Published Monday 6 January 2020 at 17:09
This insight outlines a range of funding opportunities open to the public sector, businesses, community groups etc. Regular funding opportunities are also available via the websites below:
National Lottery Grant for Heritage
Community groups can now access potential grant funding opportunities through the free Blackburn with Darwen Open4Community online search tool.
For all Blackburn with Darwen Council funding bids
Please check whether match funding is required, if it is please contact and inform your Finance colleague.
Funding opportunities greater than £100,000
Funding for Enterprise Training within the Heritage Sector
Funding of up to £1 million is available for an organisation or partnership to support those working with heritage to develop their enterprise skills. The funding will be used to deliver a UK-wide programme of training and development to support heritage organisations in developing their enterprise and social entrepreneurship skills.
This funding is being made available through the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is part of a total £3m investment which also includes funding for business support programmes across the UK. The National Lottery Heritage Fund aims to fund one skills development programme that will work across the UK, for a minimum of 40-60 organisations (80-120 individuals).
Applications will be accepted from not for profit organisations or partnerships led by a not-for-profit organisation. Organisations or partnerships looking to apply should also meet the following criteria:
demonstrable track record in delivering creative and successful enterprise development programmes with organisations with some similar characteristics to heritage SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), e.g. community businesses, others with trading activities including retail, venue hire, licensing etc.
- capacity to support organisations and cohorts UK-wide
- demonstrable commitment to learning and evaluation
- demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion
- operational and financial capacity to deliver a programme at this scale
The deadline for Expressions of Interest is noon on the 13th January 2020. Applicants successful at this stage will have until noon on the 20th February 2020 to submit a full applications. Applicants will be notified by 28 March 2020.
Government Announces New £1.5 Million Fund to Save the Pub
The government has announced a new £1.5 million fund to support community pubs. The funding will help an estimated 100 new groups to take ownership of and save their local pub or support their essential community services based in pubs in rural and remote areas.
The £1.15 million fund will support community pubs through two key programmes.
£650,000 will be allocated to the More Than a Pub programme which provides small grants and specialist advice for community groups at the start of their journey to community ownership. It also supports groups later in the process who require specialist professional advice with larger grants and loans to help with business planning, conveyancing, architectural help or financial advice.
£500,000 will be allocated to Pub is The Hub to enable a range of projects providing new, pub-based community services from post offices and shops to libraries and allotments. This will increase the services available in rural and remote communities and help sustain pubs as community assets and businesses.
Case Study
The Dog Inn at Belthorn near Blackburn has been supported by the government supported More Than A Pub and Pub Is The Hub Programmes.
In the past, the village of Belthorn had over 10 pubs, a shop, tearoom, chip shop, newsagent and community centre. But, by November 2015, all those community amenities had disappeared.
At the end of 2015, the residents of Belthorn took the collective step to bring the heart of the community back into the village via The Dog Inn by co-locating all the services and amenities that had long since disappeared.
The residents of Belthorn benefitted from a Pub is The Hub grant of £4,000 to create a community café, as well as helping the community to purchase equipment to make presentations in the community meeting room where village group meetings are now held. Work is also underway on a community garden and allotments by the pub.
As a result of the funding, the Belthorn now boasts a vibrant village committee, a history society group and a craft and chat group all of which meet regularly in The Dog Inn.
New £16 Million Fund Launched to Train Thousands More Customs Experts
HM Revenue and Customs has launched a new £16 million fund to help businesses train staff in making customs declarations, and to help businesses who support others to trade goods to invest in IT. This is to ensure that trade with the EU continues as smoothly as possible after Brexit on 31st October 2019.
Customs agents currently help businesses who trade outside the EU. This funding will help increase the capacity of the sector as businesses trading with the EU consider whether to get an expert to complete customs documentation for them after Brexit.
Businesses based in, or with a branch in, the UK can apply for funding ahead of the UK leaving the EU. Grants can be used to support:
Training costs for businesses who complete customs declarations, or who intend to in the future
Funding for IT improvement, which is available to small and medium sized employers who are currently involved in trade as an intermediary
To ensure maximum impact, the second wave of the grant scheme allows businesses to apply for the full cost of training, within certain limits as set out in the guidance.
Applications will close on the 31st January 2020.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Grants of Up to £75,000 to Improve Village Halls
The Government is making £3 million available to improve village halls and better connect rural communities across the country. Village hall committees are now able to apply for grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 towards refurbishment and alteration of their buildings, from improvement works on existing facilities through to new meeting rooms.
The new funding will cover 20% of the total costs of a project. The remaining funding comes from a combination of charity reserves, fundraising, local authority funding and other grants such as the National Lottery Community Fund.
Applications from the following legal entities will be eligible:
- Registered Charities
- Charitable Trusts
- Charitable Incorporated Organisations
- Community Associations which are registered Charities
- Multi-purpose Church Halls and Scout and Guide buildings are also eligible where they are open for the whole community, there is no alternative village hall in situ, they are not single use and they are clearly advertised as multi- purpose
- Charitable Companies
The closing date for applications is the 31st March 2020 or until the funds are fully committed.
Funding Available to Redistribute Surplus Food
FareShare’s Surplus with Purpose is a £3 million Fund that provides funding of up to £50,000 to food businesses in the UK to offset the costs of sending good quality surplus food to good causes, helping the people most in need.
The 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.
The type of foods eligible for support includes:
- Packaging / labelling errors
- Stock that’s become surplus due to forecasting errors
- Stock below MLOR (48 hours minimum life on receipt by FareShare)
- Fruit & veg past BBE
- Stock past BBE (subject to manufacturer’s extension letter)
- Quality rejections – ‘out of spec’
- Unfinished products
- Bulk ingredients for manufacturing
- Lines no longer being retailed
- Samples and NPD’s
- Foreign label stock
- Damages
- Seasonal stock
- Retailer branded food.
The funding can be used to cover the additional staff costs needed for packing and sorting edible surplus food, or in building, implementing and managing new processes. It could also cover packaging and transportation costs, or lost income from the sale of surplus to animal feed or anaerobic digestion.
Funding applications can be submitted at any time.
New Funding Available to Implement Court Judgement with the Potential to Achieve Social Change
A new round of funding has been announced for civil society organisations to implement a court judgment or the outcome of a litigation process that has the potential to achieve social change for people facing discrimination and disadvantage.
The funding is being made available by the Baring Foundation and grants of up to £30,000 for a period of up to one year are available to charities and other not for profit organisations to help civil society organisation during the implementation phase after successful litigation.
The following range of activities may be involved in the implementation:
- advocacy and policy influencing;
- campaigning;
- awareness raising;
- research’ monitoring of implementation;
- further legal action.
Grants awarded under this fund are designed to support ongoing work by organisations who have played a part in the successful litigation they are applying for funding for; and usually for organisations for whom litigation is not their core business.
The closing date for applications in this round is the 29th January 2020.
Funding for Rural Community and Education Projects
The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust supports charities in the UK working in agriculture, rural development and insurance. The Trustees are particularly interested in initiatives in the areas of education of young people in rural areas and the relief of poverty within rural areas.
Trustees are particularly interested in funding larger initiatives, which would have a significant impact on the rural community.
Grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 are available. In 2016, the Trust made donations totaling £256,500 to a total of 15 organisations.
Projects supported in the past include:
Farms for City Children, which aims to expand the horizons of children from towns and cities by offering them a week in the countryside living together in one of their farms and the Royal Highland Education Trust which aims to create an opportunity for each child in Scotland to experience the countryside and to facilitate a wider understanding of the environmental, economic and social realities of rural Scotland. Its key activities include farm visits, classroom speaker visits and a number of high-profile national competition.
The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust also provides small grants of up to £250 through the NFU Mutual’s Community Giving Fund which supports worthwhile community events, charities, schools and community group activities that are local to their operations.
The next closing date for applications is the 31st May 2020.
Grants to Support Animal Welfare Charities
The objectives of the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust are to donate to UK registered charities whose purposes are to:
- Benefit or protect animals
- Relieve animals from suffering
- Conserve wildlife
- Encourage the understanding of animals
UK registered charities that have independently examined up to date annual accounts and an active re-homing and rehabilitation policy for animals taken into care are eligible to apply.
Organisations involved with the conservation of wildlife, the rescue, rehabilitation, and (where possible) release of animals are also eligible to apply. The funding can be used for general running costs or capital purchases.
The maximum donation is £35,000. The Trust may award smaller donations between the meetings at the discretion of the Chairman and Administrator of the Trust.
Repeat applications from charities are encouraged when further financial support is given if funds allow.
The next deadline to apply is the 15th of January 2020.
Applications must be made in writing only to:
Mrs. Madeleine Orchard, Administrator
Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust
P.O. Box 469
London
W14 8PJ
Funding opportunities under £25,000
Pink Ribbon Foundation Grants
The Pink Ribbon Foundation has announced that it is currently accepting applications to its grant making programme.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to UK charities:
- To relieve the needs of people who are suffering from, or have been affected by, breast cancer by providing, or assisting in the provision of, information, care or emotional, practical and financial support.
- To advance public education in the understanding of breast cancer, its early detection and treatment, in particular but not exclusively by commissioning, or conducting, research into the causes, detection and treatment of breast cancer and by disseminating the results of such research.
Higher grants may be awarded if the trustees feel there is a special reason to do so.
Any charity working in the field of breast cancer can apply for a grant.
Applications from general cancer charities must demonstrate that the grants requested will be applied to benefit those affected by breast cancer. Where applications relate to general services, details must be given of how many (and what proportion) of the total number benefiting from the charity’s work are affected by breast cancer.
The closing date for applications is the 29th May 2020.
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation
The Foundation supports projects, institutions and activities in the following areas:
- Jewish Life and Learning – applications are invited from academic institutions specialising in Jewish subjects and from bodies promoting Jewish culture, including museums, libraries and literary publications.
- Performing Arts (excluding music) – financial support for charities with a record of artistic excellence that require additional funding, not available from public sources or commercial sponsorship, to broaden their repertoire or develop work of potentially outstanding interest which cannot be funded from the usual sources.
- Music – support in those areas of music performance and education which do not readily attract backing from commercial sponsors or other funding bodies, or which are not eligible for public funding.
- Medical Research Travel grants – grants of up to £1,000 are available for visits to laboratories for the acquisition of new skills, and for setting up inter-institutional collaborative research
Applications are invited from smaller charitable organisations only; the Trustees will not consider approaches from large charities who are well represented on the High Street or their local branch offices.
Previous projects supported include:
- £5,000 per year for 3 years to Little Angel Theatre as support for Little Angel Studios, a new building dedicated to education, community and outreach work.
- £3,250 to The Voices Foundation for 1-Year Foundation Programme in a cluster of five schools in Essex to ensure that every child irrespective of ability, means or background has access to high quality music education through singing and the use of equipment
- £6,000 a year for three years to Anne Frank Trust UK to fund educational work in three schools.
The Wingate Foundation has announced that the next deadline to apply is the 17th March 2020. Find out more here
Women Make Music Grants Programme
The programme supports the development of outstanding women songwriters and composers at different stages of their career. It aims to:
- Break down assumptions and stereotypes
- Raise awareness of the gender gap
- Increase the profile of women who are creating new music in the UK
- Encourage women who may otherwise not have applied for PRS for Music Foundation funding.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support touring, recording, promotion and marketing, community projects involving high-quality music creators, music creator residencies and live performances featuring new UK music.
Please note that the PRS for Music Foundation no longer support organisations through Women Make Music.
Women trans and non-binary songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds have until the 12th February 2020 to apply for the next round of the Women Make Music programme.
PRS Music Foundation Composers’ Fund Due to Open for Applications
The Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music Foundation, the UK’s leading funder of new music across all genres, has announced that a new funding round to its Composers’ Fund is due to open for applications soon.
The Composers’ Fund recognises the need for composers to have direct access to funding at pivotal stages in their career. It invites composers to make the case for support of any activity that would enable them to make a significant step change in their career.
Grants can be for up to £10,000 and it is anticipated that the Foundations will make 10 – 15 awards a year. The fund is open to composers with a strong track record in their field who are at a point in their career where access to funding could help move forward their career. To be eligible for support, composers must be based in the UK and must be members of PRS for Music or in a position to join. To be eligible for support, composers must be based in the UK and must be members of PRS for Music or in a position to join.
Read the Guidance and FAQs before applying.
The next deadline for applications is 6pm on the 20th April 2020.
Grants for Musicians and Bands
Artists or bands are able to apply for a grant of £5,000-£15,000 to significantly develop their careers over the next two years. Applications can be submitted by the artists themselves or those who are working on their behalf, for example, a manager, an independent label or publisher. Priority will be given to those that have not been funded by PRS for Music Foundation in the previous 12 months.
The PRS Momentum Music Fund is open to Artists/Bands that are at a crucial tipping point in their careers, showing current progression and growth as an artist with the potential to significantly develop their careers over the next two years.
Grants of £5,000 -£15,000 are available with the average in the region of £10,000.
Grants can cover:
- Recording – i.e. a new album, EP, single, producer, engineer, mixer fees, studio hire, session musician fees, etc.
- Touring (in the UK only) – i.e. travel, accommodation, musician fees, set/production design, tour management, equipment hire, etc.
- Marketing and promotions – i.e. PR, radio plugger, digital marketing, music videos, merchandise production, etc.
Priority will be given to contributing to expenditure which helps the artist to develop professionally and creatively.
Applications can be made by UK based artists/bands directly or representatives of the artist who may be a Manager; Label; Publisher; Booking agent; PR/Plugger; Lawyer or Trusted advisor to the artist.
The next deadline to apply to the Momentum Fund is 6pm on the 10th February 2020.
Funding for Community Gardens
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to community groups in England and Wales to create a garden or similar project (such as an allotment) with a horticultural focus for the benefit of their local community.
These projects should aim to bring a community together by being a space people can share, by the acquisition and sharing of gardening knowledge and skills and by inspiring a love of gardening.
Funding could cover, for example site preparation (including hire of small mechanical tools such as rotavators), hand tools, plants, trees, shrubs, containers and seating.
The funding is being made available through the National Garden Scheme Community Gardens Award.
Previous projects supported include:
- Echo – Leominster – Horticulture for those with physical, sensory or mental health needs. (Grant awarded – £2,667)
- Ashley Vale Action Group – Bristol – To create a community garden. (Grant awarded – £2,785)
- Kyra Women’s Project – York – to create a sensory garden for Women experiencing loneliness or in crisis. (Grant awarded -£800)
- St Ann’s Allotments – Nottingham -To renovate dilapidated allotments. (Grant awarded -£2,000)
Applications for funding are considered in February each year and the closing date for applications is 31 December of the preceding year.
Armed Forces Day Funding
Grants of up to £5,000 are available for events that are organised within two weeks of the Armed Forces Day on Saturday 27th June 2020 (20th June 2020 – 5th July 2020). To be eligible events must have “Armed Forces” in the title, be relevant to today’s serving armed forces, have free access to members of the armed forces family, and must not be centered around fundraising or recruitment.
Events can include for example:
- Picnic in the park
- Themed BBQ
- Knees up in your living room
- Street party
- Fête
Grants can be used to pay for road closures, decorations, flags and banners, newspaper and radio advertisements, marshalling, security and first aid arrangements, insurance, PA and communications systems. The funding is being provided by the Ministry of Defence and offers a grant for Armed Forces Day events up to the value of £10,000, depending on the size and format of the event.
This grant is match-funded and can cover up to half the total cost of the event.
For details on how to apply, events must first be registered on the Armed Forces Day website. The closing date for applications is the 27th March 2020.
Science and Chemistry Equipment Grants for Schools
Teachers at primary or secondary schools can apply for a grant of up to £1,000 towards the purchase of equipment to support the delivery of Primary Science or Chemistry lessons. Bids are invited for the purchase of items of equipment that cannot be purchased through a school’s mainstream teaching budget and which would enrich the learning experience of students.
The Royal Society of Chemistry aims to support schools in presenting Chemistry lessons that enrich the learning experience of students in either primary (science) or secondary (chemistry) studies. The Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector (BMCS) of the Society awards Enhanced Equipment grants towards the purchase of equipment that supports delivery of the practical aspect of chemistry education. Applications will be enhanced by a demonstration of the diversity of application of the equipment within and between student cohorts.
A teacher at a primary or secondary school should make the application.
The funding is being made available through the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Enhanced Equipment grant scheme and applications to the scheme can be made at any time.
Idlewild Trust Announces Next Application Deadline
The Idlewild Trust supports charities that improve opportunities for young professionals working in the arts, particularly at an early stage in their careers; and supporting the conservation of important works of art and objects that are being lost through the lack of funds to look after these works.
The Trust awards around £120,000 each year in grants and makes grants of up to £5,000.
The Idlewild Trust has announced that the next closing date for applications to its grant-making programme is the 13th February 2020.
Grants of up to £1,000 Available for Projects that Improve the Wellbeing of Children
Grants of up to £1,000 are available to registered charities and non-profit organisations who work to improve the education and physical and emotional wellbeing of children.
Applicants applying for funding may focus on one or more of these areas:
- Living in Poverty
- Physical & Mental Health Problems
- Health & Wellbeing
- Living with Disability
Examples of grants awarded in the past include:
- £500 Clydesdale Hockey Club – for coaching and equipment costs for primary school hockey competitions in Greater Glasgow
- £1,000 Shadwell Community Project – to develop its outdoor play space which is used by children and young people from deprived areas in the local community
The next closing date for applications is 5pm on the 28th April 2020.
Funding to Projects that Promote Social Justice, Nonviolence and Environmental Sustainability
Grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year are available to registered charities in the UK for projects that contribute to the development of a just society based on a commitment to non-violence and environmental sustainability. Grants can be for up to three years.
The Foundation’s priority is to address systemic threats by seeking to change policy and attitudes at a national or European level. The Foundation also supports organisations or projects that are not UK registered charities if they can indicate a UK registered charity that is able to receive funds on their behalf. Priority will be given to small, pioneering organisations with an income of between 10,000 and £500,000.
Previous projects supported include:
- Conflicts Forum which received a grant of £24,000 over three years to promote understanding between the Western and Muslim worlds by challenging attitudes, values and ideologies that promote conflict.
- Airport Watch which received a grant of £15,000 over two years to educate UK policy-makers about the dangerously unsustainable growth and levels of air freight to the environment and communities, and the influences and interests that lie behind them.
The next closing date for applications to the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation is midnight on the 28th February 2020.
Grants for Churches for the Conservation of Decorative Features and Monuments
The Fund accepts applications from churches, chapels and other places of worship built before 1896 for grants of between £500 and £3,000 to carry out small programmes of conservation work to decorative features and monuments. All work funded must be directed by a professional architect or established conservator and completed according to the principles of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).
Eligible work could include (but is not limited to):
- Stained glass windows
- Sculpture
- Furniture
- Internal monuments
- Tombs
- Wall paintings.
Previous awards have been made to:
- St Mary’s Church, Cerne Abbas for the conservation of wall paintings (£1,000).
- Holy Trinity Church, St Austell to restore a monument to Joseph Sawle (£750).
- The Lye and Wollescote Chapels, Dudley for the repair of a weathervane (£1,600).
The next closing date for applications to the William and Jane Morris Fund is the 31st March 2020.
Grants of up to £1,000 Available for Community Projects
Community groups, schools, health bodies and charities in England, Wales and Scotland can apply for funding of up to £1,000 to support projects which benefit local communities. The types of projects funded can be very broad and will cover the direct costs needed to deliver the project.
This could include buying litter pickers and bags for a community clean-up days, plants, spades and forks to plant up a new community garden, the cost of a minibus for a day trip for a community group or the materials needed to paint a room at the local hospice.
Carriers for Causes funding is available to good causes within two miles of a One Stop Shop and is made available from the money raised from the 5p bag charge in One Stop stores.
Applications can be submitted at any time.