The DWF Foundation surpasses a million in giving – plus other funding news & opportunities
Melanie May | 19 January 2023 | News
Here’s the latest UK Fundraising round up of funding opportunities and updates, including news on The DWF Foundation, funding for youth focused organisations in the South and South West, road safety projects, and more.
Smart Energy GB in Communities fund open for applications
The Smart Energy GB in Communities fund is open for applications from charities and voluntary organisations.
Grants of up to £25,000 are available to help people in vulnerable circumstances understand how smart meters may help them manage their energy use and how to request an installation.
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The Smart Energy GB in Communities fund provides funding streams for organisations to speak to fuel poor households and people who struggle with technology – those defined as lacking digital skills – about smart meters. Funds are also available for organisations and groups reaching people who are unpaid carers. Applications must be received by 12 noon Friday, 10 February 2023.
The bid fund is being coordinated by the charities National Energy Action (NEA) and supported by Energy Action Scotland (EAS). Grants will be awarded to regionally-based organisations, with local networks, that have a trusted voice amongst people who are in fuel poverty; lacking basic digital skills; and carers.
1. In fuel poverty: The total amount requested should be between £15,000 and £25,000
2. Lacking basic digital skills: the total amount of grant requested should be between £10,000 and £15,000
3. Carers: The total amount of grant requested should be between £7,500 and £10,000
Housing associations, registered charities and non-registered community groups are eligible to apply. Applications are welcome from former applicants, both successful and unsuccessful. Applications must be received by 12 noon Friday 10 February 2023 and funded activities must be completed by 6 December 2023.
Funding available for local road safety projects
Road Safety Partnerships, charities, community groups and other organisations with a commitment to road safety are invited to apply for funding from The Road Safety Trust.
The Road Safety Trust, dedicated to achieving zero deaths and serious injuries on UK roads will open its Small Grants Programme for applications on 28 March until 4 May.
The Small Grants Programme funds local projects with a practical focus that show a proposed link to reducing casualties. Each project is awarded between £10k and £50k for up to two years and includes pilots or trials, expansions of successful trials across a new area, and the evaluation of road safety interventions.
Since it was established in 2014, The Road Safety Trust has awarded grants worth £5.5m to 72 different projects.
Applications now open for CIPR 2023 Research Fund
Applications are now open for the CIPR’s 2023 Research Fund.
Now in its third successive year, members (as teams or individuals) can apply for grants of up to £2000 to conduct research into PR practice.
The fund provides financial support for projects aligned with the CIPR’s mission as outlined in its Royal Charter to enhance the professionalism and effectiveness of PR.
Applications are especially welcome from applicants keen to support the CIPR’s 75th anniversary themes of demonstrating the value of PR to society and on the future of the profession. Applicants do not need to have research experience and can be supported to develop both their proposal and to formulate a workable research approach.
New for this year, successful research fund applicants will also have the opportunity to undertake a CIPR training course to help refresh or develop their research knowledge and skills.
The deadline for applications is 8 February.
Sovereign #iwill Fund invites South & South-West youth-focused organisations to apply for funding
Youth-focused organisations working in communities in the South and South West of England are invited to apply for grant funding from the Sovereign #iwill Fund.
Sovereign Housing Association has grants of up to £10k available for projects that focus on youth social action – applications open Monday 6 February and close at midnight on Friday 24 February.
The Sovereign #iwill Fund is investing a total of £450k until March 2024 in giving young people a voice in their housing and community future.
This is the second round of grant funding the Sovereign #iwill Fund has had available for youth organisations – £110k was shared between 13 projects in 2022.
Sovereign’s Youth panel, made up of 18-25-year-old residents, helps choose which projects are awarded grants.
Alongside the Sovereign #iwill Fund grants, Sovereign launched the Sovereign #iwill Youth Network, a learning environment for organisations and young people interested in youth social action. Organisations can join the Network and attend meetings whether they have been funded through the Sovereign #iwill Fund or not, so they can still access support, training, Innovation Labs and networking.
Upcoming online events include an information session on the new round of funding on 23 January. There will also be an Innovation Lab, hosted by the Foyer Federation, on 25 January, that will support organisations with creating ideas ahead of applications opening for youth social action projects. Sign up here.
The DWF Foundation surpasses £1mn in giving
The DWF Foundation has now given over £1mn in donations having just celebrated seven years of giving.
The Foundation is an independent charity that was launched by DWF, a global provider of integrated legal and business services.
It has the sole aim of providing funds, resources and mentoring to help individuals, groups and communities achieve their potential and focuses on supporting charities in locations where DWF operates.
The DWF Foundation currently supports registered charities with an impact in one or more of the following five areas: Homelessness and Poverty; Health and Wellbeing; Employability; Education & Environment and Sustainability, as well as supporting charities in Ukraine over the past year.
In reaching the £1mn benchmark, the Foundation has supported more than 500 charities and food banks around the world.
Registered charities working in a country where DWF has a presence can apply for a grant by completing the online DWF Foundation application form here.
The Foundation is the main focus of charitable giving for DWF colleagues, who take part in fundraising, volunteering, team challenges, mentoring and other initiatives to support the charity.
More investors join Growth Impact Fund
A social impact investment fund developed by Big Issue Invest (BII), UnLtd and Shift, aimed at social enterprises and organisations from underrepresented backgrounds, has welcomed further investors onboard. The fund has also completed on its first close of £8.2mn towards its £25mn target size.
The Growth Impact Fund has welcomed the following additional backers: Big Society Capital, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the University of Edinburgh, Scope, Trust for London, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Charities Trust, Barrow Cadbury Trust and philanthropist Nick Marple. They join the existing major partners of the fund Bank of America and Access – the Foundation for Social Investment.
The fund aims to tackle inequality and promote racial justice by being built around the needs of entrepreneurs historically locked out of social investment, as highlighted by the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment in 2022.
It has been designed and developed with social entrepreneurs of diverse genders, ethnicities, ages, and those with disabilities. it offers flexible and patient capital for social businesses to grow their impact, ringfencing a minimum of 50% of funding for leaders from underrepresented backgrounds.
A key eligibility criterion is that over 75% of the board and 50% of the management team of each social business should identify as at least one of the inclusion groups: women, disabled people; Black, Asian, minoritised ethnic, Gypsy, Roma, or Traveller; LGBTQIA+; have direct lived experience of the social issues the social business is focused on; have experienced socio-economic disadvantage*.
Complementary to the eligibility screening is a new resource being developed by Big Issue Invest, UnLtd, and Social Value UK – the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit. The fund will use the toolkit to assess potential investees’ existing commitments and plans for improving DEI and will provide support where needed. An open-source version of the toolkit will be shared in the year ahead.
The fund will offer between £50k – £2.5 million to its investees.
Social enterprises interested in the Growth Impact Fund can visit growthimpactfund.org.uk to learn more and register their interest.
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.