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

→ Download a printable version of the Funding Digest here

Green Homes Grant Scheme – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

The Green Homes Grant Scheme has been extended and now runs to March 2022. The government will provide a voucher worth up to £5,000 or £10,000 to help cover the cost of making energy efficient improvements to your home. Improvements could include insulating your home to reduce your energy use or installing low-carbon heating to lower the amount of carbon dioxide your home produces.

The government will provide a voucher that covers two-thirds of the cost of qualifying energy efficiency or low carbon heating improvements to your home. The maximum value of the voucher is £5,000.

If you are on a low income and receive certain benefits, you can receive a voucher covering all of the cost of the improvements. The maximum value of the voucher is £10,000.

To apply for the voucher, you must either:

• own your home (including park homeowners, long-leaseholders and shared ownership)
• be a private or social landlord

https://greenhomesgrant.campaign.gov.uk/

Covid Winter Grant Scheme – Department for Work & Pensions

On Sunday 8 November 2020, the government announced a package of extra targeted financial support for those in need over the winter period. This includes the £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme, which will be made available in early December 2020 and covers the period until the end of March 2021.

DWP will provide the grant scheme funding to county councils and unitary authorities who will administer the scheme and provide direct assistance to support families with children, other vulnerable households and individuals. The grant will be used to support those most in need across England with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other associated costs.

COVID Winter Grant Scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Return to Play Fund – Sport England

There are three parts to this new fund. Two have been adapted from pre-coronavirus funds, with one extended, and all three will now focus on supporting a safe return to play.

• Return to Play: Small Grants – makes awards of between £300 and £10,000, from a total pot of £10m, to help sport and activity groups, clubs and organisations respond to the immediate challenges of returning to play in a coronavirus-safe way. Following national restrictions in November, it also offers up to £2,000 awards towards the running costs of organisations supporting the most deprived communities.
• Return to Play: Community Asset Fund – makes awards of between £10,001 to £50,000, from a pot of £5m, to help local sports clubs and organisations adapt and open important places and spaces to help their local community return to play safely.
• Return to Play: Active Together – is a crowdfunding initiative that can match fund, up to £10,000, successful Crowdfunder campaigns from a pot of £1.5m. The partnership with Crowdfunder also includes advice, guidance and training to help create a successful campaign.

https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/coronavirus/funding-innovation-and-flexibility

National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has resumed accepting small and medium project funding applications and launched an interest free loans pilot.

National Lottery Grants for Heritage (grants of £3,000 to £10,000 and £10,000 to £100,000): Resilience and inclusion project funding to support organisations working with heritage to adapt and respond to the changing environment they are now operating in. Open to projects that:

• Support organisations working with heritage to adapt and recover in the continuing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, or
• Are focused on inclusion, led by and/or engaging diverse groups typically under-represented in heritage.

Heritage Recovery and Resilience Loans (loans of £50,000 to £250,000): Heritage Recovery and Resilience Loans are designed to help fund activities and costs that will develop and restart your organisation’s income generating potential. Loans offer fixed 0% interest rate, no fees for arrangement or early repayment, optional 12-month repayment holiday, repayment period is up to 5 years. The deadline for applications is 14 February 2021.

New project funding and loans to support sector resilience | The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Thriving Communities Fund – National Academy for Social Prescribing

The Thriving Communities Fund will support local voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise projects that bring together place-based partnerships to improve and increase the range and reach of available social prescribing community activities – especially for those people most impacted by COVID19 and health inequalities.

Partnerships supported by the fund will come together to plan and deliver community activities involving partners from:

• the arts, creativity and culture (including museums and libraries)
• sport
• nature
• financial wellbeing
• community advice
• and the wider voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector.

Funded activities will increase social connectedness and help communities cope with the impact of COVID19. By working with those communities most impacted by the COVID19 pandemic, including Black, Asian and ethnically diverse communities, the projects we will fund will help to:

• strengthen the range of social prescribing activities offered locally
• enhance collaboration and networking between local organisations
• enable social prescribing link workers to connect people to more creative community activities and services.

Grants of between £25,000-£50,000 are available. Projects within the Thriving Communities Fund will run for a year including planning and delivery time. They are expected to commence on 15 March 2021, and end on 31 March 2022.

The deadline for applications is 8 January 2021.

Thriving Communities Fund – National Academy for Social Prescribing (socialprescribingacademy.org.uk)

Digital Innovation & Engagement Fund – Museums Association

The Museums Association has partnered with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and creative design agency The Liminal Space to launch a new £400k Digital Innovation and Engagement Fund for museums.

Following consultation with the sector, the new two strand programme will support museums during this unprecedented time of change and help them to creatively explore and innovate with their communities. The new fund will provide a series of grants of up to £50k to scale up and evaluate the new ways of working that they have developed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

An associated programme, ‘Mindsets for Museums of the Future’, will support museums to probe and action their own post-Covid futures through a series of workshops and networking opportunities.

The deadline for applications is 21 December 2020.

Digital Innovation and Engagement Fund - Museums Association

Community Business Renewal scheme – Power to Change

Power to Change has launched the Community Business Renewal Initiative, a package of support for community businesses, in response to the covid-19 crisis. The support package includes the £3 million Community Business Renewal Fund, providing unrestricted grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 (this Fund will have two further application rounds each open for 3 hours on the following dates: 12 January and 2 March 2021). They will also be opening two match-funding programmes to support community businesses with fundraising. The package includes tailored support for community businesses, to protect community-owned assets and increase community business leader’s knowledge, assist with wellbeing and equip them with the skills to boost their business.

You can find more details on all elements of the Community Business Renewal scheme on the Power to Change website.

https://www.powertochange.org.uk/get-support/community-business-renewal-initiative/

Surplus with Purpose Fund - FareShare

Businesses could be eligible for £50,000 funding to help them reduce their food waste.

The Surplus With Purpose fund is open to companies seeking to unlock new or hard to reach surplus (or ‘waste’) food, as well as those that haven’t previously worked with FareShare.

Businesses could be eligible for up to £50,000 worth of funding (greater sums can be negotiated where appropriate for high volumes of surplus food).

FareShare will safely divert edible surplus food via their UK-wide network of almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups.

More information for businesses interested is available on the scheme’s website.

https://fareshare.org.uk/giving-food/

More than a Pub programme – Plunkett Foundation

The More than a Pub programme provides business development support to enable the community control of pubs in both rural and urban communities across England.

Funded by Power to Change and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and led by the Plunkett Foundation, the More than a Pub programme has taken over 800 enquiries and supported 58 pubs into community control. During the covid-19 lockdown the MTAP programme provided small grants to around half of the community pubs in England.

Combined finance packages of up to £100,000 are available (£50,000 loan and £50,000 grant) to help community groups secure control of their local pub.

http://plunkett.co.uk/more-than-a-pub/

Apprentice incentive payments – HM Government

When you hire new apprentices between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021, you can apply for extra funding to give your organisation a boost.

For apprentices aged:

• 16 to 24, you’ll receive £2,000
• 25 and over, you’ll receive £1,500

The payment is in addition to the existing £1,000 you’ll already get for taking on an apprentice who is:

• aged 16 to 18 years old
• under 25 and has an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority

An incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice is different to the apprenticeship levy, and you can spend it on anything to support your organisation’s costs. For example, you could spend it on facilities, uniforms, your apprentice’s travel or their salary. You will not need to pay it back.

https://engage.apprenticeships.gov.uk/incentives.html

Later Life Inclusion Grants – Masonic Charitable Foundation

The Later Life Inclusion grants programme is open to local and national charities that are working to reduce loneliness and isolation in later life.

Smaller charities whose annual income does not exceed £500,000 can currently apply for a small grant. They are to fund overhead costs. Small grants range from £500 to £15,000 and can be awarded over one to three years.

The current application period for Small Grants runs until 23 December.

https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/later-life/

Children & Young People Grant – Masonic Charitable Foundation

This programme is open to national and local charities helping disadvantaged children and young people to overcome the barriers they face.

Charities whose annual income does not exceed £500,000 can currently apply for a small grant. These grants are unrestricted. Small grants range from £1000 to £15,000 and can be awarded over one to three years.

The current application period for Small Grants runs until 23 December.

https://mcf.org.uk/get-support/grants-to-charities/children-and-young-people/

National Lottery Project Grants – Arts Council England

The Arts Council has reopened this fund with a budget of £59.8 million available until April 2021. They have prioritised reopening this programme to help fund independent organisations, creative practitioners and freelancers as quickly as possible.

Grants of between £1000 and £100,000 are available.

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

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.
• Community Shares Booster Grants: supporting community share offers with development grants and matched investment.

http://ahfund.org.uk/england

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

Gigabit-capable broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available, and the Government “is committed to a vision of a digitally connected Britain.”

Homes and businesses in rural areas of the UK may be eligible for funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband when part of a group scheme.

Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 100Mbps can use vouchers worth £1,500 per home and up to £3,500 for each small to medium-sized business (SME) to support the cost of installing new fast and reliable connections.

More information is available via the website.

https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.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

Covid-19 Emergency Fund – Seafarers UK

Seafarers UK is a leading provider of grants to maritime charities and charitable maritime projects, working to help serving and ex-serving seafarers and their families who are experiencing hardship.

Under the Covid-19 Emergency Fund, applications are welcomed from organisations delivering services to seafarers and their families. The following list provides some of the reasons why you may want to make a grant application to the Emergency Fund:

• Individual hardship
• New service
• Additional operating costs
• Loss of organisational income
• Liquidity or cash flow issues
• Risk of organisational or service closure

https://www.seafarers.uk/helping-you/grant-funding/

Funding during Covid-19 – The National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery Community Fund are currently prioritising funding projects and organisations supporting communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.

They are reviewing the situation on an on-going basis and will share any updates or developments on their website. The Fund has limited funding to support as many organisations as possible.

They have closed the Government allocation of funding to the Coronavirus Community Support Fund to new applications and should be finished distributing these funds by the end of October 2020. However, you can still apply for National Lottery funded grants to help your community through COVID-19.

In England, they are focusing on funding organisations supporting people and communities who experience disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/covid-19/learn-about-applying-for-emergency-funding-in-england

Crowdfunding support for clubs & organisations – Sport England

Sport England have committed another £1 million to combating the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) on sports clubs and community activity groups, in the form of match funding through Crowdfunder.

This ‘Active Together’ partnership with Crowdfunder follows a successful collaboration from November 2018, which saw them committing to match fund 23 projects up to the value of £15,000 each.

This time they are matching crowd funds of up to £10,000 raised by clubs and organisations hit by the coronavirus crisis – and is in addition to the up to £210 million coronavirus support package already announced.

To be eligible, organisations must be:

• Local sports clubs
• Charity, community, voluntary and social enterprise sector organisations that deliver sport and/or physical activity in their community – including organisations that are not solely or primarily sports organisations – for the benefit of people residing in England.

https://www.sportengland.org/news/%C2%A31-million-crowdfunding-support-clubs-and-organisation

Financial support for businesses during coronavirus – Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Public Health England

You can find out more details about the government’s support for businesses through this website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19

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 £10,000 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 £18,000.
• Affordable Housing for Sale Grant Funding: This is a new element to the programme, and it is running as a pilot scheme. The pilot began in 2019-20 and will continue in 2020-21. 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.

All grants are now open.

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

Development Grants & Impact Grants – Youth Futures Foundation

The Youth Futures Foundation is committed to transforming employment for young people. They recognise that achieving this systemic change will be a team effort involving a broad range of employers, government, funders and organisations working with young people. Their activities and grant giving are designed to reflect this. In response to Covid-19 they have acted swiftly to develop an emergency funding response:

1. They have significantly increased funding available for development and impact grants to rapidly increase youth employment provision
2. They are launching an emergency levelling up youth fund to support young people from the hardest hit communities

Their rolling 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 £150,000 per annum over 1-2 years.
• Impact Grants of between £100,000 and £1.2 million per annum over 1-5 years.

https://youthfuturesfoundation.org/grants/

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 1 March 2021.
• 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 deadline for applications is 21 January 2021.
• 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. The final decision round for 2020 has now passed. Applications can still be submitted but decisions will not be made before the start of 2021, when they will recommence on a rolling basis. Further dates to be announced soon.
• 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

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

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 11 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 £1000), to deliver projects through a Project Delivery Grant (up to £4000) or through a Covid-19 Community 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.

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/

Church Conservation Grants – 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 March 2021.

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

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

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/

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 and none are more than £5,000.

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/

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/

Grants to support repair and conservation of war memorials – War Memorials Trust

War Memorials Trust grants support repair and conservation works undertaken following best conservation practice. Almost all war memorials are eligible for support and custodians/owners can find information about eligibility and processes on the website.

Grants are available between 25% and 75% of eligible costs and are likely to be considered up to a maximum grant of £5,000 for non-freestanding war memorials while freestanding, non-beneficiary war memorials may be considered up to a maximum grant of £30,000. There is no minimum award. 

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 the web address below.

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/