Published Wednesday 27 May 2020 at 16:11
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
Government Unlocks £150 Million from Dormant Accounts for Coronavirus Response
The UK Government has announced £150 million of funding is to be released from dormant bank and building society accounts to help charities, social enterprises and vulnerable individuals impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The release of £71 million from the government’s dormant assets scheme will be accelerated alongside £79 million already recouped that will be made available to help charities’ coronavirus response and recovery.
Of the £150 million fund:
- £10m will be provided for the Youth Futures Foundation to help organisations that help unemployed and disadvantaged young people find employment.
- £45m will go to Big Society Capital for emergency loans
- £65m is earmarked for Fair4Finance to help credit providers increased access to affordable credit for vulnerable people
- £30m to Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, who will support social enterprises helping people in vulnerable circumstances
The government is consulting on expanding the scheme to the following sectors:
- Insurance and pensions
- Investment and wealth management
- Securities sectors
Funding to Support Heritage Organisations Affected by Coronavirus
In response to the coronavirus, the Heritage Fund launched a £50 million Heritage Emergency Fund to support people and organisations working in heritage across the UK.
Eligibility:
- a not-for-profit organisation
- a current or previous recipient of a grant directly from us
- an owner, manager or representative of heritage, or have an evidenced track record in delivering participatory heritage activity
Funding of between £50,000 and £250,000 will be available.
The Heritage Emergency Fund is short-term funding to support the immediate actions required to stabilise operations and manage unforeseen risks.
The funding can cover unavoidable costs organisations will otherwise be unable to meet for up to four months.
Organisations should only apply for essential costs. This might include independent heritage attractions that are highly dependent on visitor income, contributions towards increasing digital activities, and testing new activities to help recovery.
This new strand will help the fund to:
- respond to exceptional cases of larger-scale need
- protect heritage at severe immediate risk
- and, crucially, safeguard the heritage that can play a key role in the UK’s economic and community regeneration from the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19)
Applications can be made at any time from the 21st May 2020 until the 30th June 2020.
Funding for Research into Social, Behavioural and Design Aspects of Healthy Ageing
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are making £9.5 million funding available through the Healthy Ageing Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme to enable interdisciplinary academic-led teams to carry out research into social, behavioural and design aspects of healthy ageing.
Outline proposals are invited for research grants of up to £2 million for a period of up to 36 months for academics based at UK Research Organisations.
Proposals for this two-stage call are expected to make a significant contribution to disseminating this knowledge, helping to inform innovators and positively influence market behaviours. Projects could, for example, address the impacts of Covid-19.
Applicants are encouraged to:
- meaningfully engage with older people
- work with business
- address diversity and environments of ageing
- address ageing across the life course
- accommodate the impacts of COVID-19
- work across disciplines to meet the aims of the project
- include a compelling and well-designed impact, knowledge exchange and communication strategy
Those interested in applying are invited to register for an associated webinar on the 27th May 2020.
Outline proposals must be submitted by 4pm on the 7th July 2020.
Funding for International Development Projects
The Department for International Development has launched a new funding round through its Impact grants scheme. Organisations and partnerships of organisations can apply for grants of between £250,001 and £4,000,000 for projects that support the UK’s commitment to achieving the Global Development Goals whilst considering the longer-term impacts of COVID-19.
Projects can be set up in one or more project country, made up of the lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI or in one of DFID’s priority countries.
Applicant organisations must be:
- registered as a not-for-profit organisation in the UK or;
- registered in one of the lowest 50 countries in the UN Human Development Index;
- or in a country considered by DFID to be of high or moderate fragility.
All applicants will need to demonstrate how they are working with national level implementing partners to create and build partnerships that can drive relevant sustainable development results.
The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide up to 75% of the total project costs. Applicant organisation or consortium must secure the remaining 25% (or more), either from their own resources or from another external source but excluding all other DFID funds.
Application guidance will be available on the UK Aid Direct website and a webinar will follow on the 28th May. Please register in advance.
The closing date for submitting concept note applications is the 30th June 2020.
£37.3 Million Available for Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Children with special educational needs and disabilities in England will benefit from £37.3 million of direct support in 2020-21, which is expected to help more than 75,000 families in England.
Families with children that have complex needs and disabilities will receive grants from the Family Fund for vital equipment to make their lives easier while implementing social distancing measures, including computers, specialist equipment and educational toys.
£10 million of the total has been committed specifically in response to the unique difficulties presented by the coronavirus pandemic, helping parents educate and look after disabled or critically ill children who are staying at home more than usual.
Applications can be submitted at any time.
Care Home Support Package to Help Reduce Coronavirus Infections
The UK Government has introduced £600 million of funding to tackle the spread of coronavirus in care homes.
The Infection Control Fund will be allocated to local authorities to ensure that care homes can continue to take the necessary measures to prevent and stop the spread of the virus within their sites by restricting permanent and agency staff to working in only one care home wherever possible.
Funding will be used to:
- Help providers pay for additional staff and/or maintain the normal wages of staff on reduced hours or those self-isolating.
Other costs could include:
- Recruitment
- Putting staff up in hotels if they opt to isolate from their own households
- Paying for taxis to avoid staff having to use public transport
The scheme will cover frontline staff in England. As a result of this £600 million, the devolved administrations will receive £113 million through the Barnett formula:
- the Scottish Government will receive £58 million
- the Welsh Government will receive £35 million
- the Northern Ireland Executive will receive £20 million
The funding will be paid in 2 equal instalments to local authorities.
Funding to Support Creative and Culture Businesses
Blended grants or loans of up to £150,000 are available to support creative and culture businesses delivering meaningful social impact to disadvantaged communities across the North of England.
Support from the Northern Culture Regeneration Fund, launched by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2017, is available to businesses operating in the eleven northern Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas which are:
- North East
- Cheshire and Warrington
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester
- Humber
- Lancashire
- Leeds City Region
- Liverpool City Region
- Sheffield City Region
- Tees Valley
- York, North Yorkshire and East Riding
The Fund provides access to investments of up to £150,000 where up to a third may be provided as a grant:
- Loans can be used for capital or working capital, but grant funding can only be used for capital expenditure (equipment, refurbishment, purchase of building/land).
- Working capital loans will be repayable over up to five years. Interest will usually be charged at flat 4.2% (but may be higher for short term loans) with a 2% arrangement fee.
- Capital loans will be repayable over up to ten years. Interest will usually be charged at a flat 3.5% (but may be higher for short term loans) with a 2% arrangement fee.
For organisations based in the North East LEP area – please contact Social Investment Business on 020 3096 7900
For organisations based in the other ten LEP areas – please contact Key Fund on 03302 020 559.
Building Resilient Local Economies
The programme aims to build a more resilient, fairer and sustainable economic system. Organisations working within the UK who want to help transform financial systems into ‘engines for social benefit’ can apply for grants through the Foundation. Grants in the past have been up to £200,000 to cover capital or revenue funding, core costs or project costs. Activities funded will fit closely with the aims of the Foundation and deliver one of two key outcomes.
These are:
- “Systems Change”
- “Local Economic Resilience”
Under ‘Systems Change’ the Foundation will be looking to support projects that develop and demonstrate methods that will effectively change policy and corporate behaviours in pursuit of wider social objectives.
Under ‘Local economic resilience’ the Foundation is looking to support projects that share learning about effective ways for communities to create more sustainable economic systems and retain more of the value generated. This might include creating community assets or new approaches to local finance.
Previous organisations supported include:
- SUSTAIN, which received a grant of £75,000 for a concerted three-year campaign, drawing on the support of many people and organisations to achieve changes in government policy and industry practice to create a million good jobs though better farming and land-use.
- ECHO, a trading network of over 500 organisations in East London that uses time as the currency, rather than money. This project received a grant of £140,000 and aims to develop and refine the infrastructure for local, sustainable Echo systems at national scale.
The next deadline for applications to the Friends Provident Foundation – Building Resilient Economies programme is 12 noon on the 5th October 2020.
£195 Million Package to Help the Sport and Physical Activity Sector through Coronavirus
Sport England is making up to £195 million of funding available to help the sport and activity sector cope with the short and long-term impact of the coronavirus.
The package, which is a combination of National Lottery and government funding, is made up of the following:
- A £20 million Community Emergency Fund, which will be opened immediately for clubs and community organisations to bid into. Grants between £300 and £10,000 are available
- A £5 million pot for existing partners to bid into if they’re facing specific financial difficulty
- An additional £55 million to support our sector during an ongoing period of restrictions, to fund new and innovative ways to keep people active and, when the period of restrictions is over, to help organisations get back to business and adjust to a different environment
- A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 well established partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England.
To help cashflow concerns, Sport England will also consider requests from partners to release six months of this coming year’s funding (50% of awards) so that additional funding will be available sooner.
Funding opportunities between £25,000 and £100,000
Funding Available to Redistribute Surplus Food
FareShare’s Surplus with Purpose is a £3 million Fund that provides funding of up to £50,000 to food businesses in the UK to offset the costs of sending good quality surplus food to good causes, helping the people most in need.
The fund is open to companies seeking to unlock new or hard to reach surplus (or ‘waste’) food, as well as those that haven’t previously worked with FareShare.
The type of foods eligible for support includes:
- Packaging / labelling errors
- Stock that’s become surplus due to forecasting errors
- Stock below MLOR (48 hours minimum life on receipt by FareShare)
- Fruit & veg past BBE
- Stock past BBE (subject to manufacturer’s extension letter)
- Quality rejections – ‘out of spec’
- Unfinished products
- Bulk ingredients for manufacturing
- Lines no longer being retailed
- Samples and NPD’s
- Foreign label stock
- Damages
- Seasonal stock
- Retailer branded food.
The funding can be used to cover the additional staff costs needed for packing and sorting edible surplus food, or in building, implementing and managing new processes. It could also cover packaging and transportation costs, or lost income from the sale of surplus to animal feed or anaerobic digestion.
Funding applications can be submitted at any time.
Funding opportunities under £25,000
Funding to Help Charities Deliver Better Services through Technology
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Comic Relief have announced a new early stage strand to their joint Tech for Good programme to help charities and not-for-profit organisations deliver better services for their communities through technology.
The £230,000 Explore programme will provide grant funding of £5,000 for individual organisations or £7,500 for collaborations.
A 12-week support programme will also be provided to study the kind of digital services they might provide, and to explore how digital technology could transform the ways they work.
Support will include access to an online curriculum, one-to-one support calls, and virtual community meet-ups.
It will offer organisations the chance to:
- Identify the user need they are trying to address
- Examine whether a digital solution is the best idea
- Identify the key implications of implementing a new solution
- Design a prototype which can be tested and made ready for further development
- Look at how it might be possible to obtain funding for further work.
Eligibility:
- UK Charities and not-for-profit organisations with annual income of between £75,000 and £10 million.
- Be ready to begin the 12-week programme on one of the following dates:
- Cohort 1 programme start: 20th July – 9th October
- Cohort 2 programme start: 7th September – 27th November
Organisations must align to one of Comic Relief’s core themes:
- Children Survive & Thrive
- Fighting for Gender Justice
- A Safe Place to Be
- Global Mental Health Matters.
Applications addressing challenges related to disability outside of the themes specified above are also welcome, acknowledging the critical potential of digital technology in tackling this issue.
40 to 50 grants are expected to be awarded.
The deadline for applications is 12pm on the 22nd June 2020.
Covid-19 Funding for Organisations Working to Support People in Prison
Clinks, which supports the voluntary sector working in the criminal justice system has launched a Covid-19 Response Fund to assist organisations working in the criminal justice system during the pandemic. Clinks is distributing £275,000 on behalf of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Ministry of Justice in recognition of the continued challenges presented to voluntary organisations at this time.
Grants of up to £20,000 are available to organisations with an existing relationship with HMPPS with under £500,000 annual income who are delivering, or have a track record of delivering, services to support people in prison, through-the-gate and in the community.
Applications will be reviewed weekly, and applicants will be informed of decisions within ten days of their application.
Independent Age Grants Fund
Independent Age, which promotes independent living amongst older people has launched a £2 million Independent Age Grants Fund to help smaller charities across the UK working with older people hardest hit by the Coronavirus.
Initially, Independent Age will begin by supporting work with two groups of older people, who can too easily miss out:
Older people living in particularly complex and challenging situations. This can include older people that may have no network of family, friends or community to call on; have a disability or long-term health condition; be caring for a dependent adult with learning disabilities or dementia or be facing other circumstances that make it harder to manage at this challenging time.
Older people in danger of being out of sight and out of mind. Independent Age are looking to help organisations connecting with older people who are very isolated and most at risk of missing out on the help available from government or charities that serve a very wide client group. They may be part of an isolated, neglected or very poor community, be facing stigma or discrimination or have needs which make it hard for them to access services, perhaps because they are homeless, live with HIV or are hidden from view in an abusive relationship.
To be eligible to apply the applicant organisation must be registered as a charity with The Charity Commission for England and Wales, The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, or The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). The applicant organisations must have at least one paid member of staff (part-time is fine) and an annual income of £1 million or less (averaged across the last three financial years).
The applicant organisation must be already working with older people in one or both of the two priority areas above. Organisations that do not specialise in work with older people are welcome to apply – but you must already be providing services for older people as part of their work.
The funding will be made available over four separate funding rounds. In each round Independent Age will make £500,000 available.
Charities are able to apply for grants of up to £15,000. The first closing date will be at 9am on the 4th June 2020.
Funding for Innovative Citizen Science Projects
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are making £1.5 million funding available to enable researchers with no prior experience of using citizen science methods to develop their expertise, and projects that extend citizen science methods into new research disciplines. Applications are encouraged from all research disciplines, spanning arts, humanities, social sciences and the natural sciences.
Citizen science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur scientists.
Through the Citizen Science Collaboration Grant eligible institutions and research organisations can apply for funding for multidisciplinary research approaches that produce clear benefits for citizens.
- Minimum amount per application (fEC): £156,250
- Maximum amount per application (fEC): £375,000
Projects should be a collaboration between researchers from multiple disciplines, a specific group of citizens and, where appropriate, relevant partners from outside academia.
All projects should:
- Include at least one Principal or Co-Investigator with experience of citizen science methodologies
- Address a clearly defined societally-relevant issue or challenge
- Include researchers from disciplines relevant to the challenge or issue being addressed
- Have clear justification and aims for involving citizens in the research project
- Involve a defined group, or groups, of UK citizens
- Adhere to the European Citizen Science Association’s Ten principles of citizen science.
UKRI are particularly interested in projects that:
- Involve researchers new to citizen science methods working with, and learning from, more experienced practitioners
- Have demonstrable potential to share the learning, outcomes and successes of their approach widely among the academic community
- Address societal challenges identified in collaboration with people from outside of the research community
- Involve partnerships with organisations that can enhance the outcomes of your project
- Demonstrate methodological innovation in undertaking research with citizens.
The grant is funded at 80% fEC and is generally expected to cover:
- Principal and Co-Investigator time
- Research assistant/technician time
- External consultants’ and/or partners’ time
- Expenses for citizen participants, where relevant
- Travel and subsistence
- Equipment
Applications will open from the 8th June 2020 until 4pm on the 9th September 2020.
Science and Chemistry Equipment Grants for Schools
Teachers at primary or secondary schools can apply for a grant of up to £1,000 towards the purchase of equipment to support the delivery of Primary Science or Chemistry lessons. Bids are invited for the purchase of items of equipment that cannot be purchased through a school’s mainstream teaching budget and which would enrich the learning experience of students.
The Royal Society of Chemistry aims to support schools in presenting Chemistry lessons that enrich the learning experience of students in either primary (science) or secondary (chemistry) studies. The Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Sector (BMCS) of the Society awards Enhanced Equipment grants towards the purchase of equipment that supports delivery of the practical aspect of chemistry education. Applications will be enhanced by a demonstration of the diversity of application of the equipment within and between student cohorts.
A teacher at a primary or secondary school should make the application.
The funding is being made available through the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Enhanced Equipment grant scheme and applications to the scheme can be made at any time.
Biochemical Society – Outreach Grants Programme Deadline Extended
Grants of up to £1,000 are available to increase participation in the molecular biosciences at school level and the community through engagement activities. Within school projects the Society is looking to support projects with emphasis on molecular bioscience for upper secondary school age audiences and above. For primary school age audiences, the focus can be on biology or on all sciences.
The type of events funded could include:
- Activities for a science club
- Workshops for students or teachers
- Lectures from research scientists (including PhD students and post-doc’s).
Projects more likely to receive funding will involve collaborations between, several schools/universities or a mix of organizations; establish links/relationships between schools and universities or industry; promote molecular bioscience career opportunities; or be submitted by an applicant with previous experience in outreach activities (although first time applicants are also welcomed).
Past projects include “Detective Sciences” – an event that formed part of the Science week activities at Abercanaid Community School, Merthyr Tydfil. The focus of the event was centred on promoting scientific investigation, scientific thinking and enhancing English language skills.
The Biochemical Society has announced that its Outreach Grants programme deadline has been extended until the 24th September 2020. The original deadline was the 1st July 2020.
Women Make Music Grants Programme
The programme supports the development of outstanding women songwriters and composers at different stages of their career. It aims to:
- Break down assumptions and stereotypes
- Raise awareness of the gender gap
- Increase the profile of women who are creating new music in the UK
- Encourage women who may otherwise not have applied for PRS for Music Foundation funding.
Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support touring, recording, promotion and marketing, community projects involving high-quality music creators, music creator residencies and live performances featuring new UK music.
Please note that the PRS for Music Foundation no longer support organisations through Women Make Music.
Women songwriters and composers of all genres and backgrounds have until the 8th June 2020 to apply for the next round of the Women Make Music programme.
Development Grants for Emerging Artists
Professional and emerging professional musicians of all genres and disciplines can apply for a grant of £2,000 to £5,000 to undertake a project that will enable them to develop and test new work, ideas or potential career directions through inspiring periods of collaborative research and development.
Help Musicians want to highlight that in this round they welcome applications that will explore the use of remote, digital or online collaboration tools or performance spaces. For example, the use of Skype rehearsals or live streamed performance.
Eligible musicians will be over 18 based primarily in the UK and be in financial need and without significant backing. Solo instrumentalists, conductors, composers, vocalists, singer songwriters or multidisciplinary artists are amongst those eligible to apply. Bands or ensembles with six members or less can also be supported.
The funding is being made available through the Help Musicians Fusion Fund and the deadline to apply is the 1st June 2020.
Grants for NEXT Employees with Children
The Fashion and Textile Children’s Trust are providing grants for parents or carers working for retailer NEXT who are experiencing financial difficulty or are facing an unexpected change in circumstances such as:
- Have been made redundant
- The employer has reduced your contracted hours of work
- Caring for a child with ill health or additional needs
- Have recently suffered a relationship breakdown, separation or divorce
- Are signed off work sick or have a long-term illness
- Are facing homelessness or have recently had to move home
- Are a kinship carer
- Have suffered the bereavement of a close family member
Eligibility:
- As parent or carer of a child (aged 0-18 years)
- AND have been working for NEXT for at least one year
- OR previously worked at NEXT for at least one year within the last nine years
Funding is available for items which are essential for children’s health and wellbeing such as:
- Essential clothing, e.g. seasonal clothing and school uniform and PE kit
- Baby essentials, e.g. clothing or equipment
- Children’s bedroom furniture, e.g. beds, bedding, clothes storage furniture (chest of drawers)
- Essential White Goods, e.g. replacing a broken appliance such as fridge/freezer, washing machine, cooker/oven.
- Specialist items for children with additional needs, e.g. sensory toys, adaptive clothing or SEN adapted computers
All items will be considered at the discretion of the grants team. To apply for funding an online enquiry form must be completed.
£1 Million Crowdfunding Support for Sports Clubs and Organisations
Sport England has committed another £1 million to combating the impact of coronavirus by match funding money raised by sports clubs and community activity groups through the fundraising platform Crowdfunder.
The Crowdfunder platform is scrapping all fees for the Active Together programme and is covering transaction charges to ensure every penny raised by a club goes to them. They’re also providing a series of monthly webinars offering advice and examples of successful previous Crowdfunder projects involving sport.
Through the ‘Active Together’ partnership with Crowdfunder Sport England are matching crowd funds of up to £10,000 raised by clubs and organisations hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Clubs and organisations can sign up via the Crowdfunder website. They’ll then need to set their crowdfunding target and put in place incentives and rewards. Once 25% of the crowdfunding is met, Sport England will confirm the match funding – up to £10,000 – and can distribute the money within seven days of being raised.
To be eligible, organisations must be:
- Local sports clubs
- Charity, community, voluntary and social enterprise sector organisations that deliver sport and/or physical activity in their community – including organisations that are not solely or primarily sports organisations – for the benefit of people residing in England.
Pledge criteria:
- If the application is approved, projects get match funding of up to 50% towards their initial crowdfunding target – up to a maximum of £10,000.
To receive a pledge, projects need to do two things:
- Raise at least 25% of the initial target
- Raise this from a minimum number of supporters (dependent on the size of the initial target).
Funding to Support Dairy Farmers through Coronavirus
Dairy Farmers in England will be able to apply for government funding of up to £10,000 each to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The aim of the fund is to support those most in need due to a decrease in demand for their products as bars, restaurants and cafes have been forced to close.
Eligible dairy farmers will be entitled to funding which covers 70% of their lost income during April and May 202 to ensure they can continue to operate and sustain production capacity without impacting animal welfare.
Competition rules for the dairy industry have been temporarily relaxed.
More detail on the fund will be issued in due course.
Tree Challenge Fund – Deadline Extended
Community and volunteer groups as well as Town Councils and individuals can apply for a share of £10 million for small scale tree planting projects in cities and towns across England. Launched in May 2019, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) aims to support the planting of more than 130,000 trees in towns and cities.
This announcement of round two opening follows the success of round one, which saw thirteen large scale projects from local authorities and large organisations awarded grants to plant more than 50,000 trees in urban areas. Due to the success of large tree planting in round one, round two will open for small tree planting only.
Any individual or organisation can submit up to 5 distinct applications to the UTCF in Round 2, each of which can contain up to 3 planting sites or projects.
The fund provides 50% of published standard costs for planting and establishment. The remaining costs of planting and establishing trees supported under the UTCF must be met through match funding, either in the form of money or labour.
The closing date for applications has been extended from the 31st May 2020 to the 30th June 2020.
Overseas Development Grants for UK-based Charities
The Philip Henman Trust awards grants to major UK-based charities (with annual incomes of over £100,000) for long-term overseas development projects that require funding for between three and five years. The Trust awards a total of £25,000 as grants of between £3,000 and £5,000 per project per annum and expects this figure to represent 20 – 80% of the overall project costs.
Successful applicants will have demonstrated that the project will provide lasting benefit for the people and communities supported.
Previous awards have been made to:
- Cool Earth to provide safe sanitation for indigenous rainforest villages in Papua New Guinea;
- Point Foundation to support community-based living for the disabled in Rwanda; and
- Just a Drop, a school’s water and sanitation project in Kenya.
Applications are considered once a year. The next closing date for applications is the 10th September 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.
Co-operative Bank – Customer Donation Fund
Organisations such as Registered Charities, Community Interest Companies, Co-operatives and Credit Unions; etc. that have a Community Directplus account with the Co-operative Bank have until the 30th September 2020 to apply for funding of up to £1,000 from the Customer Donation Fund.
Since 2003 the Co-operative Bank Donation Fund has donated over £750,000 to 866 organisations. The money can be used to support special projects and fundraising activities; and all Community Directplus account holders are eligible to apply.
Previous projects supported include:
Theatre Company 20 Stories High which received funding towards three Dictaphones, 12 MP3 players and the work of an experienced Technical Manager to help develop and stage a new production.
Wiltshire Wood Recycling, a not for profit organisations, which received funding towards new tools, boots, hard hats and high-viz jackets for the workers.
Funding to Support Charities and Communities affected by Coronavirus
The Yorkshire Building Society’s Charitable Foundation has launched a Coronavirus Response Fund to support registered charities that ate helping local communities affected by the coronavirus. Funding will support groups and activities that
- Help vulnerable people who are self-isolating.
- Ensure supplies for foodbanks and organisations, in particular to alleviate the impact of children no longer receiving free school meals due to school closures.
- Help community response coordination, including volunteer costs.
- Cover additional costs of working remotely and adapting services delivered in the wider community
- Cover the loss of income for charities providing support for vulnerable groups
The £100,000 fund will make donations of between £250 and £2,000 to help with costs such as running costs, staff and travel costs, and volunteer expenses.
Priority will be given to:
- Charities that have an income of £100,000 or less.
- Charities that support the ongoing needs of vulnerable people to ensure that their health and wellbeing is maintained.
- Charities that support the ongoing needs of people suffering from poverty or those who have suffered a loss of income.
Applications can be made at any time and will be reviewed on a fortnightly basis.