Published Wednesday 18 September 2019 at 10:37
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
£3 Million Grant Announced to Help UK Nationals in the EU to Apply for Residency (UK)
The Government is providing up to £3 million in grant funding for charities and other voluntary organisations who will inform UK nationals living in the EU about the need to register or apply for residency and support them as they complete their applications.
The focus of the funding will be on pensioners or disabled people, those living in remote areas or with mobility difficulties, and those needing assistance with language translation or interpretation. Organisations working with people who might be affected and who might require additional support can apply for project funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from the 19th September 2019.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office will be holding teleconferences to provide bidders with a fuller understanding of the fund and an opportunity to ask questions on the bidding process
Organisations are also invited to complete an online questionnaire to provide feedback on the UK National Support Fund strategy before the open competition is launched. A link to this questionnaire, as well as further information, is available on the Contracts Finder page for the UK National Support Fund.
Teacher Development Fund Opens for Applications (UK)
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has announced that the Teacher Development Fund (TDF) has re-opened for applications. Through the TDF, primary schools working in partnership with other primary schools as well as arts / cultural organisations can apply for grants of up to £150,000 to develop the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to support the delivery of effective arts-based teaching and learning opportunities in the classroom, and to embed learning through the arts in the curriculum.
Applications should focus on:
- Primary schools
- Supporting children and young people experiencing disadvantage
- Approaches which involve learning through the arts
- Long-term, inquiry-based projects which support teachers’ professional development and learning
- Promoting effective and equitable partnerships between schools and arts/cultural organisations and artist practitioners
- The contributions of school leaders and artist practitioners as both professional learners and as supporters of embedding learning through the arts in the curriculum
- Approaches which involve any of the following art forms: crafts; creative writing, including poetry; dance; design; film; music; opera; photography; digital arts and media; theatre and drama; the visual arts; and cross-arts practices.
The Foundation expect to make around six grants to partnerships of arts/cultural organisations and up to ten schools, who will work together for two academic years.
Previous projects supported include:
Charles Dickens Primary School, London, which received a grant of £149,430 for its “All the School’s a Stage” project. This involved Southwark Teaching School Alliance and Shakespeare’s Globe collaborating to train teachers and leaders in eight Southwark primary schools to incorporate drama techniques into their classroom practice. The project will see Year 1 and Year 3 teachers from each school take part in professional development led by Globe practitioners. Actors will work alongside teachers in their classrooms, using dramatic storytelling techniques to support the children’s development in speaking, reading and writing. The second year of the project will see the same teachers embed their learning into their school’s curriculum, leading their own professional development sessions for staff and creating a unit of work to incorporate the new approaches.
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on the 29th November 2019.
Funding to Support Education in Disadvantaged Areas (UK / International)
Grants are available to support schools and registered charities that wish to undertake educational work with children and young people in disadvantaged areas. The British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) normally makes grants for educational projects totaling about £600,000 in any one year. The majority (85% of grants) are made to charities and educational bodies (with charitable status). Schools, Colleges and Universities wishing to apply need to have either charitable status or “exempt charity” status.
The Society currently has three priority areas for which it particularly welcomes applications:
Conflict or natural disaster: Projects designed to address the need for re-establishing and renewing education where the provision of education has suffered from conflict or natural disaster.
Girls education: Projects which focus on enhancing the opportunities and reducing barriers for girls to access education
Looked after children: Looked after children have significantly poorer educational outcomes than children not in care. BFSS welcomes projects which pilot approaches to improving the educational attainment of looked after children so that in time they are able to take advantage of opportunities afforded by tertiary education and employment.
Previous projects supported include:
- Teens and Toddlers, a charity based in Southwark London received a grant of £19,500 towards the cost of two 18-week youth development programmes to help raise the aspirations of at-risk young people.
- The Afghan Association Paiwand received a grant of £33,240 for a new Saturday school in the deprived area of Colindale, North London which focus on maths and English in partnership with local authorities and mainstream schools.
- The Sensory Trust received a grant of £3,000 for a project aimed at developing sensory nature tools for schools aimed at students with learning disabilities
The Society also offers a small number of grants for organisations and individuals through its Subsidiary Trusts. Eligibility criteria depend on area of residence and/or particular field of educational activity.
The next closing date for applications is the 31st December 2019.
New £16 Million Fund Launched to Train Thousands More Customs Experts (UK)
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.
Funding to Help Community Businesses Become Sustainable (England)
The Power to Change Trust has announced that Community Businesses in England can now apply for grants of between £50,000 and £300,000 to make their business more sustainable.
Grants are available towards:
- Capital costs including building, vehicles, equipment of significant value, refurbishment costs as well as
- Project-specific revenue costs like staff costs, professional fees, volunteer costs.
The funding is being made available through the Power to Change Trust’s Community Business Fund. Previous grants have been awarded to a wide range of businesses including: community libraries, bakeries, pubs, farms, hubs, transport, energy schemes, art centres and construction organisations.
Power to Change are interested in businesses which can evidence a clearly defined local geographical area of focus. In urban locations this could be a neighbourhood, ward or section of a city; in rural locations this could be a village or collection of villages
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on the 9th October 2019.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Funding to Support Vulnerable Young Migrants (UK)
Not for profit organisations and private law firms that work with young migrants can apply for grants through the Strategic Legal Fund (SLF) for Vulnerable Young Migrants.
The maximum grant available is £30,000, however, limited funding is available and therefore lower applications are encouraged. The average grant size is around £12,000. Grants are available to undertake strategic legal work to benefit children and young people (under the age of 25) who are significantly disadvantaged by migration status. The fund will accept applications in any area of law that affects:
- Vulnerable young migrants including immigration
- Asylum and asylum support
- Human rights
- Education; etc.
The SLF only funds two kinds of strategic legal action- pre-litigation research and “third party intervention” in an existing case. The maximum grant length is 12 months, and most grants are for around six months
The next closing date for applications is the 1st November 2019.
Grants of up to £30,000 Available to Support Disadvantaged Children (UK)
Not for profit organisations such as schools; registered charities; voluntary organisations; churches; and community interest groups; etc. can apply for grants of up to £10,000 per year for up to 3 years for projects that help children and young people overcome the effects of illness, distress, abuse or neglect; disability; behavioural or psychological difficulties; and poverty and deprivation.
Projects supported in the past include:
- Trewirgie Junior School which received a grant of £9,760 to provide after school sailing sessions to disadvantage children aged 7-11;
- Corley Special School in Coventry which received a grant of £6,000 to provide lunchtime horse riding sessions for children with disabilities; and
- Horton Park Primary School which received a grant of £10,000 to deliver a series of holiday activities for young people.
The closing date for applications is 11.59 pm on the 2nd December 2019.
Veolia Environmental Trust Grants (UK)
The next closing date for stage 1 applications to the Veolia Environmental Trust is the 28th November 2019.
Grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 are available to constituted not for profit organisations and registered Environmental Bodies towards:
- Community buildings
- Parks and paths, play, Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs) and recreational facilities
- Nature reserves
- Bio diversity projects.
To be eligible to apply, the applicant organisation needs to be within the vicinity of a qualifying Veolia site (please see post code checker below); the projects must have a total cost of under £250,000 (including VAT and professional costs); the applicant must have secured 20% of funding towards the project prior to submitting a full (stage 2) application.
Grants Available to Small Charities Working in the Developing World (UK)
The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) offered by UK Aid Direct is open to small UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations with an annual income of £250,000 or less.
Grants of up to £50,000 are available for projects for up to 2 years work that strengthen the capacity of grassroots development organisations working with vulnerable people in countries that are ranked in the bottom 50 of the UN Human Development Index (HDI) or if it is considered of high or moderate fragility by the UK’s DFID and work towards achieving the Global Goals.
Organisations that are part of a larger international family, are expected to demonstrate significant autonomy, be registered in the UK and have their own UK specific constitution with an independent board of trustees, i.e. the board must be locally appointed and be free and able to make independent decisions on strategic and operational issues.
All applicants will be expected to address the UK Aid Direct Programme Priorities which reflect those of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) i.e.
- Strengthening global peace, security and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to crisis
- Promoting global prosperity
- Tackling extreme poverty and helping the world’s most vulnerable
Grants of up to £50,000 for projects of up to 2 years are available.
The Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) will remain open and all applications will be reviewed on a 6-monthly basis. The closing date for the next review of proposals is 5pm on the 28th November 2019.
This is a one-stage process via the application form on the website.
Grants to Support Animal Welfare Charities (UK)
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 of up to £60,000 for Community Centres and Village Halls (UK)
The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation is offering Community Centres in deprived urban communities and Village Halls in remote and economically deprived rural areas the opportunity to apply for capital grants of between £7,500 and £60,000. Grants can be used to fund new buildings; upgrading, renovating or extending buildings; improving or creating outside space (but not car parks). All applicants must have secured 50% of the total cost of the work and have local community fundraising underway.
Grants will be made to projects centred on ‘community centres’ in the broad sense, this may include a church, sports facility or other building which offers a range of activities throughout the week which all the community can access.
It is expected that the completed venue will provide a range of activities for all ages and abilities which help to promote community cohesion and address local problems of isolation, poverty, lack of local facilities, transport and other issues of relevance to the area in which the centre is located.
The Foundation is particularly interested in innovative schemes to bring back disused buildings into full community use i.e. as community hubs, shops and activity venues. Traditional Village Halls are also supported.
Applications can be submitted at any time and should show that, in urban areas, the venue is in the most deprived 20% of the latest government Indices of Multiple Deprivation or, in rural areas, in the most deprived 50% of the Indices.
Previous projects supported include:
- £25,000 to Ingol and Tanterton Community Trust towards the cost of building an extension to the kitchen of a busy community café as part of a major expansion project at a community centre in Preston.
- £18,000 towards the cost of Ty Talcen Community & Visitor Centre as part of the regeneration of the rural community of Myddfai in Carmarthenshire.
- £16,193 to Islay & Jura Community Enterprises towards the cost of refurbishing a leisure centre which focusses on providing facilities for disadvantaged and deprived members of the two Hebridean islands.
Funding for Rural Community and Education Projects (UK)
The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, which supports charities in the UK working in agriculture, rural development and insurance has announced that the next closing date for applications is the 1st November 2019.
Trustees are particularly interested in funding 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.
Grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 are available. In 2016, the Trust made donations totaling £256,500 to a total of 15 organsiations.
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.
Funding opportunities under £25,000
Funding to Integrate the Armed Forces into their Local Community (UK)
Grants of up to £20,000 are available for projects that help integrate Armed Forces and civilian communities across the UK, and/or deliver valuable local services to the Armed Forces Community such as financial advice, housing, mental and physical health, employability or social support for serving armed forces personnel, veterans, and their families.
The funding is being made available through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Local Grants Programme and applicants are expected to have experience and a track record of working with the Armed Forces Community, as well as a good understanding of the issues facing them.
The application must be from either:
- A registered charity
- A local authority
- School;
- Community Interest Company
- Armed forces unit with a UIN.
Applicants will need to work with Local Covenant Partnerships (LCPs). These are formed of the public, charitable, voluntary and business sectors and representatives from the armed forces for each area of England, Scotland and Wales. Local authorities often have an ‘Armed Forces Champion’ or someone in a similar role who should be the applicant’s first point of contact.
The final closing date for applications is 2nd December 2019 although applicants are encouraged to apply earlier.
Childs Charitable Trust (UK)
The Childs Charitable Trust is a grant-making trust, supporting Christian UK registered and excepted charities and organisations both in the UK and overseas. During 2017 the Trust awarded grants to 81 different organisations all based in the UK but operating in more than 100 different countries worldwide.
Projects will be considered that fall into the following categories:
- Youth – the trust looks to support projects working in schools and with vulnerable and disengaged young people in the UK. Supported activities may include RE Lessons; School Assemblies; Lunchtime/After school clubs; Evangelism; Personal Development Programmes; Homelessness Prevention.
- Outreach – the trust works to share the gospel of Christ by supporting all aspects of Christian outreach both in the UK and overseas and can fund, for example, Church Plants; Overseas Mission; Training in Evangelism; Chaplaincy.
- Society – the trust believes people of faith bring a valuable contribution to social action and justice and support initiatives that have a positive impact in their society. Grants could support, for example: Counselling; night shelters; alcohol/drug rehabilitation; homelessness; or prison/ex-offenders work.
- Education – the trust supports initiatives involved in all areas of Christian education including Bible Translation; Media Initiatives; Bible Colleges; Literature; Apologetics.
Applicants must be registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator or the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland or be ‘excepted’ charities. Organisations with a turnover in excess of £5,000,000 should contact the office prior to submitting an application, to check eligibility.
No minimum or maximum funding amounts are specified, however in 2017, 16 grants of between £5,000 and £9,999, 18 grants of between £3,000 and £4,999 and 34 grants not exceeding £2,999 were made. Nine other grants ranging from £12,000 to £34,000 were also awarded.
The deadline for applications is the 30th November 2019.
Grants to Tackle Poverty in Africa (UK)
The Paul Hodges Trust has announced that grants of up to £10,000 are available to small charities working towards poverty reduction activities in Africa; especially projects that tackle extreme poverty; gender inequality; and the climate and environment emergency. The Trustees are looking to fund projects that do two things simultaneously:
- Break the cycle of poverty for women and girls
- Have a positive impact on the environment.
The funding will be available to charities working in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.
The closing date for applications is the 11th October 2019.
Funding of up to £5,000 Available to Tackle Problems within Families (UK)
Registered charities whose activities support and encourage the family to work as a cohesive unit in tackling problems that face one or more of its members can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 (but trustees will consider requests for higher amounts) through the Kelly Family Charitable Trust.
The Trust will consider both capital and revenue grants. The Trust is happy to support requests for core funding as well as project-based grants, and actively encourages applications from relatively new organisations to help them become established.
The three areas of activity that the charity wishes to support are:
- Interventions that support families and help them in ways that prevent the fracture of the family unit, e.g. practical family support, relationship counselling, mediation.
- Families where sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and drug abuse threaten the integrity of the family unit.
- Prisoners and in particular their families, during and after the period of imprisonment.
The trust prefers to support charities whose income is below £500,000. However, larger charities with pioneering pilot projects will be considered.
Projects supported in the past include:
- “Mosac”, a voluntary organisation that supports all non-abusing parents and carers whose children have been sexually abused.
- Westminster Befriend a Family, which recruits, trains and supports volunteers to befriend individual families under stress and visit them regularly in their homes. The charity’s volunteers can help families where a parent is disabled or has mental health problems, or a child has special needs.
The next closing date for applications is the 1st March 2020.
School Grants to Promote Physics (UK)
The Institute of Physics has announced that UK schools and colleges can apply for grants of up to £600 for small-scale projects or events linked to the teaching or promotion of physics and engineering to pupils aged 5 – 19. Grants can support a wide range of projects such as school-based science weeks, extracurricular activities, science clubs, careers event or a visit from a working physicist or engineer.
Grants may be used for the following purposes: materials/resources; transport; marketing and publicity; other purposes deemed appropriate by the judges; and supply cover (in certain circumstances).
The Institute of Physics is interested in proposals that look at:
- particle physics
- astronomy
- space and nuclear physics
- energy
- transport
- information and communications
- design and promotion
- built environment.
Previous projects to receive funding include:
- Ampleforth College for a visit to Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory.
- St John’s High School for a Practical Rocketry workshop to design a water-propelled rocket.
The closing date for applications is the 1st November 2019.
Find out more
Grants for Churches for the Conservation of Decorative Features and Monuments (UK)
The next closing date for applications to the William and Jane Morris Fund is the 31st March 2020.
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).
Idlewild Trust Announces Next Application Deadline (UK)
The Idlewild Trust has announced that the next closing date for applications to its grant-making programme is the 13th February 2020.
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 Classical Association Grants (UK)
The Classical Association (CA), which awards grants to support classical projects and conferences, has announced that the next closing date for applications is the 1st December 2019.
The Association will consider applications for summer schools and to institutions offering courses in Greek, Latin, classical civilisation; and bursaries for teachers attending courses abroad to support their professional development. The Association will also support school teaching and outreach work such as Greek and Latin reading competitions, regional Greek/Roman days and school conferences; etc. The Grants Committee meets four times a year.
Schools and other organisations that are applying for more than £2,000 must submit their application in time for either the March or September deadlines.
Funding for Sensory Equipment for Schools that Cater for Pupils with Special Education Needs (UK)
SEN Schools can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to enable them to purchase a range of sensory equipment to help enhance the pupils’ experience at school. To be eligible schools need to cater for young people under the age of 19 who have a physical/ sensory/ learning disability. Schools that cater for socially disadvantaged children or mainstream schools for children with behavioural problems are unable to apply.
The funding is being made available through the Lords Taverners, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity. Schools are is required to pay a self-help contribution of around 25% of the total cost of the package.
There are no application deadlines and applications can be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a quarterly basis.
For further details please contact Nicky Pemberton on 020 7025 0015 or email nicky.pemberton@lordstaverners.org
Funding for Projects that Combat Abuse and Violation of Human Rights (UK)
The Trust supports UK-registered charities that work towards combating abuse and violations of human rights and to support the disadvantaged by fostering community action. The Trust is particularly focused on charities supporting unpopular causes reaching the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. This can include:
- Prisoners and penal reform
- Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
- Human rights, particularly access to justice.
The Trust generally makes one-off grants to charities registered and working in the UK with annual incomes of between £150,000 and £1.5m that do not have substantial investments or surpluses. Grants range in size, with most grants awarded being in the range £10,000 to £20,000. ABCT does not normally fund charities with large national or international links.
The next closing date for applications is the 27th October 2019.
Grants for Small Organisations Making Good Use of Volunteers (UK)
The Woodward Charitable Trust primarily funds charitable organisations (charities, social enterprises and community interest companies) in the UK and can make grants for overseas projects usually via UK charities. Priority is given to projects that make good use of volunteers, encourage past and current users to participate, ensure that funds awarded are being well used and fall within the following areas:
- Children / young people who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in antisocial behaviour.
- Prisoners and ex-offenders and prisoners’ families.
- Disadvantaged women, covering refuges, domestic violence and parenting.
- Disability projects, including rehabilitation and training.
- Arts outreach work by local groups involving disadvantaged people.
- Projects that promote integration and community cohesion amongst minority groups, including refugees and travelers.
Three types of grant are awarded following bi-annual meetings in February and October:
- Small grants of £100 – £5,000
- Large grants over £5,000 – these are usually given to charities known by the Trustees
- Preference is given to small to medium-sized charities with an income of less than £300,000 where small grants can have more impact. Most grants made are for one-off projects although some grants fund salaries and running costs.
Previous grants awarded include:
- Futures Theatre Company, £1,000 for a touring production across schools in London to engage young people to challenge issues relating to peer pressure and coercion
- Training and Learning Company, £2,000 to establish a multi ethnic lunch club for disadvantaged BME people in Dorset
- Henry Dancer Days, £500 for a story telling project to distract children undergoing cancer treatment in Durham.
To apply for funding applicants will be required to complete an application form and submit it with a project budget.
The deadline for receipt of applications for the February meeting is noon on the 31st December 2019.
National Archives Scoping Grants (UK)
The National Archives has announced that the next deadline for it Scoping Grants is the 28th October 2019. The funding is available to museums and other public bodies, registered charities and not for profit organisations that hold collections.
A Scoping Grant prides funding of up to £3,000 to produce a report that incorporates expert advice on a range of areas relating to collections management and the development of an organisation’s collection.
The report will provide:
- an overview of the current status of the collection
- analysis of its overall condition, significance, existing and potential use, levels of access, and existing documentation
- a conclusion with recommendations about next steps and development goals for the service
Please note: the fund is currently heavily oversubscribed, and there is currently funding to award four Scoping Grants per application round.