# Wesleyan Foundation invites more grant applications

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/12/20/wesleyan-foundation-invites-grant-applications/
- Published: 2017-12-20T18:15:41+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Wesleyan Foundation has made grants of more than £300,000 in its first six
months, and is intending to give up to £700,000 in the next six months. It is therefore
inviting more applications from small charities.**

 

The Wesleyan Foundation was set up in May 2017 by financial services mutual Wesleyan.
It is designed to provide financial support for  “causes that are important to our
members, customers and the communities in which we live and work”. Administered 
by the Heart of England Community Foundation, it anticipates giving £1 million a
year.

## Advertisement

 

Every quarter Wesleyan invites its customers and supporters of the chosen causes
to vote for the cause they would most like to support. The more votes a cause gets,
the bigger the share of support it receives.

 

The Foundation supports both local community groups and charities nationwide. Its
four core themes are:

 

 * health
 * education
 * social development
 * innovation.

 

 

 

> VOTE NOW: [@Dentaid_Charity](https://twitter.com/dentaid_charity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw),
> [@TheCitizenAID](https://twitter.com/ThecitizenAID?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), [@StreetDoctors](https://twitter.com/StreetDoctors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)&
> [@LawCareLtd](https://twitter.com/LawCareLtd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) have been selected
> to receive [@Wesleyan](https://twitter.com/Wesleyan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) Foundation
> funding! Your vote will help determine the amount each cause receives! [https://t.co/NALFGVoaQO](https://t.co/NALFGVoaQO)
> [pic.twitter.com/T9XsCzQHS8](https://t.co/T9XsCzQHS8)
> — Wesleyan (@Wesleyan) [December 11, 2017](https://twitter.com/Wesleyan/status/940231219882668032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## Size of grants

 

Organisations can apply for three levels of funding including:

 

 * small grants of **£2,000 and under**
 * medium-sized awards of between **£2,000 and £10,000**
 * discretionary large grants of more than **£10,000**.

 

Some of the smaller grants are given out on a discretionary basis.

 

![Lauren (left) and Louise (right) with Ailith Harley-Robert, Service Manager at
Sunshine and Smiles](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2017/12/lauren-louise-
wesley-foundation.jpg)

_Lauren (left) and Louise (right) with Ailith Harley-Robert, Service Manager at 
[Sunshine and Smiles](http://www.sunshineandsmiles.org.uk/), which has received 
funding from the Wesleyan Foundation._

 

Charities that have received funding over the past six months include Brandwood 
Community Centre, Birmingham, which hired two new staff members to support a debt
advice service, a Leeds Down’s Syndrome group, which is set to open a new cafe and
Nottingham-based Broxtowe Youth Homelessness, which used the funding to launch a
drop-in service.

 

## Geographical reach

 

In its first year, the Wesleyan Foundation has been set up with community foundations
in:

 

 * Birmingham
 * The Black Country
 * Warwickshire
 * South Yorkshire
 * Leeds & Bradford
 * Somerset
 * Nottinghamshire
 * Leicestershire & Rutland
 * Wales
 * Scotland
 * Northern Ireland

 

Tina Costello, CEO of the Heart of England Charity Foundation said: “Funding in 
the voluntary sector has reduced dramatically in recent years so it’s fantastic 
that Wesleyan is now providing financial support on this scale through its Foundation.”

 

Find out how to a member of the public can nominate a project or a charity can apply
for funding from the [Wesleyan Foundation](http://www.wesleyan.co.uk/foundation).

 * **[Subsidised training for small charities on offer](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/01/11/subsidised-training-small-charities-offer/)**(
   11 January 2018)
 * **[Small v big charities: 73% of charities raise 3% of charities’ total income](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/01/16/small-v-big-charities-73-charities-raise-3-charities-total-income/)**(
   16 January 2018)
 * **[Speakers sought for FSI’s fundraising conference for small charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/01/30/speakers-sought-fsis-fundraising-conference-small-charities/)**(
   30 January 2018)

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