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The Rural Services Network (RSN) is thrilled to announce the National Rural Conference 2024, taking place from 16th to 19th September. This virtual event, accessible via Zoom, is the premier gathering for senior officers, members, policymakers, and rural service professionals.
Further information and booking details can be found here
Local authorities have a key role to play in making heat networks succeed. Their involvement, particularly in the development stages, can help realise the benefits of heat networks, while also delivering jobs and growth. In order to address the capacity and capability challenges which local authorities identified as barriers to heat network deployment in the UK, the government set up the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) in 2013.
The Heat Networks Delivery Unit provides grant funding and guidance to local authorities in England and Wales for heat network project development. Since its inception, HNDU has run 13 funding rounds, awarding £37.8 million in total. Over 300 unique projects have so far been supported across 188 local authorities.
Round 14 is available to following eligible applicants:
Round 14 is open to applications until 31 October 2024.
Heat Networks Delivery Unit: Round 14 (open to applications) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Stobart Sustainability fund is aimed at supporting community-led sustainability projects and initiatives lead by non-profit organisations, community groups and educational facilities, such as schools and colleges, to help them transform their local community through projects that tackle climate change, reduce carbon emissions or that protect and enhance the environment.
They welcome applications from community groups, educational facilities or small businesses. Applications need to be of a green, ecological or sustainability nature with the project benefiting the environment.
The Stobart Sustainability Fund | Stobart (eddiestobart.com)
You are eligible for this funding if you are a registered charity, educational establishment or organisation with a formal not-for-profit constitution such as a community interest company.
All projects funded must make use of information technology and must relate to one or more of the Charity’s priority areas - education, inclusion, IT for charities, and public understanding of IT. Projects need to demonstrate an innovative use of IT, be scalable for wider replication, and be sustainable over time.
Funding up to £15,000 is available and the deadline for applications is 31 October 2024.
Apply For A Grant - WCIT Charity
Archives Revealed is the only grant programme in the United Kingdom (UK) dedicated to the cataloguing and unlocking of archival collections. The programme is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund,?The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation. The goal of Archives Revealed is to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspective of all people across the UK, are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment.
Archives Revealed offers three grant-making streams: Scoping Grants, Cataloguing Grants and Consortium Grants.
Public sector bodies, registered charities and other not-for-profit organisations can apply for grants of up to £50,000 for projects lasting up to two years.
The deadline for applications is 25 October 2024.
Archives Revealed - Portals (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
This scheme is part of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s work to engage and empower the public by improving understanding of dementia and sharing the benefits of dementia research.
Applications are encouraged from people, organisations and communities with ideas, passion and ability to realise innovative public engagement projects on the topic of dementia. From those within or outside the research community, those with a track record in public engagement and those looking to apply their skills to this important issue for the first time.
Through the scheme, they want to build relationships between communities and researchers, and are especially interested in proposals led by community groups or organisations.
Inspire Fund projects must meet both core criteria:
Grants up to £5000 are available and the deadline to apply is 14 October 2024.
The Trust seeks to improve the effectiveness of literacy teaching in primary and secondary education for children with learning difficulties, including dyslexia.
Their work has a particular focus on areas of social need and those who are at risk of non-inclusion in society and the world of work.
The Trust’s small grants scheme funds charities and community groups that directly help children and young people develop literacy skills, with a focus on supporting those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
They are keen to see applications for projects that use volunteers and reading mentors and those that help during transitional points. For example, when students move from primary to secondary school, and when they transition to further education, college, or the workplace. They will consider grants for literacy support at any primary or secondary key stage.
You can apply for grants between £5,000 and £20,000. You can apply for a multi-year grant, over a maximum period of 3 years.
The JJ Charitable Trust - Literacy Small Grants Scheme (powerappsportals.com)
Scops Arts Trust aims to give people of all ages, backgrounds and life circumstances, opportunities to access, participate in and enjoy the arts, particularly the performing arts.
The Trust is currently inviting Stage 1 applications from instrumental or choral groups for adults and also welcome applications for children’s music education projects. The deadline for applications is 10 September 2024.
Scops Arts Trust - Grant Funding for the Arts
Creative People and Places focuses on parts of the country where involvement in creativity and culture is significantly below the national average. It funds partners in local areas to empower residents to decide what kind of creative activity they want to experience on their doorstep.
Applicants can apply for between £750,000 and £1,000,000 for a three-year period regardless of the number of eligible places you are applying to cover. A lost of the eligible locations is available on the website.
Activities must be delivered over three years starting on 1 April 2026 and must end on 31 March 2029.
Applications will open on 12 September and close on 16 January 2025.
National Portfolio Creative People and Places funding 2026-29 | Arts Council England
The Church of England give grants for the conservation of historic church interiors and churchyard structures in partnership with the Pilgrim Trust, the Radcliffe Trust, the Oswald Allen Bequest, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, and the Anglican Parish Churches Fund. Grant categories are as follows:
Grants for historic church interiors and churchyard structures | The Church of England
Single year grants between £2,000 and £10,000 are available to charities and not for profit organisations for core costs, salaries, running and project costs. Projects must have a focus on Community Support and address urban and rural deprivation in the UK.
if you are located in a rural area, you must be in the bottom 50% most deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Your annual income must not exceed £250,000 and you can secure 50% of the total project costs.
This is a rolling programme with no deadlines.
Small Grants | Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
This Tree Council grant is for community groups, schools, small registered charities, and Tree Warden Networks seeking to establish trees, hedgerows, and orchards.
Branching Out supports applications ranging in value from £250 to £2,500, with specific criteria for those under £500, and those above £500.
The deadline for applications is 1 December 2024.
Branching Out Fund - The Tree Council
The Memorial Grant Scheme gives grants towards VAT on the construction, repair and maintenance of public memorial structures, for work which took place on or after 16 March 2005.
This is a UK-wide grant, available for memorials in any part of the UK (or overseas memorials in some circumstances). The grant scheme is managed by East Midlands Business Ltd on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
If you are a registered charity or a faith group ‘excepted’ from registering as a charity, this grant can help you with the cost of works like repairing and cleaning public memorials or installing a new memorial.
There are conditions on the types of memorial which are eligible, and what the funding can be used for. If your project meets these conditions, you can apply for funding towards the VAT cost of the works. The maximum grant available is the full rate of VAT (20% of project costs).
The deadline for applications is 30 September 2024.
Applying for a memorial grant - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Music for All is dedicated to changing lives across the UK by improving access to music making. They are “a passionate, focused and ambitious UK charity helping disadvantaged music makers experience the joys and far-reaching benefits of making music.”
In 2024 they are offering an instrument-only funding round to community projects and individuals, offering instruments such as drumkits with drumsticks, keyboards, ukulele bundle, pbuzz instruments, electric guitars as well as Arturia Analog Lab V controller software. Successful applicants will also receive access to The Maestro Online Masterclasses for these instruments.
Alongside this instrument-only funding round, they are also hosting their annual Harris Foundation Award which is open to schools looking to deepen their music provision and support/or continue to support groups of music makers within their school.
The deadline for applications is 30 September 2024.
Application Process | Music For All
The Fund is offering grants of up to £15,000 to help assess the viability of historic building projects, and up to £20,000 towards development work to progress plans for historic buildings.
Applications are assessed at monthly grant decision meetings. This grant programme is supported by funding from Historic England.
England | The Architectural Heritage Fund (ahfund.org.uk)
The Energy Resilience Fund is an initiative assisting community businesses in retrofitting their buildings with energy-saving measures. The programme is funded by Power to Change and delivered by Key Fund.
Investment amounts are available from £10,000 to £150,000. Up to 40% of the total is available as grant, where justifiable to support cost stabilisation or reduction. The minimum loan term for the remainder is 12 months, with a maximum of 7 years.
Energy Audit Grants are also available between £500 and £2,500 where these have not been completed.
Energy Resilience Fund - Power to Change
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) have extended support for Neighbourhood Planning for a seventh year (2024/2025). The Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme will continue to offer grants and Technical Support packages and is currently open for applications. As follows:
Home - Locality Neighbourhood Planning
Launched in April 2024, the Movement Fund offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most.
If your project aligns with Sport England priorities, they can fund a wide range of costs and items up to £15,000.
Their focus is to support projects that match their goal of getting more people active, reducing the number of inactive people and tackling inequalities.
Projects providing opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity are of particular interest, such as:
Funding guidance | Sport England
Government are offering a grant of £1,200 for eligible state-funded schools and colleges in England to train a senior mental health lead.
This training is not compulsory, but is part of the government’s commitment to offer this training to all eligible schools and colleges by 2025.
Training will support senior mental health leads to develop and implement a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. They must start their training by 31 March 2025.
Grants should cover (or contribute to) the cost of attending a quality assured course. You can also use it to hire supply staff while leads are training.
Applications need to be completed by 31 December 2024 to reserve a grant.
Senior mental health lead training - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Woodward Charitable Trust only makes grants for core costs rather than specific projects as they recognise that smaller charities can find these hard to fund. They hope that this will have a more direct impact on the organisations that they choose to fund.
Trustees only fund organisations that support at least one of the following three target groups and particularly look to fund projects that help families and young people and that are aiming to improve the life chances of their beneficiaries.
Most grants are up to £3000 but usually less than £1000.
General Application Guidelines – The Woodward Charitable Trust
This grant scheme helps fund activity providers to give people with Parkinson's more opportunities to get and stay active.
In 2024 the Fund is able to provide grants of up to £3,000 to support physical activity projects for people with Parkinson's all over the UK.
The programme opened for applications on 3 June 2024 and will remain open until all funding has been allocated.
Grants for physical activity providers | Parkinson's UK (parkinsons.org.uk)
The Electricals Recycling Fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, you can apply for funding.
They fund two types of projects – those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals, and those seeking to innovate new collection methods.
They’re keen to see applications from registered organisations only – such as local authorities, waste collection authority areas, contractors, non-profits, community sector organisations, producer compliance schemes, and retailers.
Applications are currently open on a rolling basis.
Electricals Recycling Fund - Material Focus
The funder states that a growing number of large and small charities are now providing travel training schemes.
Through their new Travel Confidence Grant Programme they will help them, and travel providers, to make an immediate impact for disabled people.
Examples of grant funding from this programme could include (but are not limited to):
Charities and organisations can apply for grants from £100,000 to £1.5 million.
Stage one applications must be submitted by 8 October 2024.
Travelling with Confidence Grant | Charitable Grants | Motability Foundation
The Trust gives advice, support, loans and grants to small charitable organisations to help them provide safe, decent and affordable homes. They currently offer two separate funding programmes.
Best practice grants are available up to £6000 for early in the development of a project to ensure the project reaches the highest possible standards. Two areas can be funded:
The Main Grants and Loans Programme funds projects which create homes. They make awards of up to £50,000 and often award a mixture of grants and loans. Maximum grants made are £25,000. The deadline for applications is 13 November 2024.
Apply for funding (qht.org.uk)
The Climate Action Fund is a commitment to help communities tackle climate change. The Fund is supporting communities to be environmentally sustainable.
With Climate Action Fund – Our Shared Future, Lottery want to involve more people in climate action. They we want to inspire bold and exciting change.
They’ll fund formal partnership projects that reach more people by either:
Formal partnerships can apply, working across sectors and led by community and voluntary organisations or public sector organisations.
The minimum you can ask for is £500,000. They expect to fund most projects for between £1 million and £1.5 million over 3 to 5 years and aim to fund up to 25 projects.
You’ll be able to apply until at least the end of 2024. They plan to close to applications in early 2025 and will announce the final deadline nearer the time.
The UK Fund is looking to fund organisations that want to do more to help communities come together and help make us a better-connected society.
Your project must either work across the UK, or be able to inform, influence or scale across the UK.
They want to fund projects that:
£500,000 to £5m is available and they expect most projects to run from 2 to 5 years. They may consider funding for up to 10 years.
The UK Fund | The National Lottery Community Fund (tnlcommunityfund.org.uk)
Community energy projects involve groups of people coming together to purchase, manage, generate, or reduce consumption of energy. This includes (but is not limited to), solar panels, wind farms, hydro power, rural heat networks, electric vehicle charging points, car clubs and fuel poverty alleviation schemes. Programmes are usually not-for-profit, and profits raised from projects are reinvested back into the communities which they power.
The Community Energy Fund is a grant programme for community groups and eligible third sector organisations to develop projects from feasibility to commercialisation. The funding supports eligible community groups to consider options, design schemes and overcome barriers to investment. The programme is being delivered through the government’s Local Net Zero Hubs and further information on applying for funding can be found on their individual websites. Further information and links to Hub websites can be found at:
Local net zero: central support for local authorities and communities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The government offers grants to support the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints via the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). This includes:
The closing date for all grants is 31 March 2025. For more information visit the website below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles
The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust funds United Kingdom Registered Charities operating in the UK in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.
The Trust makes grants which are usually in the range £500 - £6,000 and there are three grant-making meetings held annually which take place in March, July, and November. The majority of the Trust’s grants are single grants over a one-year period.
The next deadline for applications is 24 September 2024.
The SUEZ Communities Fund in England has approximately £1.6M available per year, funded by donations from SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, through the Landfill Communities Fund.
To be eligible for a grant, your project must be located within one of their active funding zones. A postcode checker is available on their website.
Grants between £3,000 and £50,000 are available for community projects delivering capital improvements to public amenities. Examples may include:
There are four deadlines for applications, each year. The next deadline is 20 November 2024.
SUEZ Communities Fund - England - Grantscape Grantscape
This programme will award grants of up to £75,000 towards projects that assist in the refurbishment or extension of rental accommodation that will offer high quality support for veterans with a housing need.
To be eligible for this funding, you must be one of the following:
The deadline for applications is 3 January 2025.
Refurbishment Grants Programme : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
This programme will award grants of between £75,000 and £500,000 towards projects that support significant refurbishment, including extensions and new builds, of rental accommodation that will offer high quality support for Veterans with a housing need.
They want to support projects that need help to refurbish or extend existing accommodation or build new accommodation to house Veterans. You can apply for this programme if your project will:
The next deadline for expressions of interest is 8 January 2025.
Major Capital Grants Programme : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
Under this programme the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust will award grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 on behalf of the MOD’s Armed Forces Families Fund Early Years Programme, towards projects lasting up to two years, which help enhance early childhood education and childcare settings to meet specific needs of young children from Armed Forces families.
They invite applications from:
The deadline for application sis 20 November 2024.
Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme 2024-25 : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
This programme offers grants between £75,000 and £150,000 to address the impact of domestic abuse and support initiatives aimed at having a long-term effect in preventing domestic abuse in serving Armed Forces communities or assisting those affected.
Projects need to:
The deadline for applications is 16 October 2024.
Free From Fear Programme 2024/25 : Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
Schools can apply for grants of up to £3,000 to run investigative STEM projects in partnership with STEM professionals from academia or industry. The programme provides an opportunity for students to have a voice in the direction of scientific research around climate change and biodiversity by working with their STEM partner. It also supports students to develop green skills as the UK moves towards a net zero future.
Free online training sessions are run for teachers, aimed to give attendees a better understanding of the grants scheme and application process.
The application round opened in February and will remain open across the year with one last submission deadline at the end of November 2024.
Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists | Royal Society
Grants are available up to £75,000 to support larger improvement projects to rural community buildings in England such as full refits and extensions.
This scheme is for those responsible for rural community buildings who wish to make substantive improvements to their building, whether that be extensions or improving energy efficiency and contributing to Net Zero.
Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs, up to a maximum amount of £75,000. The balance of funding for the works proposed must be in place, or at least confirmed within 6 months of receiving a grant offer.
Main grants scheme for village halls - ACRE
The Historic Houses Foundation gives grants for the repair and conservation of rural historic buildings and structures in England and Wales, including their gardens, grounds and outbuildings. We also give grants for the restoration and conservation of works of art in historic house collections open to the public.
Grants are made to owners (charities, institutions, local authorities and individuals) who demonstrate a sustainable and long-term commitment to the care, management and public access of the historic country houses in their care.
The minimum Historic Houses Foundation grant is £1,000 and the maximum is £250,000 but an award of this size is only made under exceptional circumstances. Most grants are for less than £50,000.
The Trust was set up in 1998, to promote and support charities in the United Kingdom working in agriculture, rural development and insurance.
The Trust focuses on providing funding to larger initiatives, which would have a significant impact on the rural community. The Trustees are particularly interested in initiatives in the areas of education of young people in rural areas and relief of poverty within rural areas.
The Trustees meet twice a year to consider applications received. These meetings are currently held in June and November. Applications for the November meeting they must be submitted by 25th October 2024.
NFU Mutual Charitable Trust: What do we do | NFU Mutual
The Trust award grants towards projects that make improvements to community facilities and the natural environment.
The Trust’s Community Grant Scheme is available to constituted not-for-profit organisations, local authorities and Environmental Bodies (EBs). Grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 are available to create or improve buildings or outside spaces for the benefit of the community.
The Habitat and Biodiversity Grant Scheme offers grants between £10,000 and £75,000 whilst the Environmental Improvement Grant Scheme offers grants over £75,000. Nature Conservation grants are also available.
The current funding round closes on 3 October 2024.
The Rowing Foundation purpose is to promote the participation in rowing of young people (those under 18 or still in full time education) and the disabled of all ages.
They provide grants towards the cost of boat equipment or boat refurbishments to support junior & student rowers, and adaptive rowing for all ages.
They match your spending up to a maximum of £4,000 per grant.
The deadline for applications for the next round of equipment grants is 14 October 2024.
Refurbishment Grants are awarded on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
The Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, run by the Museums Association (MA), supports museums and their community partners to develop together, using collections.
The Fund supports museums to improve their inclusive collections and participatory practice with, and sometimes led by, community partners. They are looking for museums that have established strategic aims for diversity, equity and inclusion; and that are ready to use their collections and this funding to support social and climate justice, in ways that are relevant to local contexts and relationships.
Grants of up to £100k over around two years are available, and they are expecting to award around 12 grants per year in two funding rounds.
The current round is open for applications until 16 September 2024.
Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund - Museums Association
Organisations across England are invited to bid for a share of £1 million of government funding to buy life-saving defibrillators for community spaces like town halls, local parks or post offices. The fund will support provision of 2000 AED's. These will be distributed across England during 2023-2024, supporting any organisation based in England that is not eligible for the current Department of Education AED programme. The funding for the scheme is based on a first come first served basis. The funding will be allocated on the following basis:
The closing date for applications is 21 September 2024 – or once all the funding has been allocated.
The 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 they define as:
They fund both large and small projects.
What We Fund | The Clothworkers' Foundation (clothworkersfoundation.org.uk)
The Foundation offers grants in the categories of Community, Education, Health or Social Welfare.
They offer three levels of grants. These are large grants of £20,000 and above; medium grants of up to £20,000 and small grants of £5,000 and under. Grants can be used for:
Applications are accepted all year round.
What We Fund - Bernard Sunley Foundation
The Trust’s main grants programme provides support for places. These grants are for capital initiatives, i.e. buildings (new build or refurbishment) and equipment.
They fund a broad range of organisations working across the fields of education, science & medicine, health & disability, heritage, humanities & the arts.
The Foundation accepts applications from the following types of organisation:
Specific funding criteria apply to each.
Decision dates are in June and December annually. Corresponding application deadlines are 5 January and 1 September each year.
Funding for places - The Wolfson Foundation
The Trust makes discretionary grants where they believe that their contribution will make a real difference.
Applications must be for charitable purposes that fall into one of the five core categories below:
The minimum grant size is £10,000. Awards of more than £25,000 are rare.
Rolling grants programme – The Steel Charitable Trust
Benefact Trust’s Building Improvement Grants programme provides essential support to protect and enhance churches and Christian charity buildings, ensuring their continued use, viability, and the safeguarding of their heritage.
The programme is open to applications from churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies and Christian charities.
Under Building Improvement Grants, they are able to support direct capital costs relating to the following types of work:
All applicants will be expected to have secured funding for at least 30% of their total project costs before making an application.
New - Building Improvement Grants | Benefact Trust
Theatres Trust's Small Grants Programme, supported by The Linbury Trust, funds small projects that make a big impact to a theatre’s resilience, sustainability, accessibility or improving the diversity of audiences.
This scheme provides grants of up to £5,000 for essential works to enable not-for-profit theatres across the UK to be viable and thrive in the future.
Eligible projects include small capital works, the installation of key plant and machinery and works which make theatre buildings digital-ready.
This scheme will prioritise improvements to buildings that protect theatre use and remove barriers to participation and attendance.
The deadline for the next round of applications is 17 January 2025.
Small Grants Programme supported by The Linbury Trust (theatrestrust.org.uk)
Big Issue Invest is offering loan finance between £20,000 to £200,000 to social enterprises and charities in England, for energy efficiency and renewable energy installation.
This lending programme is aimed at enabling social enterprises and charities to access loan funding to help save money on energy during the unprecedented cost of living crisis. Investment can be used for a variety of projects, including:
The loans can be structured to your individual needs. They can be unsecured which means they will not require you to put any personal guarantees in place, or interfere with other financing arrangements that require security.
Big Energy Saving Loans - The Big Issue
Children in Need often have several funding programmes open at any one time. These include:
Charities and not-for-profit organisations can apply for these grants for up to three years. They aim to give quicker decisions for grants of £15,000 or less per year. There is no application deadline.
Apply For A Grant - BBC Children in Need
This programme supports children and young people who are facing exceptionally difficult circumstances, and is delivered by Family Fund Business Services. The programme provides items that meet a child’s most basic needs such as a bed to sleep in, a cooker to provide a hot meal and other items or services critical to a child’s wellbeing.
All applications must be made by a registered referrer.
Grants are available to fund Public Access Defibrillators in communities all over the country.
London Hearts is a charity aiming to help and support communities with the provision of heart defibrillators and teaching CPR/defibrillator skills. They can provide a grant of £300 towards the cost of a defibrillator and storage as well as a free online training video.
When someone has a cardiac arrest, timely intervention is the key to survival. By making more defibrillators available, and by training more people to use them, the better the chance of survival for a cardiac arrest victim.
Biffa Award’s Main Grants Scheme is aimed at community and cultural groups and organisations, situated in the vicinity of landfill sites, that are in need of funding to improve the quality of life in their community or to conserve wildlife.
There are four themes - Community Buildings, Recreation, Cultural Facilities and Rebuilding Biodiversity. Under these themes we provide funding to create or improve community amenities. For example, upgrading kitchens, meeting rooms and toilets in village halls and community facilities; creating new playparks; installing new seating, lighting and exhibitions within theatres and museums; or establishing, protecting and enhancing habitats for biodiversity.
Between £10,000 and £75,000 can be awarded to projects that have a total cost of less than £200,000 including VAT.
Project sites must be within 5 miles of a significant Biffa Operation or active Biffa Landfill Site (15 miles for Rebuilding Biodiversity projects) and within 10 miles of
any licenced landfill site in England and Northern Ireland.
This is a rolling programme and as such there are no deadlines to submit an Expression of Interest in the Main Grants Scheme.
Home Page - Biffa Award (biffa-award.org)
Through this new grant programme Motability aim to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. The programme is focussed on:
Charities and organisations working in the community transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million.
Stage one applications must be submitted by 8 October 2024.
Charitable Grants | Community Transport Grant | Motability
The Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Grant Scheme gives grants that cover the VAT incurred in making repairs to listed buildings in use as places of worship. The scheme covers repairs to the fabric of the building, along with associated professional fees, plus repairs to turret clocks, pews, bells and pipe organs.
The Scheme has been run by DCMS with a focus on preserving heritage in the fabric of UK listed places of worship. Since its establishment in 2001, the Scheme has adapted to changes while continuing to support places of worship by delivering the fairest possible system of making grants and ensuring that all faiths and areas of the UK are equally able to make use of scheme.
The scheme only accepts applications where the minimum value of eligible work carried out on any one claim to the scheme is £1,000 (excluding VAT).
The Government has confirmed funding is available for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme until 31 March 2025.
Listed Places of Worship - Home page (lpwscheme.org.uk)
The Foundation is dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people, as well as vulnerable older people, in England and Wales. Their Charity Grants programme is open to registered charities in England and Wales working with any of their four main priority groups:
Small grants are for charities whose annual income is between £25,000 and £500,000. These grants are unrestricted. Small grants range from £1,000-£5,000 per year, for up to three years.
Large grants are for larger charities whose annual income is between £500,000 and £10 million. They must be restricted to a project. Large grants usually range from £10,000 to £60,000. They can be awarded over one to three years.
Grants to charities - The Masonic Charitable Foundation (mcf.org.uk)
The Booster Fund has relaunched to support new and existing community businesses in England that are at all stages of a community share issue.
This includes the very early stages of exploring whether it’s the right choice, through planning a community share issue to being ready to launch, or in exceptional cases, recently launched.
The programme provides:
Community Shares Booster - Power to Change
The Forestry England Woodland Partnership offers long-term leases with guaranteed income for public and private landowners to create new woodlands. The partnership scheme supports government plans for woodland creation, nature recovery and progress towards net zero targets.
Forestry England are looking for sites of at least 50 hectares suitable for woodland creation for leases of between 60 and 120 years, and landowners will receive a guaranteed annual rent throughout the lease period. Forestry England will design, plant and manage every woodland created, ensuring each is resilient to a changing climate, supports wildlife, and provides wider ecosystem services.
All woodlands created through the partnership scheme will be open to the public, providing valuable health and wellbeing opportunities for communities.
Part of the Nature for Climate Fund to support the government’s tree planting commitment, the Forestry England Woodland Partnership aims to create at least 2,000 hectares of predominantly broadleaf woodland over the next five years.
Applications are open all year round. Full details and brochures for public and private landowners are available on the Forestry England website.
https://www.forestryengland.uk/woodland-creation
The National Lottery Heritage Fund provide different levels of funding to heritage of all shapes and sizes. Their grants range from £10,000 up to £10 millions.
Current programmes include:
The Fund also has a number of strategic initiatives as follows:
Full information on all National Lottery Heritage Fund programmes is available on their website.
Welcome | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Churches Trust is making changes to its grants programme.
They will continue to offer three types of grant. These will be:
http://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/our-grants
The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is a part of Defra’s Agricultural Transition Plan.
It will offer funding to farmers and land managers in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), National Parks and the Broads. It is not an agri-environment scheme.
The programme will fund projects that:
The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme has been developed by Defra with the support of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and National Park staff from across England.
The programme runs until March 2025.
Get funding for farming in protected landscapes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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.
Round 13 of the Energy Redress Scheme is expected to open shortly. The previous round included the following elements:
https://energyredress.org.uk/apply-funding
The Foundation support a wide range of charities that make a positive difference, working in different sectors in the UK. These include welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith.
They fund small local organisations and large national institutions. Grants range from £1,000 to several million pounds, depending on each charity’s size and scope of work. The grants can be for your organisation’s running costs, for a specific activity or for capital projects. The Foundation are flexible and fund what charities need the most.
Normally, capital grants are no more than 10% of a total project cost. However, for local community projects (e.g. village halls, community centres, places of worship, etc.), grants are unlikely to be over £30,000 regardless of the project size. If your organisation wants to apply for £100,000 or over, they expect your annual income or project to be over £1 million.
What we fund - Garfield Weston Foundation
The FCC Community Action Fund provides grants of between £2,000 and £100,000 to not-for-profit organisations for amenity projects eligible under Object D of the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF).
The following types or organisation can apply:
Only applications for projects sited within 10 miles of an eligible FCC Environment waste facility can be accepted, you can check if you are located near an eligible site on their website.
The closing date for the next round of applications is 20 November 2024.
FCC Community Action Fund / FCC (fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk)
The Morrisons Foundation awards grant funding for charity projects which make a positive difference in local communities. Applications should deliver on (at least) one of three objectives to be considered for support, these are: Tackling poverty and social deprivation; Enhancing community spaces, facilities and services; Improving health and wellbeing.
Morrison Foundation Making a difference to people's lives (morrisonsfoundation.com)
Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion programme that targets hard-to-reach areas where it is more difficult and more expensive to build digital infrastructure. The majority of the rollout will come through local and regional contracts, providing subsidies to suppliers to extend their gigabit-capable networks to premises that are unlikely to be reached otherwise.
The Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) is part of Project Gigabit, focused on helping specific people and communities upgrade their broadband connection. It mainly operates in areas where there is no existing coverage, planned commercial coverage or through Project Gigabit procurements.
Eligible homes and businesses can apply for up to £4,500 to cover the costs of a gigabit-capable connection.
You can check whether your premises is eligible for a voucher, find a list of registered suppliers, and see those who are active in your area on the website below.
https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/
Awards for All:
TNLCF offer funding from £300 to £20,000 and can support your project for up to two years. You can apply for funding to deliver a new or existing activity or to support your organisation to change and adapt to new and future challenges.
They can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
Reaching Communities England:
TNLCF fund projects and organisations that work to make positive changes in their community. By community they mean people living in the same area, or people with similar interests or life experiences. They offer funding that starts at £20,001.
TNLCF can fund projects or organisations that’ll do at least one of these things:
Partnerships:
This funding is for organisations working together in partnership to help their community. This funding also starts at £20,001 and can fund projects that do at least one of the things also specified under the Reaching Communities programme.
Funding programmes | The National Lottery Community Fund (tnlcommunityfund.org.uk)
This Small Grants Scheme is designed to support charities registered and operating in the United Kingdom, especially those working at grass roots and local community level, in any field, across a wide range of activities.
Online applications can be accepted from charities that have an annual turnover of less than £150,000 per annum. Larger or national charities will normally not be considered under this scheme.
The focus will be to make one-year grants only to cover core costs or essential equipment, to enable ongoing service provision, homeworking, or delivery of online digital services to charities that can show financial stability.
The priority will be to support local charities still active in their communities which are currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community either directly or through online support if possible.
Grants are available between £2000 and £10,000.
Please note that the fund will stop accepting new applications to the Small Grants Scheme on 31 January 2025.
They can only consider applications for projects (and funding periods) which will be completed before the end of 2025.
Small Grants Scheme - (foylefoundation.org.uk)
National Lottery Project Grants is an open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations.
Individual artists and practitioners, community and cultural organisations, museums and libraries can all apply. National Lottery Project Grants is open all the time, there are no deadlines.
Grants of between £1000 and £100,000 are available.
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants
If you represent a charity or an organisation that provide assistance to serving and former members of the British Armed Forces who are in need, you can apply for a grant from the Veterans' Foundation. Grants are also available to operationally qualified seafarers and their dependants.
The closing date for the next round of applications for ‘Standard’ and ‘Salary’ grants is 8 October 2024.
Apply for a grant | Veterans' Foundation (veteransfoundation.org.uk)
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 projects that the Foundation support.
http://bluesparkfoundation.org.uk/
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 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 normally awarded at 50% of eligible costs depending on the priority level of your project 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 £20,000. The minimum award is normally £125 but there is some discretion on minimum and maximum grant levels.
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/
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:
Grants are available for between £10,000 and £500,000.
Looking for funding | Football Foundation
Prepared by Andy Dean, Consultant to the Rural Services NetworkEmail: andy.dean@sparse.gov.uk |
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