Published Wednesday 24 July 2019 at 16:50
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 £100,00
Funding available to support armed forces families
A new £7.5 million funding programme has been launched to support Armed forces families. The focus of the programme is on supporting the families rather than serving personnel or veterans. The funding will be available for projects that focus on one of the following:
- Young people from armed forces families;
- Families and carers of veterans
- Serving families.
The funding is being made available through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Removing Barriers to Family Life programme.
There are two funding strands.
Medium Strand grants of between £30,000-£100,000 to support existing or new projects that meet a clear need for Armed Forces Families;
Large Strand grants of between £100,001- £300,000 with some exceptional projects potentially receiving up to £500,000. Projects will need to be able to show that they will have a transformative effect, and that the changes they achieve will be sustainable.
The large strand grants programme is now closed to applications. The closing date for medium strand grants is the 12th September 2019.
Funding available to support arts based teaching in primary schools
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has announced that it will re-open its Teacher Development Fund (TDF) in September 2019. 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 five 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.
Funding call: knowledge frontiers – international interdisciplinary research
The British Academy is inviting proposals from UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to develop international interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with colleagues from the natural, engineering and / or medical sciences, with a focus on hazard and risk, cultures of forecasting, and the meaning of resilience.
The purpose of each project will be to develop new international research ideas. Projects will need to also demonstrate an innovative and interdisciplinary partnership. The Academy is looking to fund applications that break new ground in the collaborations – international and interdisciplinary – they support and the research they aim to undertake. The Academy particularly encourages applications led by scholars in the humanities.
The lead applicant must be a researcher from the humanities and social sciences, and be based at an eligible UK university or research institute. They must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience). Projects must involve at least one co-applicant from the natural, engineering and / or medical sciences. Collaboration between researchers in different institutions is encouraged, where appropriate, given the nature and aims of the programme, and applications may include co-applicants and other participants from overseas.
The Academy offers awards of up to £200,000 for 24 months in duration with Full Economic Costing at 100%. Projects must begin on 1 April 2020 and finish on 31 March 2022.
Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy’s Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®. The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is 23 October 2019 at 17.00 (UK time).
£10 million available to work on highly innovative, late stage projects
Micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply for a share of £10 million in loans to support cutting-edge innovations become successful commercial realities. Loans can be between £100,000 and £1 million.
The funding should be used to develop new products and services, or highly innovative uses of existing ones.
Projects must show:
- a clear game-changing idea
- how the idea can lead to innovative products, processes or services significantly ahead of the current field
- practical financial plans
Applications can come from any technology and in any part of the economy, as long as they are sufficiently disruptive. Projects must focus on commercialisation, growth or scale-up, and priority will be given for projects likely to lead to growth in productivity.
Previous successful applicants of Innovation Loans include:
- Callaly, a new feminine hygiene care product manufactured entirely in the UK which has had further success following their loan
- Ashwood Electric Motors, creating smaller, lighter and more efficient permanent magnet electric motors
- The Electrospinning Company, making clinical-grade biomaterials
The funding is being made available through Innovation UK and applicants need to register for the funding by the 11th September 2019.
If you need more information, email support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 between 9am and 5:30pm, Monday to Friday.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Esmée Fairbairn collections fund
Museums, galleries and partnerships from across the UK can apply for grants of between £20,000-£120,000 to support projects that can demonstrate the significance, distinctiveness and power of collections to people and deliver social impact for people and communities.
Projects can last up to three years.
To be considered, applications must both:
- work with an existing collection or collections to improve understanding of them and increase their use; and
- through that collections work, involve, inspire and have value for people, communities and audiences.
Applications are assessed for:
- the potential of the collection to inspire and interest their audiences, and the coherence of their plans to enhance its understanding and use
- the approach to engage and involve local communities, communities of interest, or other audiences in the collection, and the sense of how this will enhance the lives of those taking part
- the beneficial impact on the applicant organisation and individuals within it, and, where appropriate, how the project benefits partner museums, the wider museum sector, or partners from other sectors
- the project’s feasibility and value for money
- the longer-term legacy of the work and the strength of the applicant’s plans to make it sustainable.
The funding is being made available through the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund and the deadline for applications is 5pm on the 11th September 2019.
£2 million support fund opens for applications for schools with armed forces children
State funded schools that cater for pupils of military service families can apply for a share of £2 million. The funding is available to help meet the need of pupils that are subject to exceptional mobility as a result of the family moving from one location to another resulting in a change of school for the child and/or have Service children whose parents are subject to deployment such as on operational tours, long exercises, training courses etc.
Applications can be accepted from:
- Maintained Schools;
- Academies; Free Schools;
- Sixth Form colleges;
- Groups of schools as described above (referred to as ‘Cluster bids’ and are strongly encouraged)
- Local authorities on behalf of the publicly funded schools in their area.
The funding is being made available through the Ministry of Defence Education Support Fund for Schools with Service Children and the closing date for applications is the 30th September 2019.
Hospice funding to support people living with progressive lung disease
Adult and children’s Hospices that are members of Hospice UK can apply to a new grants programme to support people living with progressive lung disease.
The Breathe Easy programme provides grants of up to £40,000 to support projects running over a period of 18 months. The grants will enable hospices to initiate or build on a hospice enabled approach to lung health. The total available funding in this grant round is £500,000 and it is anticipated that between twelve and fifteen grants in this round.
The grants will enable hospices to initiate or build on a hospice enabled approach to lung health. This can be through a number of ways:
- Putting into practice the recommendations or findings from an organisational or local scoping exercise
- Piloting a new project based on a robust needs assessment
- Introduction of an intervention or tool
- Adapting existing activities where, through the investment of additional resources, greater impact can be achieved through adoption of new roles and approaches.
- Responding to national policy or research evidence.
Examples of potential projects could include; the funding of a post, service model, intervention or education programme. To underpin the programme aims, the Foundation are looking to support projects such as:
- Advance Care Planning – documenting a person’s care wishes
- COPD clinics/drop-in sessions – breathlessness management groups
- Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy – to help people live more comfortably and independently
- Counselling and emotional support – for patients and family carers / informal carers
- Specific programmes to increase the evidence of non-pharmacological interventions – training and teaching of healthcare staff to offer these
- Creative use of virtual consultation to support independence in preferred place of care.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on the 1st October 2019.
Grants of up to £100,000 available for community facilities
Registered Charities, churches, Parish Councils, Local Authorities and CASC registered sports clubs can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £100,000 for the provision, maintenance or improvement of community facilities.
This can include:
- Village Halls and Community Centres
- Public Play Areas;
- Publicly available Multi use games areas,
- Skate parks and BMX tracks;
- Sport and recreation grounds including pavilions and clubhouses with full public access;
- Churches – community spaces only;
- Nature Reserves;
- Public gardens, parks, country parks and woodlands with at least dawn to dusk access;
- Museums.
The funding is being made available through the FCC Community Action Fund and is available to projects located within 10 miles of an eligible FCC Environment site.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on the 11th September 2019.
Funding opportunities under £25,000
British Ecological Society – outreach grants
The British Ecological Society has announced that its Outreach Grants programme is now open for applications. Through the programme, individuals and organisations such as schools, museums, libraries and community groups will be able to apply for grants to promote ecological science to a wide audience.
The funding is available for projects that increase public understanding of, and engagement with ecology by:
- Increasing public understanding of, and engagement with, ecology
- Stimulating discussion about ecology and its implications for society
- Inspiring and enthusing people of all ages about the science of ecology, especially those not previously interested
- Developing skills in communicating the science of ecology
Applications from museums and schools are welcome but projects must involve significant outreach beyond schools as those aimed solely at delivering curriculum to school children will not be considered. Grants are not be awarded for purely nature conservation purposes or any activity that does not promote the science of ecology.
Projects supported will:
- Be aimed at a non-academic audience
- Provide a clear demonstration of direct interaction with the audience
- Show evidence of links to the research community at UK, regional and international levels, where appropriate
The maximum award is £2,000 which may form all or part of the total costs of the project. Larger projects involving other sponsors are also funded. In 2017, 14 grants were awarded from a total of 112 entries, therefore potential applicants are advised to take note of the Scoring Criteria to make sure that their project is in line with the expectations of the BES assessors.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on the 9th September 2019.
Funding to integrate the armed forces into their local community
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 next closing date for applications is 9am on the 9th September 2019.
Capital grants for theatre improvements
The Theatres Trust’s Theatre Improvement Scheme awards capital funding as grants of up to £20,000. The Trust works in association with the Wolfson Foundation and each year funds projects with a specific theme – in 2019 the theme is to reduce their environmental impact. From sedum roofs to new windows, building management systems to more efficient water heaters, funding will be given to projects that demonstrate how a small intervention can have a big impact.
Theatres and projects of all sizes are eligible as long as they can demonstrate excellence in the pursuit of becoming an accessible theatre. Applicants must also:
- Own or manage theatres with titles or signed leases of more than 15 years on buildings in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Run a year-round programme of live performance, of no less than 30 performances a year
- Have a bona fide UK charitable or not-for-profit legal structure and be able to provide certified or audited accounts for at least two years.
- Operate theatres that achieve excellence through their producing and programming or architectural significance
Early stage pre-application conversations are encouraged. Application forms should be downloaded from the website and emailed to advice@theatrestrust.org.uk
The closing date for applications is the 13th September 2019.
Invitation to apply for funding to promote organ donation within BAME communities.
Grants of up to £10,000 are available to organisations is England and Wales to positively engage local communities in organ donation, address myths and barriers, and increase support for organ donation among black, Asian, mixed race and minority ethnic communities.
The funding is being made available through NHS Blood and Transplant and is part of the Government’s commitment to building support for organ donation amongst black, Asian, mixed race and minority ethnic communities.
Applications for activity proposed in England must be able to demonstrate how they will inform and engage people living in England around the change in the law around organ donation and encourage people to make and share their donation decision.
To help interested organisations understand more about organ donation, the need for more donors from black, Asian, mixed race and minority ethnic communities, the change in the law around organ donation in England and the funding scheme, NHS Blood and Transplant are holding a workshop in London on Wednesday 7 August. To reserve a place, email community.funding@nhsbt.nhs.uk
The deadline for applications is 5pm, Sunday 1st September 2019.
For further questions about the scheme, please email: community.funding@nhsbt.nhs.uk
The Ford Britain Trust
The Ford Britain Trust’s large grants programme has re-opened for applications until the 30th August 2019. Through the large grants programme registered charities, Schools/PTAs (Non-fee paying, state sector schools only) and non-profit organisations can apply for grants of up to £3,000 for projects that:
- Benefit the local community/environment;
- Work with young people/children;
- Promote education/schools (mainstream) as well as special school
- Promotes the teaching of Engineering
- Support special educational needs and people with disabilities.
The Trust operates in those areas where the Ford Motor Company Limited has its present activities and a long-standing association with local communities.
These are:
- Essex (including East London);
- St Albans;
- Bridgend (South Wales);
- Manchester;
- Southampton;
Exceptions may be made for initiatives in which Ford Motor Company Limited employees and retirees are involved. Grants made by the Trust are usually one-off donations for a specific capital project or part of a project, typically items of furniture and equipment.
The Trust also provides grants through its small grants programme (grants of up to £250). The small grants programme will re-open for applications on the 1st August 2019 and will close on the 30th September 2019.
Funding for artists to develop their artistic practice
The next funding round of the Arts Council England’s Developing your Creative Practice programme has re-opened for applications.
Arts Council England is looking for exciting, ambitious proposals that allow applicants to take that important next step in the way they make their work. Applicants are encouraged to consider their long-term needs and proposals can cover creative research and development or building skills through international exchange. Examples might include:
- Creative media and the wider creative industries e.g. film or audio, design or gaming
- Technology, including digital technology e.g. virtual reality or live-streaming
- Other non-arts organisations or settings e.g. residential-care providers, or a science organisation
- Other non-arts cultural forms or sectors e.g. health and wellbeing, social inclusion, heritage or sport
This fund is only open to individuals over the age of 18 years who:
- Are living and working in England
- Have three years’ creative practice experience outside a formal education context
- Are working in Arts Council England’s supported disciplines i.e. they will be dancers, choreographers, writers, translators, producers, publishers, editors, musicians, conductors, composers, actors, directors, designers, artists, craft makers, and curators.
Awards of £2, 000 – £10,000 (from a total pot of £3.6 million per year) are made through quarterly rounds. Funded project activities can last up to one year.
The closing date for applications will be 12 pm on the 8th August 2019.
For further information or to check eligibility contact Arts Council England by emailenquiries@artscouncil.org.uk or phone 0845 300 6200).
Countryside productivity small grants scheme opens for applications
The second funding round for the Countryside Productivity Small Grants scheme has opened for applications. Through the initiative, farm businesses can apply for grants of between £3,000 and £12,000 to help them invest in new and innovative technology.
Grants are available for all farm types, including livestock, horticulture and arable businesses, with a total pot of £15 million available to fund investments in new technology.
For this round of funding, 26 new items have been added to the list of equipment available, including chlorophyll meters, which instantly measure the chlorophyll content of a plant leaf. Another new item is the portable ammonia analyser, which can be used to check the levels of ammonia in farm buildings. Farmers and rural businesses will have eight weeks to submit an application for this funding.
The closing date for applications is the 3rd September 2019.
This document is produced by Corporate Policy, Research and Partnerships, Blackburn with Darwen Council.
Tel: 01254 585825