will be opened immediately for clubs and community organisations to bid into. Grants between £300 and £10,000 are available
• A £5 million pot for existing partners to bid into if they're facing specific financial difficulty
• An additional £55 million to support the sector during an ongoing period of restrictions, to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and, when the period of restrictions is over, to help organisations get back to business and adjust to a different environment
• A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 well established partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England. 

Alongside this, given cashflow concerns in the sector, Sport England have also agreed to?consider requests to release six months of the coming year’s funding (50% of awards) to their partners, meaning additional funding will be available sooner.

More details on each of these funding streams can be viewed via the website. 

https://www.sportengland.org/news/195-million-package-help-sport-and-physical-activity-through-coronavirus

Rural Response Emergency Grants Programme – Prince’s Countryside Fund

The Prince’s Countryside Fund will fund organisations operating in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland if they:

• are providing emergency relief to vulnerable or isolated individuals or;
• are providing support to farmers and farm businesses affected by the Coronavirus pandemic or;
• are assisting rural or farming communities to cope with the Coronavirus pandemic.

With thanks to Players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Fund can award grants of up to £2,500.

The deadline for applications is 15 April 2020.

https://www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/grant-giving-programme/grant-programme

Heritage Emergency Fund – National Lottery Heritage Fund

This UK-wide fund will address immediate pressures over the next three-six months for those organisations most in need.

This £50m fund will be available for grants of between £3,000 and £50,000.

It is available to organisations across the full breadth of heritage, including historic sites, industrial and maritime heritage, museums, libraries and archives, parks and gardens, landscapes and nature.

Organisations which have received funding in the past and are either a current grantee, or still under contract following a previous grant, can apply.

Priority will be given where:

• there is limited or no access to other sources of support
• where heritage is most at risk
• where an organisation is at risk of severe financial crisis due to COVID-19

The Heritage Fund state: “We know that the majority of heritage organisations are facing temporary closure, severe impact on their revenue and staff shortages. Many face threats to their long-term futures. A small percentage fear they will not be able to last into the summer. This is why we are taking a short, medium and long-term approach to our support for your immediate challenges and longer-term resilience and recovery.”

As well as the Heritage Emergency Fund, they will also support the sector in a range of other ways. More details are available on the website.

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

Community Support Fund – Waitrose & Partners/John Lewis Partnership

A £1m Community Support Fund will be available to communities across the UK to help those in need in their local communities.

Teams in each Waitrose shop will work together with their communities to choose the best way to use the fund. Help could include setting up additional local delivery services to support the self-isolating, the vulnerable, the elderly and those looking after them; delivering boxes of staples to local care homes and community groups, and donating products to create care packages for customers to share with vulnerable neighbours.

https://waitrose.pressarea.com/pressrelease/details/78/NEWS_13/12169

Development Grants & Impact Grants – Youth Futures Foundation

The Foundation have made the following statement: “We are aware of the significant impact of Covid-19 and are in discussions with other funders about the possibility of emergency funding. However, we know that long-term funding is also needed. In launching our grants programme as planned, we hope to be as helpful as possible with our simple to access, rolling grants programme, so that you can focus on the vital work of supporting some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities now and in the future”

This grants programme is designed to find, fund, support and evaluate promising practice. Funding will go to organisations working with young people aged 14-24 to help overcome barriers to finding meaningful work. They are looking for approaches that can be tested, evaluated and, where proven to be effective, expanded to more young people.

The Foundation want to partner with organisations that share their values and are committed to learning, investing in good practice and sharing what works to transform the youth employment landscape.

Two types of grant are available:

• Development Grants of between £30,000 and £100,000 per annum over 1-2 years.
• Impact Grants of between £100,000 and £800,000 per annum over 1-5 years.

https://youthfuturesfoundation.org/grants/

Healthy Communities Together programme – National Lottery Community Fund

This programme, developed in partnership between The National Lottery Community Fund and The Kings Fund, aims to support local areas to develop effective and sustainable partnerships between the voluntary and community sector, the NHS and local authorities to improve health and wellbeing, reduce health inequalities and empower communities.

As well as providing grant funding, the programme will support the development of relationships between partners, identifying and agreeing how best to work together, to ensure the involvement of organisations working across communities, and create a plan of activities.

The programme consists of two phases. In phase 1, a maximum of six areas will receive up to £50,000 funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and a package of learning and development support from the King’s Fund for up to nine months to develop their partnership and project plans.

Applications for phase 1 were originally intended to be submitted by 27 March. However, the funder has issued the following statement: “Both The National Lottery Community Fund and The King’s Fund are committed to delivering the Healthy Communities Together programme. However, due to the ongoing and developing situation with COVID-19, and the additional pressures that this is placing on the voluntary and community sector, local authorities and NHS organisations, we have decided to allow additional time and extend the deadline for the submission of expressions of interest. We have therefore decided to extend the deadline for expressions of interest to 27 May.”

At the end of this phase, each site will be invited to apply for phase 2 of the programme for further funding and support.

Applications for phase 2 will be assessed on the strength of the partnerships that have developed, their involvement of relevant organisations working across communities, and the strength and feasibility of their project plans to deliver meaningful benefits for people and communities.

Successful partnerships will receive up to £450,000, as well as ongoing learning and development support from The King’s Fund, over a further three years.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/the-healthy-communities-together-programme

Citizen Food Waste Behaviour Change Grant – WRAP

WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) is looking to identify new behaviour change interventions that can be tailored to food waste prevention. The intervention must encourage citizens to waste less food. If you have a new idea that can achieve the above, please download an application pack.

Applications for this grant will follow a two-stage assessment process:

Stage 1 – Outline Proposal

Stage 2 – Full Application

Applications for Stage 1 were originally open for registration until 25 March 2020.

WRAP have now made the following statement:
“As a result of the recent events surrounding the COVID-19 virus, WRAP appreciates that applicant businesses will currently have other key priorities to consider. We have therefore decided to extend the deadline for this grant scheme by one month to allow applicants additional time.”

The revised date for submission of applications is 22 April 2020.

Applications must demonstrate that project ideas will have a direct influence in changing behaviour. For example, applying an already proven intervention that has been tried and tested before, which may have covered a different subject matter or has been tested within a different environment, and can now be tailored and applied to citizens’ food waste prevention.

WRAP are looking to support interventions that will specifically focus on two behaviours:

• Buy what you eat (BWYE), and;
• Eat what you buy (EWYB).

Examples could be interventions that:

• Help promote a better understanding of Best Before Date vs Use-By Date
• Promote and encourage consumers to buy/shop better – buying the ‘right’ quantity for what is required. For example, shopping planners
• Educate citizens on how to store or freeze food correctly

The scheme is open to small or medium size enterprises or not-for-profit and public funded organisations (such as a local authority) in England only. The scheme will award grants between £25,000 and £100,000 for both capital and revenue project expenditure.

https://www.wrap.org.uk/content/citizen-food-waste-behaviour-change-grant

UK Theatres Small Grants scheme

The UK Theatres Small Grants Scheme is a capital fund that awards up to £5,000 to theatres across the UK run by charities and not-for-profit groups that can clearly demonstrate the value capital improvements to their theatres would make to their work in local communities.

Priorities include projects that address urgent building repairs, improve operational viability, introduce environmental improvements, and enhance physical accessibility.

Please note that applications for technical equipment and refurbishment of soft furnishings are a low priority for the scheme.

Round 16 of the scheme is currently open. The deadline for applications is 5 October 2020.

http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/uk-theatres-small-grants-scheme

Farming Recovery Fund – Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

On 20 March 2020, the government announced a £6 million pot of funding to help farmers recover from flooding in February through a further extension to the Farming Recovery Fund.

Support will be available for farmers affected by recent flooding in parts of East and North Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Herefordshire.

Under the Farming Recovery Fund, affected farmers in eligible areas can claim for grants between £500 and £25,000 to cover a number of uninsurable repair costs, such as the re-cultivation of farmland, including re-seeding, replanting cover crops and alleviating soil compaction.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/three-crop-rule-relaxed-and-6-million-fund-for-farmers

Funding for storm hit areas – Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

On 18 February the government announced the availability of funding support for people affected by flooding following Storms Dennis and Ciara. 

Under the Flood Recovery Framework and as some affected areas move into recovery, families and businesses will receive funding from their local councils after a set of support packages were announced by the Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick.
Under the measures announced:

• Flood-hit households in affected areas can apply for up to £500 in financial hardship payments to give cash quickly to those in short-term need.
• Households and businesses significantly affected by recent flooding will be eligible for 100% council tax and business rates relief for at least three months.
• Small-to-medium sized businesses in affected areas which have suffered severe, uninsurable losses will be eligible for up to £2,500 from the Business Recovery Grant.
• Flood-hit homes and businesses can apply for up to £5,000 to help make them more resilient to future flooding.

For more information follow the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-package-of-support-for-storm-hit-areas

Emergency Flood Relief Fund – Sport England

Storm damaged pitches and facilities could be back in use sooner than expected thanks to Sport England’s new emergency flood relief fund.

The effects of Storms Ciara and Dennis are still being fully assessed but, in an attempt to rectify the damage as soon as possible, local authorities and community sports organisations are being invited to apply for a grant of up to £5,000 to pay for emergency repairs.

The grants, which will come from Sport England’s Community Asset Fund, can be provided in as little as three weeks.

For organisations where football is the main activity, applications for funding can be made through the Football Foundation.

https://www.sportengland.org/news/victims-storm-ciara-helped-emergency-flood-relief-fund

Rural Mobility Fund – Department for Transport

The rural mobility fund is part of the government’s better deal for bus users.

English local authorities can bid for funding to trial on-demand bus services in rural or suburban areas.

The focus of the fund is on setting up services where they do not already exist.

A total of £20 million is available with funding expected of between £500,000 and £1.5 million.

All tiers of local government in England with responsibility for transport, except London boroughs, can apply and will need to demonstrate that services predominantly serve communities in areas that have a population of fewer than 10,000 residents.

The deadline for expressions of interest is 30 April 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-the-rural-mobility-fund

Restoring Your Railway Fund – Department for Transport

The Department for Transport has invited MPs, local authorities and community groups across England and Wales to propose how they could use funding to reinstate axed local rail services and restore closed stations.

Funding is available for 3 purposes.

• Ideas Fund – offers support to proposals to reinstate axed local services, which should be sponsored by MPs working with local authorities and community groups.
• Accelerating existing proposals – the £500 million fund will also help accelerate the development of closed lines and stations which are already in the process of being considered for restoration.
• Proposals for new and restored stations – a new round of the New Stations Fund, supporting both the development of new stations and restoration of old station sites.

You can read more via the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations

Calor Rural Community Fund

If your community project is sitting off the mains gas grid and in the need of financial support you can apply for funding from Calor’s Rural Community Fund to give your project the boost it deserves.

There are three levels of funding available, depending on the size of your project: 11 grants of £5,000; 6 grants of £2,500; and 5 grants of £1,000 grants to the winning rural projects. Even if you’re not a winner, every finalist will receive £500.

The funding you apply for must equate to 50% or more of your total project cost.

Applications must be submitted by 9 April 2020.

https://communityfund.calor.co.uk/

Rural Community Energy Fund – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

The Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) is a £10 million programme which supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects, which provide economic and social benefits to the community.

RCEF provides support to rural communities in 2 stages:

• stage 1: grants of up to £40,000 for a feasibility study for a renewable energy project
• stage 2: grants of up to £100,000 for business development and planning of feasible schemes

RCEF is being run by 5 regional Local Energy Hubs. If you would like to register your interest for the scheme, or would like further information, please contact the relevant hub for your area.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rural-community-energy-fund

Places to Ride – British Cycling

British Cycling is working closely with Sport England to develop a national network of new cycling facilities which meets local demand, making use of a £15 million investment programme called Places to Ride.

The funding is available to any organisation that is developing cycling activity in their community and can be used for anything from equipment packages to activate your local space, through to a brand-new cycling facility. The programme is open until January 2021.

Large scale grants (£50,000 - £500,000) are available, typically for new facilities or significant improvements to existing venues, small scale grants (£1000 to £50,000) for equipment, cycle storage, small-scale facilities or venue improvements. Equipment packages are also available to activate your local space.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/placestoride

Cornerstone, Gateway & Foundation Grants – National Churches Trust

The National Churches Trust has three grant programmes currently open:

• Cornerstone grants. The Cornerstone Grant Programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 towards the cost of urgent structural repair projects costed at more than £100,000 including VAT. The Trust will also consider projects that introduce kitchens and accessible toilets to enable increased community use, costed at more than £30,000 including VAT. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project cost. The next deadline for applications is 6 July 2020.
• Gateway grants. The Gateway Grant Programme offers grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 towards project development and investigative work up to RIBA planning stage 1, to support churches preparing for a major project, and in developing their project to the point at which they can approach a major grant funder. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project costs for this phase. The next deadlines will be 14 May and 10 September 2020.
• Foundation grants. The Foundation Grant Programme will offer grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards urgent maintenance works and small repairs identified as high priority within a recent Quinquennial Inspection or Survey Report. Also, small investigative works and surveys. Project costs should not exceed £10,000. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis from the end of January 2020. The final opportunity to submit an application will be 30 October 2020.
• Preventative maintenance micro grants. If the cost of booking maintenance services is a problem, the National Churches Trust, with its partner the Pilgrim Trust, can offer grants towards the cost of a building's maintenance services. You could receive up to 50% of the cost of works (excl. VAT) up to a maximum grant of £500. The cost of your service must not exceed £1,000 (excl VAT).

http://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/our-grants

Youth Accelerator Fund – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

The Youth Accelerator Fund has been set up to address urgent needs in the youth sector and expand existing successful projects run by Sport England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and British Film Institute.

Youth clubs and organisations in sport, arts, film and heritage will receive a share of the fund, to deliver a range of positive activities for young people to develop skills and contribute to their local communities.

UK Youth, the membership organisation for youth clubs in the UK, will distribute £1.15 million to run a small grants programme to deliver extra sessions in youth clubs and youth groups across England.

The following organisations will also receive funding:

• Sport England: £1.32 million to expand grassroots programmes and offer extra-curricular sport to young people in deprived areas.
• National Lottery Heritage Fund: £1.27 million to invest additional funding into ‘Kick the Dust’, a project for young people to enjoy, learn and lead heritage-based activities in their communities.
• Arts Council England: £500,000 to expand their Youth Music programme, supporting music making for young people in challenging circumstances.
• British Film Institute: £155,000 to expand the weekly BFI Saturday Clubs to more areas of the country.

Additionally, over £2 million of the funding will go towards setting up new Local Partnerships across the country, designed to effectively coordinate and sustain local youth activities. Areas will be encouraged to bid for a Local Partnership, that will bring together existing providers, statutory partners and the private sector to deliver programmes for young people.

You can read more via the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/youth-projects-to-benefit-from-7-million-government-investment

Strategy & Development Grant – Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund

The strategy and development grant supports a range of projects that bring collections closer to people. The Museums Association award the fund on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to projects that demonstrate the significance, distinctiveness and power of collections to people.

Grants of up to £250,000 are available for projects running for up to five years to support initiatives that use collections to support the established strategy of an organisation for a long-term benefit. 

This type of grant aims to accelerate the development of museums that are committed to finding new ways to involve their audience and communities with collections. It is designed to help organisations overcome some of the barriers of traditional project funding, so they will offer additional coaching to projects that could benefit from their skills and network.

Before submitting an expression of interest, you will need to speak to a member of the team at the Museums Association to discuss your project. Suitable projects will then be invited to submit expressions of interest in May 2020.

https://www.museumsassociation.org/news/23012020-collections-strategy-development-grants

Transforming Places through Heritage Grants – Architectural Heritage Fund

This programme supports projects that will contribute to the transformation of high streets and town centres in England helping them become thriving places, strengthening local communities and encouraging local economies to prosper.  It is part of a wider initiative to revive heritage high streets in England, alongside Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zones.

This programme is for individual heritage buildings in, or transferring to, community ownership. They will support charities and social enterprises to develop projects with the potential to bring new life to high streets by creating alternative uses for redundant or underused historic buildings in town centres.

A range of grants are available:

• Project Viability Grants: up to £15,000, for early viability and feasibility work, open now for applications.
• Project Development Grants: up to £100,000, for capital project development costs, open now for applications.
• Crowdfunding Challenge Grants: up to £25,000, to match fund crowdfunding campaigns, open now for applications.
• Transformational Project Grants: up to £350,000, for transformational capital projects. The deadline for applications is 7 April 2020.
• Community Shares Booster Grants: further info to be announced.

http://ahfund.org.uk/england

Energy Redress Scheme – Energy Saving Trust

Energy Saving Trust has been appointed by Ofgem to distribute payments from energy companies who may have breached rules. The funds can pay for anything from making a home more energy efficient, to providing advice that helps consumers keep on top of their bills.

Energy Saving Trust has developed an open application process for charities seeking funding from the Energy Redress Scheme. Successful projects will be selected with input from an independent panel of experts and could cover a range of locations across England, Scotland and Wales.

The amount of funding available through the scheme varies throughout the year and will be reviewed on a quarterly basis in October, January, April and July. Eligible charities that have registered interest in the scheme will be notified when funds become available.

The minimum grant that can be requested is £20,000 and the maximum amount is the lesser of £2 million or the total value of the current fund.

The scheme can fund projects lasting up to two years, can fund 100 per cent of the project cost and can cover revenue and capital measures.

https://energyredress.org.uk/apply-funding

Lloyds Bank Foundation grants

Lloyds Bank Foundation’s new grant programme opened in December 2019. The programme supports charities with an annual income of £25,000 to £1 million with a proven track record of helping people on a journey of positive change through in-depth, holistic and person-centred support with long term funding and tailored support to develop.

In 2020 they aim to make around 170 new grants to small charities in England and Wales, half of which will be for £100,000 over 3 years and the other half for £45,000 over 3 years.

Their priority is to support charities which are helping people to deal with a range of complex social issues.

https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/we-fund

Early Years Opportunities and Later Life Inclusion Grants – Masonic Charitable Foundation

The Foundation’s grant-making programmes for charities target funding where it is most needed. Current target areas include:

• Creating the best start in life for disadvantaged children and young people
• Reducing isolation in later life

Charities with incomes of under £500,000 can apply for a grant of between £500 and £15,000 over 1-3 years.

Charities with incomes of over £500,000 can seek a large grant for up to 3 years.  Grants are between £10,000 and £80,000 however the average grant ranges from £20,000 to £60,000. Large grants must be used to fund a specific project.

The next deadline for small grant applications is 17 April 2020 and for large grant applications is 15 June 2020.

https://mcf.org.uk/charity-grants/

Comic Relief Community Fund (England) – Groundwork UK

The Comic Relief Community Fund (England) is offering grants to grassroots community organisations with an income of less than £250,000.

There are two types of grants available to organisations whose work delivers on one of Comic Relief’s four strategic themes:

• Children Survive & Thrive: projects that support children under the age of 5 to reach their potential and have the best start in life.
• Fighting for Gender Justice: projects that improve equality for women, girls and the LBTQI+ community and initiatives that help people affected by domestic violence, abuse or exploitation due to their gender.
• A Safe Place to Be: projects that support people who are rebuilding their lives because of homelessness or forced migration.
• Mental Health Matters: projects that support good mental health in communities, improve access to support and tackle stigma and discrimination.

Funding is available to help you develop your organisation through a Capacity Building Grant (up to £500) or to deliver projects through a Project Delivery Grant (up to £4000).

Administration of the local funding is being managed by community charity, Groundwork, which specialises in transforming communities and the local environment for the better.

This is a rolling programme and applications can be made at any time.

https://www.groundwork.org.uk/national-grants/comic-relief-community-grants/

Veterans’ Foundation grants

Many armed forces charities struggle to raise sufficient funding to support serving and former members of the British Armed Forces’ and sometimes their dependants who are in need. The Veterans' Foundation has been created to establish a new and nationwide source of funding to help these charities.  It acquires its funds through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations.

The trustees of the Veterans' Foundation will disburse funds to Armed Forces charities and charitable activities.

They will support projects that:

• Reduce homelessness
• Increase employment
• Provide welfare and medical support
• Increase confidence and social integration
• Reduce dependence on drugs and alcohol
• Support other charitable activities that may be needed

You can apply for grants of any sum up to a maximum of £30K. Trustees will also consider a bid for a spread grant, i.e. £30K as £10K for each of the next three years. Please note that the trustees are likely to award more small grants than large grants. They will consider a range of factors including the service or item being applied for, the number of beneficiaries, the importance of the grant to the applicant charity and the needs of the beneficiaries.

https://www.veteransfoundation.org.uk/

Grant schemes for electric vehicle charging infrastructure – Office for Low Emission Vehicles

The government offers grants to support the wider use of electric and hybrid vehicles via the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). This includes:

• The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) provides grant funding of up to 75% towards the cost of installing electric vehicle chargepoints at domestic properties across the UK.
• The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge-points, for eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations.
• The On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) provides grant funding for local authorities towards the cost of installing on-street residential chargepoints for plug-in electric vehicles.

For more information visit the website below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles

Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

Full fibre broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available and, as part of the government commitment to a vision of a full fibre Britain, in March 2018 they announced the £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. 

Gigabit vouchers can be used by small businesses and the local communities surrounding them to contribute to the installation cost of a gigabit-capable connection. Businesses can claim up to £2,500 against the cost of connection either individually or as part of a group project. Residents can benefit from the scheme with a voucher worth £500 as part of a group project. 

From May 2019, premises in the harder-to-reach places in the UK may be eligible for additional funding.

As part of the Government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme business and residents in some of the hardest-to-reach places in the UK are eligible for additional funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to their premises when part of a group project.

Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps can use vouchers worth up to £3,500 for each small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and up to £1,500 per residential premise. to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. This is subject to the eligibility rules.

https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/

Neighbourhood Planning Grant Funding – Locality

You can apply for three types of grant funding if you are preparing a Neighbourhood Plan:

• Basic Grant Funding: All groups undertaking a neighbourhood plan are eligible to apply for up to £9,000 in basic grant. As well as applying for a basic grant, you can also apply for technical support (provided you meet the eligibility criteria) to help you with your neighbourhood plan.
• Additional Grant Funding: Groups meeting the eligibility criteria are able to apply for additional grant of up to £8,000 (in addition to the basic grant). This will take the total amount of grant available to you to £17,000.
• Affordable Housing for Sale Grant Funding: This is a new element to the programme and it is running as a pilot scheme and is available during 2019-20 in the first instance. If you are wishing to bring forward affordable housing for sale you may be eligible for further grant funding of up to £10,000 to help develop these ideas.

They anticipate opening the neighbourhood planning support programme for applications for grant and technical support on Monday 20 April 2020. Please continue to monitor the website for further information in due course.

https://neighbourhoodplanning.org/about/grant-funding/#affordablehousing

Open Grants Programme – The Clothworkers’ Foundation

The Clothworkers’ Foundation award grants to UK registered charities, CICs, and other registered UK not-for-profit organisations (including special schools). Grants are awarded towards capital projects which are defined as:

• Buildings (purchase, construction, renovation or refurbishment)
• Fittings, fixtures, and equipment
• Vehicles

Applications must fit within one of the main programme areas: alcohol & substance misuse; disadvantaged minority communities; disadvantaged young people; domestic & sexual abuse; homelessness; older people; people with disabilities; prisoners & ex-offenders; visual impairment.

https://www.clothworkersfoundation.org.uk/what-we-fund/

Church Conservation Grants – William and Jane Morris Fund

Grants between £500 and £5000 are awarded to churches, chapels and other places of worship in the United Kingdom for the conservation of decorative features and monuments, but not for structural repairs.

Grants will be awarded to support smaller programmes of work concerned with the conservation of decorative or non-structural features such as:

• stained glass windows
• sculpture
• furniture
• internal monuments and tombs
• wall paintings

The decorative feature, monument, etc must date from no later than 1896 (the year of William Morris’s death). The next deadline for applications is 31 August 2020.

https://www.sal.org.uk/grants/morris-fund-conservation-grants/

Heritage Impact Fund – Architectural Heritage Fund

The HIF offers tailored finance for charities, social enterprises and community businesses across the UK to develop sustainable heritage at the very heart of vibrant local economies.

Loans from £25,000 to £500,000 are available for up to three years with tailored terms and both flexible and incentivised interest rates for impactful projects. These could include both capital and interest repayment holidays.

HIF supports applicants across the UK who are undertaking a capital project or are looking to build upon or scale-up an existing enterprise.

The HIF is a joint initiative with contributions from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

http://ahfund.org.uk/hif

The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds projects which focus on heritage.  The Fund state that heritage can mean different things to different people. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. As a guide, this could include:

• oral history
• cultural traditions
• nature
• natural and designed landscapes
• community archaeology
• historic buildings, monuments and environments
• collections of objects, books or documents in museums, libraries or archives
• histories of people and communities or places and events
• the heritage of languages and dialects
• places and objects linked to our industrial, maritime and transport history

Different grant bands have different criteria:

• National Lottery Grants for Heritage: £3000 to £10,000 for projects up to one year in duration
• National Lottery Grants for Heritage: £10,000 to £100,000
• National Lottery Grants for Heritage: £100,000 to £250,000
• National Lottery Grants for Heritage: £250,000 to £5 million
• Heritage Enterprise

There are no application deadlines for applications up to £100,000. Quarterly deadlines apply for applications over £100,000.

The amounts available depend on the type of organisation applying as follows:

• Non-profits and partnerships led by non-profit organisations:  £3,000 to £5million
• Private owners of heritage: up to £100,000
• Partnerships led by commercial organisations (for the purposes of achieving economic growth): £250,000 - £5m

For information on all HLF programmes visit the website.

http://www.hlf.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

First Steps Enterprise Fund – Asda Foundation

First Steps Enterprise Fund (FSEF) is a £300,000 pilot fund to support community organisations. The Social Investment Business manage this fund on behalf of the Asda Foundation.

Funding is available for community organisations (charities and social enterprises) based in England that are looking to take on their first loan to help them grow and become more sustainable. Particular preference is given to organisations that work in the following areas:

• Older people
• Health and wellbeing
• Employment for young people

Funding packages of up to £30,000 are available (90% loan and 10% grant). The loan element is charged at 5% (fixed) to be repaid over a period of 4 years with an optional capital holiday for the first year. Up to £50,000 is available for exceptional cases.

https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/firststeps

Cultural Impact Development Fund

This £3.7 million fund provides small-scale repayable finance to socially-driven arts and cultural organisations. The Fund is supported by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment through the Growth Fund programme, with finance being provided by its partners Big Lottery Fund and Big Society Capital.

The aims of the fund are to:

• Enable risk-taking, ambitious organisations in the arts and cultural sector to take on small-scale repayable finance in order to achieve social outcomes;
• Increase the capability of arts and cultural organisations to articulate, achieve, monitor and evaluate their intended social impact.

The Fund offers unsecured loans (and revenue participation agreements, where appropriate) between £25,000 and £150,000 with repayment terms of one to five years and interest rates ranging between 5.5% and 8.5%.

The investment window is open until August 2021.

https://www.artsculturefinance.org/our-funds/cultural-impact-development-fund/

Emergency Essentials Programme – BBC Children in Need

Family Fund Business Services are working in collaboration with BBC Children in Need to deliver the Emergency Essentials programme supporting children and young people living with severe poverty as well as additional pressures such as domestic violence, disability or poor health in the family.

The programme can deliver or fund critical items such as:

• Gas or electric cookers
• Essential household items
• Furniture and kitchen equipment
• Children’s beds and bedding
• Washing machines
• Fridges and freezers
• Baby equipment
• Clothing in exceptional or emergency situations.

Applications must be completed by a registered referrer who is part of an organisation that is supporting the family or young person and capable of assessing their needs.

https://www.familyfundservices.co.uk/emergency-essentials/

Community Asset Fund – Sport England

Whether it’s the park you run through, the hall you do classes in or the pitch you play on, welcoming and accessible spaces have a big impact on a person’s experience – and likelihood of coming back.

As part of this, Sport England have produced a guide and accompanying document to explain more about the new Community Asset Fund, how and why they're doing things differently, when they will make decisions plus tips and advice for developing your project or idea.

Sports clubs and community organisations can now apply for investment from the Community Asset Fund – Sport England’s new capital fund dedicated to enhancing the spaces in local communities that give people the opportunity to be active.

This fund will have a value of £15 million per annum with the anticipated size of bids between £1000 and £150,000. There is no deadline to apply.

https://www.sportengland.org/funding/community-asset-fund/

Reaching Communities England – National Lottery Community Fund

The Reaching Communities programme aims to make positive change in communities. Big Lottery particularly want to hear about ideas that support:

• Lasting and sustainable changes to places and spaces
• Communities to develop happier and stronger relationships with each other
• Taking action to focus on the root causes of social problems to tackle them at the earliest possible stage

Through Reaching Communities funding, you can apply for between £10,000 and £500,000. Successful grant can fund some or all of the costs associated with delivering a project, including staff salaries, training, volunteer expenses, management costs, equipment, premises costs, monitoring and evaluation and overheads. The programme can also fund up to £100,000 for small scale capital work, such as refurbishment, the purchase of vehicles, land or buildings.

Big Lottery encourage applicants to contact them before applying for additional advice and support before you submit your application.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/reaching-communities-england

NB: Please note the latest announcements from the National Lottery Community Fund with respect to funding during the current crisis. You can read the latest position by following this link: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/coronavirus-updates

Awards for All England – National Lottery Community Fund

National Lottery Awards for All offers funding from £300 to £10,000 to support what matters to people and communities. You can apply if your organisation is a:

• voluntary or community organisation
• registered charity
• constituted group or club
• not-for-profit company or community interest company
• social enterprise
• school
• statutory body (including town, parish and community council).

National Lottery Awards for All has three funding priorities. Applications must meet at least one of them. The priorities are:

• bringing people together and building strong relationships in and across communities
• improving the places and spaces that matter to communities
• enabling more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

This is an open programme. Applications can be made at any time.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england

NB: Please note the latest announcements from the National Lottery Community Fund with respect to funding during the current crisis. You can read the latest position by following this link: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/coronavirus-updates

Partnerships – National Lottery Community Fund

Through partnerships funding, Big Lottery aim to make grants available over £10,000 for organisations who share responsibility and influence with others, who have a shared set of goals and values, and achieve their mission by starting with the bigger picture rather than just what their organisation can do on its own.

Grants are awarded for up to five years and we can fund project activities, operating costs, organisational development and capital costs. The three funding priorities are:

• bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/partnerships-england

NB: Please note the latest announcements from the National Lottery Community Fund with respect to funding during the current crisis. You can read the latest position by following this link: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/about/coronavirus-updates

Community Centres & Village Halls grants – Trusthouse Charitable Foundation

Trusthouse is interested in applications for capital projects at community centres in the most deprived urban areas and village halls in remote and economically deprived rural areas.

The Foundation wants to support community centres and village halls which are at the heart of small, deprived communities.  They expect that you will be providing a range of activities for all ages and abilities which help to promote community cohesion and address local problems of isolation, poverty, lack of local facilities, transport and other issues of relevance to your area.

They interpret ‘community centres’ in the broad sense, so you might be a church, sports facility or other building which offers a range of activities throughout the week which all the community can access.

The Foundation will consider applications for new buildings; upgrading, renovating or extending buildings; improving or creating outside space (but not car parks).  You will need to have secured a minimum of 50% of the costs of the project before you start an application. 

http://trusthousecharitablefoundation.org.uk/grants/community-centres-and-village-halls/

HS2 Community and Business Funds – Groundwork UK

Two funds are available to local communities to help with the disruption that will be caused by the construction of Phase one of HS2 between London and the West Midlands; the Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund. The objective of these funds is to add benefit, over and above committed mitigation and statutory compensation, to communities and local economies along the route.

The administration of these funds is managed on behalf of HS2 Ltd by the charity Groundwork who will ensure both funds remain available for applications throughout the construction of Phase One.

https://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/hs2funds

BlueSpark Foundation grants

Schools, colleges and community groups in England can apply for grants to Blue Spark Foundation for a wide range of projects. The Foundation value academic, vocational, artistic and sporting endeavour in equal measure but are particularly keen to support projects which will help enhance the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people.

Many grants will be under £2,000, most will be under £5,000 and only in a few cases will grants exceed £10,000.

Projects which could be supported include drama, music, sport, art and design, debating, public speaking, academic education, vocational training, community projects, enterprise projects and educational excursions. This list is illustrative and not exclusive as to the types of project that the Foundation support.

http://bluesparkfoundation.org.uk/

Family Fund – The Family Fund Trust for families with severely disabled children.

The Family Fund helps families across the UK who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under. You can apply to Family Fund subject to a number of criteria which include that you are the parent or carer of a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under and that you have evidence of entitlement to one of the following: Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit.

See the website for more details.

https://www.familyfund.org.uk/

Landfill Communities Fund – SUEZ Communities Trust

SUEZ Communities Trust (formerly SITA) provides funding awards of up to £50,000 to not-for-profit organisations to undertake work that is eligible under the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF). Applications are considered for three areas of work which qualify for funding through the LCF. These include:

• Public Amenities
• Historic Buildings, Structures or Sites
• Biodiversity

Projects can be supported that make physical improvements at sites located in any of 100 funding zones around qualifying sites owned by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.

http://www.suezcommunitiestrust.org.uk/

European Structural and Investment Funds – Department for Communities and Local Government

A variety of funds under the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) are currently available in different parts of the country. ESIF includes money from the European Social Fund (ESF), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Deadlines for applications vary.  Please see the website below for more information.

https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds

Tesco Community Grants – Tesco and Groundwork

Groundwork is working with Tesco on three local community grant schemes, where the money raised from plastic carrier bag sales is being used to fund thousands of local projects in communities right across the UK.

Projects that bring benefit to their community will get the green light – these range from improving community buildings and outdoor spaces to buying new equipment, training coaches or volunteers, and hosting community events.

There are currently three grant schemes covering different sizes of projects and parts of the country:

• Tesco Bags of Help, which provides grants of up to £2,000 to projects in the UK
• Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grants, which provides funding of up to £25,000 to projects that have a significant regional impact in the UK
• The Tesco Centenary Fund which provides grants of up to £50,000 to projects that have a significant regional impact in Northern Ireland

https://tescobagsofhelp.org.uk/

Home Building Fund – Homes & Communities Agency

The government has created a £3 billion fund “to increase the number of homes built in England.” You can apply if you’re a private sector business that builds new homes or prepares sites for housing developments. This includes small builders, community builders, custom builders and regeneration specialists, as well as larger builders and developers.

The fund provides development finance and infrastructure finance via loans. More information on how the fund works and who can apply is available in ‘An Introduction to the Home Building Fund’ which you can access via the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/homebuildingfund

Help the Homeless grants

Help The Homeless makes grants to charitable organisations with the aim of helping homeless people return to the community and enabling them to resume a normal life. Grants are available to small and medium-sized charitable organisations to fund the capital costs of projects with grants of up to £5,000. The quarterly deadlines for grant applications each year are: 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December.

http://www.help-the-homeless.org.uk/

War Memorials Trust grants to support repair and conservation of war memorials

War Memorials Trust administers a number of grants schemes supporting war memorials in the UK.  Programme funders include Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland as well as voluntary donations towards the charity’s work from individuals and organisations. Grants are currently available up to 75% of eligible costs with a normal maximum grant of £30,000.

War Memorials Trust seeks to help all war memorial custodians, whatever the nature and size of their war memorial by facilitating repair and conservation projects. 

Details on current eligibility and deadline dates as well as how to apply can be found at:

http://www.warmemorials.org/grants/  

Football Foundation grants

The Football Foundation provides grants for building or refurbishing grassroots facilities, such as changing rooms, 3G pitches, fencing, portable floodlights, pitch improvements and clubhouse refurbishment. The Fund is available to football clubs, schools, councils and local sports associations and gives grants for projects that:

• Improve facilities for football and other sport in local communities.
• Sustain or increase participation amongst children and adults, regardless of background age, or ability.
• Help children and adults to develop their physical, mental, social and moral capacities through regular participation in sport.

Grants are available for between £10,000 and £500,000.

http://www.footballfoundation.org.uk/funding-schemes/premier-league-the-fa-facilities-fund/