Published Thursday 24 October 2019 at 12:45
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
New £250 million culture investment fund launched
Innovative cultural projects, libraries, museums and creative industries will soon be able to apply for a share of a new £250 million Culture Investment Fund. The aim of the fund is to drive local economic growth, support young people, and reinforce culture’s role at the heart of communities.
Of this new funding over £125m will be invested in regional museums and libraries around the country. More than £90m will be provided to extend the Cultural Development Fund which uses investment in heritage, culture and creativity to drive regeneration and growth.
A further £18.5 million has been allocated to York’s National Railway Museum, and an extra £7 million for Coventry and the UK City of Culture programme.
In total, over the next 5 years, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will invest an additional £50 million each year in culture and the creative industries across England to revitalise existing assets and to support new cultural development.
Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England will play important roles in distributing the fund.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Cure Parkinson’s Trust grant
Commercial organisations, appropriately qualified scientists or clinicians based in an accredited university or hospital in any country worldwide can now apply for funding for laboratory or clinical research projects. Projects should have the potential to advance knowledge that might lead to a cure for Parkinson’s disease or that represent a substantial advance in treatment.
The Cure Parkinson’s Trust has a particular interest in projects that show the potential to delay, slow, stop reverse or prevent the progression of Parkinson’s disease. There are no specific limits to the amount of funding available but previous awards have been between £50,000 and £250,000 with a duration of 1-3 years.
Applications are considered four times a year, the next deadline for applications is the 12th December 2019.
EdTech demonstrator schools and colleges programme
The Department for Education has announced the launch of the EdTech Demonstrator schools and colleges programme. The programme aims to identify Demonstrator schools and colleges who are using technology effectively, and who are keen to share their experience and support other providers.
This may include:
- offering support and guidance on the effective use of technology to help reduce teacher workload,
- help create efficiencies,
- improve accessibility and inclusion,
- support excellent teaching and learning.
Applications for between £75,000 and £150,000 of grant funding are welcome from state funded primary and secondary schools and colleges working with 16 to 19-year olds.
The level of funding made available to each Demonstrator will vary depending on the intensity of proposed activity and number of schools/colleges each provider will support.
Question and answer webinars will be held on the 6th and 7th November 2019. The closing date for applications is the 22nd November 2019.
Funding opportunities under £25,000
Funding for research and projects that address severe learning disabilities
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund is a registered charity which was established to provide both research and project funding in the area of severe learning difficulties, including autism for both children and adults.
Grants are made to cover capital projects and core costs to include staff costs, general running and office costs at charitable organisations, schools and centres.
Projects funded include:
- Capital works for residential, nursing and respite care, and schools
- Employment schemes including woodwork, crafts, printing and horticulture
- Play schemes and play therapy schemes
- Day and social activities centres including building costs and running costs
- Support for families, including respite schemes
- Independent living schemes
- Support in the community schemes
- Snoezelen rooms.
Applications will only be considered from voluntary organisations which are registered charities or are associated with a registered charity. Schools and Parent Teacher Associations and Industrial & Provident Societies can also apply. Funding in the past has ranged in value from £250 to £150,000.
The next deadline for applications seeking funding in excess of £10,000 is the 1st January 2020.
Applications for £10,000 and below are considered under the Small Grants procedure and can be submitted at any time.
Recent awards have been made to:
- Rose Road Association, £30,000 towards capital costs and funding of short breaks.
- Stepping Stones Play and Learn Group, £25,000 towards core costs of Play Group.
- Willow Tree Garden, £30,000 towards refurbishment and development of buildings connected with the woodworking workshops.
Funding to promote public engagement and teaching of Micro – biology
The Microbiology Society has announced that grants of up to £1000 are available for a variety of educational outreach activities to promote public engagement with microbiology. Funding is available to support relevant science teaching or promotion initiatives, or to support developments likely to lead to an improvement in the teaching of any aspect of microbiology.
Full, Full Concessionary or Postgraduate Student Members of the Microbiology Society who reside in the UK or Republic of Ireland can apply under the Microbiology Society Education and Outreach Grants Programme.
Funding is available for talks, workshops, demonstrations, posters, leaflets, broadcasts, activities at science festivals and audio-visual or computer-based packages. Applications relevant to the teaching of any aspect of microbiology in primary, secondary or tertiary (including postgraduate) education will be considered.
There are two funding rounds each year, the next closing date for applications is the 15th April 2020.
Funding for STEM enrichment and enhancement activities in schools
The Royal Institution is offering UK state schools grants to host STEM Enrichment and Enhancement activity for their teachers and students. Funded by the Clothworkers’ Foundation, the scheme is designed to help integrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities into school practice and to support teachers’ professional development. Activities enrich or go beyond the curriculum and often use resources that are not readily available to schools. Activities can range from shows and talks to workshops and team-based challenges.
Successful applicants will receive £500 towards any STEM-related activity listed on the STEM Directory https://www.stem.org.uk/enrichment/stem-directory as long as the activity takes place between January and July 2019.
In order to apply for a grant, applicants need to:
- Be from a state-funded primary or secondary school/academy, sixth-form or FE college in the UK
- Be a member of the school staff who is involved in teaching a STEM subject in the school
The closing date for applications is at midnight on the 4th November 2019.
If you have any questions about the grant scheme or application process, please contact:
Suzanne Harvey
Schools Programme Manager
020 7670 2904 / sharvey@ri.ac.uk
Equipment grants for disabled and disadvantaged young people
Schools and not for profit organisations have the opportunity to apply for funding through the Wooden Spoon Society’s Capital Grants programme. Wooden Spoon is the British and Irish Rugby charity which supports projects help mentally, physically disadvantaged children. Each year the charity supports around 70 projects.
Through the programme funding is available for:
- Buildings and extensions
- Equipment & activity aids
- Sensory rooms and gardens
- Playgrounds and sports areas
- Soft playrooms.
Since being founded in 1983, Wooden Spoon has made grants of over £24 million to more than 500 projects in the British Isles.
If a project is educational or disability sports-focused, there must be a key rugby element to engage children and young people.
Projects funded in the past have included:
- Ashmount School in Leicestershire, which received a grant of £13,500 towards a sensory room.
- Enfield Heights Academy in London which received a grant of £23,000 to improve its play areas.
- The Colehill & Wimborne Youth & Community Centre which received a grant of £8,000 towards a wheelchair lift.
Applications can be made at any time.
For more information on how to apply, please click on the link below.
Funding for sensory equipment for schools that cater for pupils with special education needs
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 click here to email her.
Funding for young athletes
Talented able bodied and disabled British track and field athletes between 15 and 23 years old that are in financial need can now apply for funding from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund. The fund exclusively supports young and deserving applicants in the sport of Athletics.
Since the fund was introduced a total of £2million has been awarded in small but significant grants to several thousand young British Athletes. Each grant is designed to make a difference, helping the recipients make the difficult transition from junior to senior level through support for equipment, specialist coaching or travel and importantly help build the athletes’ confidence and self-esteem through recognition. No minimum or maximum funding amounts are specified.
The closing date for applications is the 30th November 2019.
Funding for community cohesion projects
The Allen Lane Foundation’s Social Cohesion Programme, provides funding to support local communities in breaking down barriers and reduce tensions between different groups of people, and help to build a more cohesive and inclusive community. The aim of the funding is to:
- Proactively work towards building better community cohesion and trust, and encouraging respect and understanding in the local area
- Proactively promote the inclusion of marginalised groups and individuals in the life of the local community
- Fund work which breaks down barriers and tensions in the local community thereby reducing feelings of division and “them and us”.
The Foundation is seeking applications from community-led grassroots groups and organisations which have a focus of work being at a very local/community level, which could be a housing estate or distinct community. The Foundation is particularly concerned about divisions in communities that occurred around the 2016 Referendum and subsequently.
Applications will be particularly encouraged from areas of high deprivation but not exclusively and the Foundation is keen to support communities in coming up with their own solutions to local issues of division. New initiatives, those that may have been tried before or are on-going, are considered as long as the work has lasting benefits for those people the projects are aimed at.
No minimum or maximum grant levels are published. In 2018, of the 153 grants awarded 112 were single grants with the remainder being for two or three years. The majority ranged from £750 to £15,000 with recipients including:
- Shelley Over 60’s Club – £4,000
- South Tyneside Prison Matters – £1,000
- Manchester Refuge Support network – £9,935
Applications may be submitted at any time.
Potential applicants need to check their eligibility. Once this has been confirmed they will be directed to the application form.
Asda foundation grants for local community projects
The Asda Foundation is committed to developing stronger, better connected, sustainable communities across the UK. The Significant Local Community Projects programme allows colleagues to nominate initiatives which will make a real long-term difference, benefiting the wider community and transforming communities to improve lives locally.
Awards are typically made to projects where:
- The charity or good cause has developed a relationship with the local store or home office at a grassroots level
- The work will tackle the underlying problems in the local community
- Community needs and aspirations are evident in the development of the project
- The project benefits the wider community not just a single user group
- There is a need for this facility locally
- It will make a real long-term difference and will transform the community, improving the lives of those who live there
Grants awarded have previously ranged from £2,600 – £32,000 (in 2017) although no minimum or maximum amounts are published.
Projects funded include:
- Citizens Advice, Boston – £8,093.91 to set up a community computer access point where people can use their online facilities as some cannot afford a computer or have no IT skills.
- Light Project Peterborough – £19,380 to fund minibus to help move people from the streets into community living
Any charity/good cause wishing to apply should first approach their local store or home office to see if their project is something that the Community Champion would be willing to support. Applications can be submitted at any time.
Applications for Nuffield research placements are now open
Students in the first year of a post-16 science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) course studying at a state-maintained school or college in the UK will be able to apply for a bursary to develop their research and quantitative skills. Nuffield Research Placements (previously Nuffield Science Bursaries) provide over 1,000 students each year with the opportunity to work alongside professional scientists (including quantitative social scientists), technologists, engineers and mathematicians.
Nuffield Research Placements take place in the summer holidays after Year 12 (England) or equivalent, placements are typically for between 4 and 6 weeks and can be in a university, research institute, company or voluntary organisation.
Most projects are based in an office, but some include working in a laboratory or fieldwork. The funding will cover the travel costs of all students and depending on the family’s circumstances some applicants may also be eligible to receive a bursary of £100 for each week of the placement.
To be eligible for a bursary, applicants will need to meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Living, or have lived in, local authority care.
- Come from a family with a combined household income of below £30,000 a year.
- Entitled to free school meals, either now or at any time in the last six years.
Placements take place across the UK and are administered at a regional level by a network of Nuffield Coordinators.
Grants to Help New, Innovative Visual Arts
The Elephant Trust has announced that the next deadline for applications is the 26th January 2020. The Trust offers grants to artists and for new, innovative visual arts projects. It aims to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when confronted by lack of funds.
The Trust supports projects that develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the fine arts. Priority is given to artists and small organisations and galleries making or producing new work or exhibitions.
The Trust normally awards grants of up to £2,000, but larger grants of up to £5,000 may be considered.
Masonic Charitable Foundation Programme 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 small grants programme is the 3rd January 2020. For large grants, the application closing date is the 4th November 2019.
Masonic Charitable Foundation – Early Years Opportunities Grants Programme
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 small grants programme is the 3rd January 2020. For large grants, the application closing date is the 4th November 2019.
New £10 Million fund Launched to improve Rugby League facilities
A new £10 million fund has been launched which is dedicated to improving the environments where Rugby League takes place; giving people more and better opportunities to engage with the game and to get active.
The RLWC2021 Capital Grants Programme will invest in facilities and equipment that create environments that are accessible, welcoming and build a legacy of the 2021 tournament in local communities and will aim to invest in projects that offer opportunities for people from all different backgrounds to be active, across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair Rugby League games.
Schools can apply but the facilities will need to be open to the wider community.
Two levels of funding are available:
- Small scale awards of up to £15,000 and;
- Large-scale awards in excess of £15,000.
The funding is being made through the CreatedBy RLWC2021 Capital Grants programme to promote Rugby League ahead of England hosting the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Applications can be submitted at any time up until 23rd October 2021 and decisions will be made approximately every 12 weeks.