3 funding opportunities for charities & grassroots organisations
Melanie May | 10 September 2021 | News
Here are details of three funding opportunities – for charities helping to tackle fuel poverty, charities across Kent and Medway, and grassroots organisations working with young people in communities near KFC restaurants.
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Grants of £2,000-£20,000 available to help tackle threat of fuel poverty
UK Power Networks is inviting not-for-profit organisations, charities and community groups to apply for new funding, to help tackle the threat of fuel poverty.
UK Power Networks, which distributes electricity across London, the South East and East of England, has already awarded more than £670,000 to 41 projects in four previous rounds of its Power Partners scheme. Grants of £2,000 to £20,000 are now available in round five, with applications closing on 25 October.
Financial pressures caused by the pandemic have seen more families than ever in need of advice and support around their energy use, and how to reduce their bills.
Giulia Privitera, social sustainability strategy and programme manager for UK Power Networks, said:
“In our regions there has been a higher-than-average increase in people claiming unemployment benefits or Universal Credit (compared to the rest of England), and we are striving to make sure that support and help is available where it is needed the most.
“This winter, many will face real financial difficulties in keeping hard-to-heat homes warm so we have focused this round Power Partners on targeted support to tackle fuel poverty, through the community charities and organisations who can provide it in the most innovative way. We take an inclusive approach and aim to reach as many people as possible living in vulnerable circumstances, on low income and in low energy efficiency properties.
“We work hard with our partners to improve the Power Partners scheme each year to maximise its impact on hard-to-reach communities, and want to learn what has changed for our customers so that we can continue to adapt and make a real, long lasting difference to people’s lives.”
The focus will be on support services taking new approaches around such areas as energy efficiency advice and interventions, income maximisation, tariff switching and securing new registrations for the Priority Services Register (PSR), which provides help during the event of a power cut.
The fund is administered in partnership with leading energy justice charity the Centre for Sustainable Energy. Applications can be made via the CSE website and for more details email po***********@cs*.uk or call 0117 934 1400.
£200,000 funding for environmental projects across Kent & Medway
Ahead of COP26, Kent Community Foundation has launched its Fund for the Environment to safeguard Kent’s natural habitat and green spaces.
The fund opens with £200,000 to fund projects with average grants of £4,000, to improve local spaces and encourage more sustainable ways of living that understand the link between poverty of life and poverty of environment and aim to improve the most affected communities.
These may include grants towards the planting of trees and hedging regeneration, restoration of local habitats, organised litter picking, and beach cleans, community garden projects, projects focused on educating children about local wildlife and nature, or on learning about growing and cooking your own food or projects using solar panels or insulation to make community buildings greener.
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation, said:
“The launch of Kent Community Foundation’s ‘Fund for the Environment’ ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow is a key part of our environmental strategy to make Kent and Medway a better place to live now and for the future. ‘Great Big Green Week’ also celebrates action on climate change and community engagement and was the perfect time to announce the additional £200,000 that will be available to fund environmental projects across Kent and Medway.
“We believe that local community action can be at the heart of delivering valuable solutions to lessen our impact on the environment, and importantly, offer benefits that local people can reap. Changes in our natural environment disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in Kent. Our new fund will help address the potential future impacts of warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers on the future prosperity, environmental quality, and health and well-being of our local communities and we look forward to receiving applications from community groups and charities.”
Grants of up to £2,000 available from KFC Foundation
The KFC Foundation’s Community Grants Programme is now open for applications from grassroots organisations in the heart of its restaurant’s communities.
Grants of up to £2,000 are available for organisations focused on empowering young people in the UK to fulfil their potential and build a positive future by providing spaces that allow young people to feel safe and secure, by providing mentoring and helping to unlock talent and build life skills to improve their chances to gain meaningful employment.
The deadline for expressions of interest is 26 September.
The KFC Foundation wants to fund work that helps young people to create firm foundations, by addressing their needs through early intervention.
This grant programme is for registered charities, registered community interest companies, unincorporated clubs or associations or unregistered charities with a turnover of less than £300,000.
The KFC Foundation welcomes funding applications from organisations which:
- Benefit young people aged 11-25 years old
- Supports those in a position of social disadvantage (i.e. care leavers, those experiencing homelessness, young carers, young parents, young people at risk of or with experience of the criminal justice system)
- Empower young people to fulfil their potential and build a positive future by providing spaces that allow young people to feel safe and secure, helping them to unlock talent, build life skills, provide mentoring and improve their chances to gain meaningful employment
- Are local to a KFC restaurant (Find Your Local KFC)
- Will demonstrate positive results from their project within 12 months of funding being received
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.