Applications open for £1.8mn financial & digital empowerment fund
Melanie May | 23 August 2022 | News
Santander Foundation has opened applications for its second Financial & Digital Empowerment Fund, which will support 12 charitable organisations with up to £150,000 per organisation, awarded over three years.
The fund provides grants for UK charities and community interest companies working to build people’s digital and financial skills.
In 2021, the Santander Foundation chose 21 charitable organisations to receive up to £150,000 in funding from 2021–2024. These are working across various beneficiary groups including young people, women, people with disabilities, BAME, refugees and prisoners.
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Jacqueline Kent, Development Executive at Create, which was one of the organisations that received funding in 2021 said:
“The Financial & Digital Empowerment Fund has given Create a wonderful opportunity to expand its work around financial literacy in prisoners. Through the initiative we have been able to meet other grantees and work on impact measurement with New Philanthropy Capital which has been enlightening. We look forward to continuing to work together in the coming years.”
Applications for this year’s grants programme can be made online and the deadline is close of business on 23 September. To apply, organisations must be based in the UK, working within one of the nations or regions and be a UK registered charity or Community Interest Company. The foundation also anticipates that most of the organisations it supports through this fund will be small and medium-sized organisations with an income of less than £2 million.
Santander Foundation Chair, Judith Moran commented:
“Without access to mainstream financial services and tools, the impacts of financial and digital exclusion are profound. Not only do people pay more for goods and services and have reduced choice, but it can also affect education, employment, health, housing and overall wellbeing. We are delighted to open our grants programme again this year as the cost of living crisis deepens, and to be able to support more organisations working with those who feel the impacts of financial or digital exclusion the most.”
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.