Published Tuesday 14 January 2020 at 18:48
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 Available to Enhance the Cultural Impact of Arts Organisations
Arts, cultural and creative organisations in England can apply to a new £3.7 million Cultural Impact Development Fund to enhance their social impact and to become more resilient.
The aim of the fund is to:
- Enable risk-taking, ambitious organisations in the arts and cultural sector to take on small-scale repayable finance in order to achieve social outcomes;
- Increase the capability of arts and cultural organisations to articulate, achieve, monitor and evaluate their intended social impact.
Cultural Impact Development Fund offers unsecured loans (and revenue participation agreements, where appropriate) between £25,000 and £150,000 with repayment term of one to five years and interest rates ranging between 5.5% and 8.5%.
Cultural Impact Development Fund will pioneer the use of financial incentives to drive the achievement of social impact targets in its investment portfolio, making it one of the few impact investment funds with a clear trade-off of financial return for the attainment of social outcomes. The financial incentive takes the form of a reduction to the headline interest on a given loan in cases where the total loan term is 36 months or more.
For fund-specific enquiries, please contact Trishna Nath.
The Cultural Impact Development Fund is managed by Nesta and funded by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, with finance being provided by its partners Big Lottery Fund and Big Society Capital.
Applications to the fund can be made at any time.
Funding for Projects That Contribute to the Ongoing Transformation of the Northern Ireland Conflict
Registered, excepted or exempt charities based within any of the four jurisdictions of the UK can apply for programme or project funding or for unrestricted or core support for work which will contribute to the ongoing transformation of the Northern Ireland conflict.
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) aims to fund work delivered by organisations, individuals and charities and grants range from a few hundred pounds to £100,000+ and may be single payments or spread over up to three years.
JRCT is interested in funding work which:
- Addresses the root causes of violence and injustice, rather than alleviating symptoms
- Cannot be funded from other sources
- Is likely to make a long-term, strategic difference.
Funded projects will address the following priority areas:
- Strengthening human rights and equality
- Supporting inclusive, non-sectarian and participatory politics
- Supporting processes of demilitarisation
- Dealing with the past i.e. work that promotes a shared understanding of the root causes of past violence, or which encourages government to implement initiatives to address the legacy of violence at a societal level.
The Trust is particularly interested in receiving applications related to women’s participation in all of these areas.
In addition to applications from Northern Ireland, it is open to receiving applications from Britain and the Republic of Ireland for work related to the above areas, and for work with an all-Ireland focus. Registered, excepted or exempt charities based within any of the four jurisdictions of the UK can apply for programme or project funding or for unrestricted or core support. Further details on eligibility can be found here.
Local work will be supported only where it is likely to have a wider impact, for example if it is testing a model which can then be replicated or is addressing a local issue that has wider social or political implications.
The next deadline for applications is 12 noon on the 23rd March 2020.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Funding for Projects that Improve People’s Lives
The Henry Smith Charity provides grants of between £20,000 and £60,000 per year for up to three years to charitable organisations (charities and not-for-profit organisations, including social enterprises) that help people when other sources of support have failed, are inappropriate, or are simply not available.
The charity has six funding priorities that describe the work they support and how they want to bring about change for the most disadvantaged people in the greatest need. These are:
Help at a critical moment – Helping people to rebuild their lives following a crisis, critical moment, trauma or abuse.
Positive choices – Helping people, whose actions or behaviours have led to negative consequences for themselves and others, to make positive choices.
Accommodation / housing support – Enabling people to work towards or maintain accommodation.
Employment and training – Supporting people to move towards or gain employment.
Financial inclusion, rights and entitlements – Supporting people to overcome their financial problems and ensure that they are able to claim their rights and entitlements.
Support networks and family – Working with people to develop improved support networks and family relationships
Grants can cover running costs, salaries and project costs for organisations that can demonstrate a track record of success and evidence the effectiveness of their work. Eligible organisations include charities and not-for-profit organisations (including social enterprises) in the UK with a turnover of £50,000 – £2 million (in exceptional circumstances up to £5 million).
Applications can be submitted at any time and decisions are usually made within 6 months.
Funding to Support Youth Organisations
Not for profit youth organisations that support young people (aged 14 – 25) facing disadvantage can apply for grants of between £30,000 and £60,000 through the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Youth Fund.
The Youth Fund supports organisations whose main purpose is about helping young people in the most precarious positions, where making the transition to adult independence is most challenging.
The funding is available for up to two years and will support the core operating costs of the applicant organisation. Organisations may be planning to:
- Replicating a programme or service
- Widening the reach of an idea or innovation
- Spreading a technology or skill
- Advancing policy or enhancing its implementation
- Influencing attitudes
Previous projects supported through the Youth Fund include:
The British Youth Council (BYC) which received a grant of £60,000 over 24 months. BYC is the national youth council for the UK. Each year it supports up to 2,000 young people to participate in local youth councils or national networks, such as the UK Youth Parliament and Make Your Mark referendum campaign. The funding was used to develop its income generation capability and enable BYC to offer participation training to frontline staff.
The London Youth Support Trust (LYST) received a grant of £60,000 over 24 months. LYST is a youth enterprise charity that aims to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to start their own businesses. Through this grant LYST plans to expand its business incubation and support programme nationally, opening two enterprise centres out of London, in locations where youth unemployment is an issue. Funding would enable the team to focus on fundraising, build relationships with potential partners, and research and formalise an appropriate structure moving forward.
Applications can be submitted at any time.
Funding to Support Education in Disadvantaged Areas
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 10th April 2020.
Funding for Special Schools and Colleges
Special needs schools and colleges can apply for grants of between £15,000 and £75,000 through the Wolfson Foundation’s Funding for Special Schools and Colleges grants programme. The funding is available for projects that are focused towards helping pupils to develop skills which would help them to gain employment or live independently after leaving school or college.
The funding covers capital costs such a buildings and equipment.
The applicant organisation should meet all of the following criteria:
- be a registered charity, local authority
- be registered with the relevant regulatory authority, where applicable, and have at least a good rating
The project should be for a new building, refurbishment work or equipment and aim to produce one or more of the following outcomes:
- Increased access to services for new and existing users
- Improved quality and range of services
- Improved financial stability of the organisation
Previous projects supported include:
- a grant of £16,000 to the Lindsworth School in Birmingham for the refurbishment of an on-site house for Independent Living Skills programme;
- a grant of £25,000 to BeyondAutism for the Redevelopment of Rainbow School’s Earlsfield Campus, South London; and
- Victoria School and Specialist Arts College in Birmingham which received a grant of £35,000 towards a Food Technology Room.
Projects requesting £50,000 or more need to have matched funding in place.
There is a 2-stage application process and the next stage 1 closing date is the 1st July 2020. Applications successful at this stage will have until the 1st September 2020 to complete the stage 2 application.
New Connecting Classrooms Through Global Learning Programme Launched
The British Council in partnership with the Department for International Development is inviting state funded schools to apply to the Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning Programme to enable UK schools to work with partner schools overseas; focusing on global themes. The programme provides grants to clusters of schools or one-to-one school partnership.
Fee paying schools can opt to join a cluster group with state-funded schools and still benefit from many elements of the programme. However, any fee-paying schools that want to organise a visit overseas would need to self-fund their trip.
Clusters of Schools can apply for grants of up to £35,000 to support a wide range of global learning activities, including training for teachers and supply cover, reciprocal visits to international partners schools, and hosting community events.
One-to-one school partnerships can apply for grants of up to £3,000 to cover the cost of one teacher to travel to a partner school. The grant is used to cover the cost of one teacher travelling to the UK from overseas and one teacher travelling from the UK to the other country.
To apply for funding, schools must have a partner school outside the UK from the British Council’s list of participating countries.
Cluster applications will also be favoured over one-to-one partnership applications in the first instance.
The next closing date for applications is the 27th January 2020.
Music Export Growth Scheme is Open for Applications
The Music Export Growth Scheme, which supports small and medium-sized independent record labels and music management companies to introduce UK music overseas has re-opened for applications
Grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 are available to assist with marketing campaigns. To be eligible to apply, applicants must have annual turnover of €50m or less and no more than 249 employees.
Applications must include detailed campaign proposals showing how the grant would be invested in effective marketing and other promotional activity oversees.
The closing date for applications is the 3rd February 2020.
The Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund
The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation has announced that the next round of the Collections Fund is now open for applications. Run by the Museums Association (MA) and supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the fund awards grants to projects that bring Museum collections closer to people.
Grants of up to £90,000 over two years are available to Museums for ideas that make a strong link between the collection, the people the organisation wants to work with and the activities and context of the organisation.
The fund has awarded £9.1m to 113 projects since it launched in 2011. Recent projects include Multaka-Oxford at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the History of Science Museum in Oxford, which creates volunteering opportunities for forced migrants to work with collections.
The closing date for applications in the current round is the 23rd March 2020.
Funding to Use Digital Technology for Vocational Training
The UFI Charitable Trust (Ufi), which aims to help improve vocational skills in the UK’s workforce, has announced that it will launch a new call for proposals through its VocTech Seed fund on the 21st January 2020.
VocTech Seed offers grants of up to £50,000 for projects lasting up to 12 months. UFI will be looking for innovative ideas that use digital technology for vocational learning. As the name suggests, VocTech Seed is intended to support innovative and creative projects at a relatively early stage of development. It aims to enable new ideas to reach a point where they can demonstrate their potential to customers or funders and reach the market.
Ufi is also particularly keen to support projects which will have long term impact on employers, communities of learners or sectors which cannot easily access current provision because of industry or market conditions, past learning history or other factors.
As part of the launch, the UFI Charitable Trust will be hosting a number of workshops and webinars for potential applicants.
The closing date for applications will be the 13th February 2020.
Funding opportunities under £25,000
Grants to Enable Disabled People to Play Tennis
Individuals can apply for grants of up to £500 for support for sports wheelchairs, tennis rackets, coaching lessons with a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) licensed coach or course fees for official LTA development/coaching courses.
Groups can apply for: Wheelchairs; Court hire; Coaching fees; and equipment packages which will include:
- Rackets
- Balls
- Mini net
- Coaching aids such as cones and throw down marker lines.
In the case of wheelchairs, a deposit will be required; for individuals, the amount of deposit required will depend on the wheelchair type requested, clubs will need to raise a deposit of between £200 and £250; depending on the type of wheelchair.
The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust has announced that the next closing date for applications the 25th March 2020.
Royal College of Pathologists Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme
The Royal College of Pathologists has announced that applications are now being accepted for the Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme.
Under this scheme grants of up to £1,000 are available for individuals or organisations who wish to run a project that engages audiences such as secondary school students, undergraduates, health professionals or local communities with pathology. All proposals must include the involvement of pathologists and/or laboratory scientists as a key part of the activity and applicants are advised to contact the public engagement team prior to submitting an application. All projects funded through the scheme must be completed by the 30th June 2020.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the public engagement team prior to submitting an application. The team will be able to offer practical support in terms of help, advice and resources and will be happy to discuss potential project ideas. They will also be able to put applicants in touch with pathologists who may be willing to be involved in a project. The team can be contacted via email on publicengagement@rcpath.org or by phone on 020 7451 6717.
The closing date for applications is the 1st June 2020.
Grants of up to £5,000 for Palliative Care in Africa
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support the development of palliative care across Africa and in particular to items which directly improve the patient experience and the standard of palliative care services. The funding is being made available through the True Colour Trust Small Grants programme for Africa and priority is given to equipment for patients
- Palliative care for children and young people
- Palliative care medicines
- Capital improvement costs
- Increasing access to palliative care in rural areas
- Training courses for palliative care service providers held in Africa
All funding decisions are made by the Trustees of the True Colours Trust, who meet twice a year to review applications. Applications and approved grants are administered by the African Palliative Care Association. Funding is primarily for one-off projects, although the Trustees are willing to consider funding for core costs.
Application forms are downloadable from APCA’s website and completed applications should be sent directly to APCA at truecolourssmallgrants@africanpalliativecare.org
Funding of up to £10,000 Available for Business Start Ups
From the 13th January 2020 funding and support will be available to business start-ups who want to create a product or business using location or property data. Grants of up to £10,000 will be available alongside a range of support which includes access to mentors, workspace, product development support, marketing and PR support, professional and personal development and access to a range of open and proprietary datasets.
The Geovation Accelerator programme is a partnership between the Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry which aims to help launch and grow innovative solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges that harness the power of data and technology.
Further details will be available when the programme opens for applications.
Funding for Projects that Support Vulnerable Migrants
Not for profit organisations that promote positive interaction between different groups in order to counter xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia can apply for funding through the Barrow Cadbury Trust’s Migration Programme.
Through its Migration Programme the Trust want to fund grassroots groups working with refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants and other marginalised migrants. The Trust seek to enable grassroots groups to support the most vulnerable migrants as well as empower migrants and ensure they are not excluded from the public debate on migration. Organisations may apply for this programme from anywhere in the UK but most awards will be made in the West Midlands.
The Trust is particularly interested in:
- Work promoting positive interaction between different groups in order to counter xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia. This could include the identification of spokespeople, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to challenge extremism and promote a liberal, inclusive sense of national identity. It could also include highlighting promising practice and practical examples of where integration has worked within communities.
- Supporting migrant organisations, campaigners and others to influence national policy and promote the fair and dignified treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, particularly undocumented migrants.
- Ensuring a broad range of voices is heard in the debate about migration and integration, including those affected by injustice.
- Supporting work to deepen understanding of public attitudes and concerns about immigration and integration and develop appropriate responses.
- Funding research and policy work on discrete areas of public policy with a view to developing fair and workable solutions to policy challenges.
No minimum or maximum grant amount is specified.
Previous projects supported include:
- The Bosnia & Herzegovina UK Network (BHN) to expand their work with young refugees, many of whom are experiencing conflicts with family members as they grow up in a culture different to the one of their parents.
- Refugee Youth to build networks and dialogue with young refugees and organisations working with young refugees in the West and East Midlands, many of whom have been funded by the Trust.
Organisations interested in applying should initially complete an enquiry form.
Applications can be submitted at any time.
Funding for High Quality New Music Projects
PRS Foundation’s Open Fund for Organisations supports high quality new music projects led by promoters, talent development organisations, venues, festivals, curators and large performance groups (for example orchestras, choirs, jazz bands or folk groups with 12 or more performers).
Supported projects will involve the creation, performance and promotion of new music and enable Music Creators i.e. songwriters, composers, or solo artists, bands, producers and performers of all backgrounds, to develop creatively and professionally.
Grants of up to £10,000 are awarded to composers cover activities such as:
- Touring
- Recording
- Promotion and marketing
- Commissions of new music by UK-based creators*
- Exciting community projects involving high-quality music creators
- Music creator residencies
- Live programmes featuring new UK music
Successful proposals will fit all three of the following funding priorities:
- To support the creation, performance and promotion of outstanding new music in any genre
- To enable the UK’s most talented music creators to realise their potential
- To inspire audiences
Priority is given to not for profit groups.
The closing date for applications is the 12th February 2020.
The Open Fund for Music Creators
Songwriters, composers, and artists, bands, producers and performers who are writing their own music or commissioning other songwriters or composers can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to support the:
- Creation, performance and promotion of outstanding new music in any genre
- Enable the UK’s most talented music creators to realise their potential
- Reaching new audiences
The funding is being made available through the PRS Foundation’s Open Fund for Music Creators and can support activities such as:
- touring
- music creator residencies
- promotion and marketing
- commissions of new music by UK-based creators
- exciting community projects involving high-quality music creators
- recording
- live performances featuring new UK music.
The closing date for applications is the 12th February 2020.
Funding for Projects that Use the Arts and Media to Address the Concerns of Children
Not-for-profit organisations in the UK that are working with children and young people using the arts and creative media can apply for funding through the Ragdoll Foundation’s Open Grants Programme. The Foundation’s vision is to support projects where the concerns of childhood can be heard. A variety of art forms can be supported including dance, drama, ceramics, creative play, film, music, puppetry and storytelling. Supported projects will support equality of opportunity, can include families and take place in rural or urban settings and may be delivered, for example, in children’s and community centres, nurseries, schools and hospitals.
Organisations can apply for both one-off short-term projects and for projects lasting up to three years. Preference will be given to those projects which have a deep commitment to listening to children and allow the perceptions and feelings of children themselves to be better understood. The Foundation is mainly interested in applications that involve children during their early years, but appropriate projects for older children (up to 18 years) will also be considered.
Whilst the Foundation will fund work in and around London, they will prioritise projects taking place elsewhere in the UK.
Grants of up to £50,000 are available; though the majority of grants we make are likely to be in the region of £5,000 to £20,000.
Examples of grants awarded include:
- Dance in Devon, £20,550 over 2 years to deliver ‘All Aboard’, a new inclusive dance project for very young disabled and non-disabled children and their families.
- Discover Story Centre, Stratford, £30,988 over 2 years to expand the scope and scale its work with children 0-3 years old by creating 8 original story productions.
- The Paper Birds Theatre Company, £21,102 over 1 year to develop ‘In the Red’, a performing arts project for up to 60 young people, ages 11-18 to take place across SW England, in collaboration with 3 regional theatres.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Funding for Christian Projects Focusing on Improving Young Peoples Lives
Grants of up to £25,000 are now available to churches and Christian organisations to help them connect with children and young people and forge lasting links with families in their area. Support is available for projects that focus on improving the lives of young people (aged 0-18) and encouraging church growth as young people discover faith for themselves and begin to play an active part in church communities.
Examples of the types of items that can be funded include:
- Musical instruments for a junior choir;
- Soft play sessions for toddlers and;
- Transforming an under used room into a chill out zone for young people.
The funding has been made available by the Allchurches Trust under the Growing Lives programme. Applications are accepted at any time.
Some 21 projects received a share of £276,487 of funding in the first wave of Growing Lives grants to be awarded, and another 65 benefited from almost £650,000 funding in the second wave.
Funding to Help Disadvantaged Young People and Children
Charities in England and Wales can apply for Early Years Opportunities Grants through the Masonic Charitable Foundation. The Early Years Opportunities programme is open to charities that help disadvantaged children and young people (up to the age of 25 years) overcome the barriers they face to achieve the best possible start in life.
Grants can be offered to charities that provide:
- Mental and physical health support
- Learning and development, including language and communication skills, social and emotional etc.
- Parental support, including whole family approach
- Pastoral and advocacy support
The type of activities that could be funded include:
- Additional educational opportunities such as improving literacy and numeracy
- Individual interventions, i.e. parent education, home visiting or mentoring
- Encouraging healthy behaviours with regards to diet, activity and wellbeing
- Psychological interventions for domestic abuse and behavioural issues etc.
- Provision of vital adaptive technologies and equipment removing barriers
- Alternative methods or specialist therapies to help children and young people integrate into the mainstream education system.
The programme offers both small grants of up to £15,000 to charities with an annual income of up to £500,000 for projects lasting up to three years; and grants of between £10,000 and £150,000 to charities with an annual income of above £500,000 for projects lasting up to three years.
The next closing date for applications to the large grants programme is 5pm on the 17th February 2020. The small grants programme is currently closed and is due to re-open for applications on the 3rd February 2020 until the 17th April 2020.
Funding to Support Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Older People
Local and national charities in England and Wales can apply to the Later Life Inclusions grants programme run by the Masonic Charitable Foundation. The Later Life Inclusion grants programme is open to charities working to reduce loneliness and isolation of vulnerable and disadvantaged people over 50.
Grants can be offered to charities that provide:
- Mental and physical health support
- Gateway and access to service, e.g. transport and technology
- Community based approaches, i.e. volunteering, positive ageing and neighbourhood support
- Advocacy, social and welfare support
The type of activities that could be funded include:
- Support for emotional and psychological planning for later life
- Digital inclusion sessions to enable older people to access services
- Activities and clubs enabling older people to remain active and make friends
- Providing companionship and befriending schemes for periods of transition
- Advice and information on options for those with health conditions
- Carers and respite support
The programme offers both small grants of up to £15,000 to charities with an annual income of up to £500,000 for projects lasting up to three years; and grants of between £10,000 and £150,000 to charities with an annual income of above £500,000 for projects lasting up to three years.
The next closing date for applications to the large grants programme is the 17th February 2020. The small grants programme is currently closed and is due to re-open for applications on the 3rd February 2020 until the 17th April 2020.
Funding Support for Former Mining Communities
The Coalfields Community Investment Programme, which provides grants to community and voluntary groups to tackle key challenges that still affect the top 30% most deprived coalfield communities in England has re-opened for applications.
Grants totaling £125,000 are available in this funding round for projects that address the following themes:
- Skills – growing the skills of people in order to increase their opportunities;
- Employment – developing pathways to increase the number of people in work;
- Health – supporting projects that increase participation in activities/services that improve health and wellbeing.
The maximum grant per project will be £10,000. Funding can be for core and revenue costs.
Applicants are advised to consult the eligible wards list on the website before making an application.
Organisations eligible to apply include:
Registered Charities; Companies Limited by Guarantee; Community Benefit Societies; Community Interest Companies; Charitable Incorporated Organisations; and Unregistered groups with formal rules.
Projects previously supported include employability training, IT skills workshops, language classes, after-school sports clubs, refugee and asylum seeker support.
To apply, organisations need to complete an eligibility survey to determine whether the applicant organisation/group meets the criteria to apply for funding from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT). The closing date for completing the eligibility survey is 5pm on the 28th February 2020. The deadline for applications is 13th March 2020 at 5pm.
Funding Available to Schools to Raise the Attainment of Children from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Schools in the North of England can apply for funding to help raise the attainment for children from low income homes. The funding is available to try out new ideas to improve teaching and learning in schools and help the best ideas grow to scale.
The funding aims to address the following priorities:
Ready for School: improving the school readiness of children during the reception year, with a priority focus on language and communication skills (age 4-5)
Bridging the Gap: supporting vulnerable children who may not meet Age Related Expectations at primary school to make better academic progress during Key Stage 3 (age 9-14)
Flying High: supporting high attaining students to build on their achievements at primary school and stay on a high attaining trajectory during the first few years at secondary school (age 9-14)
The funding is being made available through the educational charity Shine and funding decisions are made four times a year typically in March, June, September and December.
Any grants to non-school organisations, including to other charities, will need to involve a strong element of co-delivery and/or training for schools, with the aim of the project becoming sustainable without SHINE over time.
On average, it takes 3-6 months between initial contact with the SHINE office to a grants decision being reached.
If you have an idea which you think may meet our funding criteria, please email info@shinetrust.org.uk with a basic outline detailing the following points, in no more than 3-4 paragraphs:
- An overview of the project and its aims, specifically related to academic attainment in maths, literacy or science;
- How it would meet SHINE’s core priorities;
- The number of beneficiaries and schools it would reach; and
- The overall project budget and size of request to SHINE.
The deadlines for applications are usually around the end of January, the end of April and the end of October each year.
Funding to Support Disadvantaged Young People and Offenders
Small registered charities can apply for grants of up to £15,000 for projects working with:
- Young offenders;
- Prisoners and ex-prisoners;
- Young disadvantaged people at risk of criminal involvement.
To be eligible for funding, local organisations such as those working in a village, estate or small town should normally have an income of less than £100,000. Those working across the UK or in larger areas should normally have an income of not more than £250,000. Grants are usually given for one year.
Applicants must show that they have investigated other sources of funding and made plans for the future, which should include replacement funding if appropriate.
For further advice and information about the Company’s Charitable Grants or to receive an application form by e-mail, please contact Anne Howe, Charities Officer Tel: 020 7606 1155 / e-mail: charity@weavers.org.uk
To apply for a grant, complete the application form online, then print the form and mail it to The Weavers’ Company together with your supporting documents.
The Weavers’ Company, a textile-related, charitable and sociable organisation, has announced that the next closing date for its grants programme is the 31st March 2020.
Grants of Up to £5,000 Available for Environmental Projects
Naturesave Limited, which is an ethical insurance company provides funding of between £500 and £5,000 to support environmental and conservationist projects. Funding is available for projects submitted by any organisation whether they be charities, voluntary organisations or businesses. The Trust is unable to fund individuals.
The Trust supports projects that cover the following areas
- Renewable Energy
- Nature Conservation
- Sustainable Communities
- Recycling and Repair
- Science and Education
- Community Energy ‘start-up’
Recently funded projects by the Trust include:
- Pilling St John’s Primary School which received funding towards the installation of a wind turbine at the school.
- Trees for Health which received funding from the Trust to set up green woodworking area to utilise local coppice wood in Devon.
The Naturesave Trust also funds a program of Environmental Performance Reviews which are designed to equip small to medium-sized businesses with the knowledge they require to operate more sustainably. These reviews are offered for free to Naturesave’s business insurance customers. More details can be found here.
There are no deadlines and applications can be submitted at any time.
Funding for Rural Business Start Ups
A share of £5000 of funding is available for UK citizens over the age of 18 who are starting a new business in a rural area. To be eligible individuals must be able to demonstrate how the business will support rural communities, the countryside or rural sustainability.
The Rural Start-up Fund has been made available by a partnership between Forest Holidays and The Prince’s Countryside Fund and the available funding will be awarded to one winning business or shared between a number of rural start-ups. Successful applicants will also receive mentoring support from a relevant expert at Forest Holidays.
The closing date for applications is the 12 pm on the 6th March 2020.
London Mathematical Society – Small Grants for Education
Grants of up to £800 are available to stimulate interest and enable involvement in mathematics from Key Stage 1 (age 5+) to undergraduate level and beyond. The funding is being made available through the London Mathematical Society’s Small Grants for Education scheme and aims to enhance and enrich mathematical study beyond the curriculum; engage the public with mathematics; and encourage unusual ways of communicating mathematics.
The scheme is primarily intended for activities for which there is limited scope for alternative sources of funding. Applicants linked to universities should ideally be supported by a member of the Society and ordinarily the Scheme will not fund University outreach activity. However, anyone based in the UK is eligible to apply for a grant.
There are four application rounds each year and the next closing date for applications is the 31st January 2020.
National Churches Foundation Grant Reopens for Applications
Churches across the UK can apply for grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards the cost of urgent maintenance works and small repairs through the National Churches Trust Foundation Grant Programme.
The Foundation Grant Programme can award grants of up to £10,000 towards urgent maintenance works and small investigative works costing up to £10,000 and will cover no more than 50% of costs.
Applications are accepted from listed and unlisted Christian places of worship, of any denomination, but particularly from those in priority areas i.e. North East England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis starting in January 2020 until the 30th October 2020.
Funding to Encourage Young People to Study Science Subjects
In response to the much publicised skills gap in the British engineering industry, the Ironmongers’ Foundation wishes to support initiatives that encourage talented young people under the age of 25 to study science subjects at school and go on to pursue engineering-related further education or vocational training.
The funding is available to registered or exempt charities within the UK, with a preference for urban areas outside London and particularly areas in the north and midlands with a manufacturing presence.
Activities must be additional to those funded by government or other sources e.g. covered by school budgets. The Foundation prefers to support smaller projects where its contribution can make a real difference.
The next closing date for applications is the 1st April 2020.
Grants of up to £5,000 Available for Social Welfare Projects
The Inman Charity makes grants of around £325,000 per year. They support a wide range of UK Registered Charities.
The directors are particularly interested in supporting the following areas of charitable work:-
- Medical research
- Care of the elderly
- General welfare
- Hospices
- The Deaf and Blind
- Care of the physically & mentally disabled
- The Armed Forces
Applications must be received by the end of February or the end of August to be sure of consideration at the Spring or Autumn Meetings.