Funding announcements from DCMS & National Lottery Community Fund, & other grantmakers
Melanie May | 9 March 2023 | News
DCMS has today announced up to £30 million for disadvantage areas of the UK, while the National Lottery Community Fund is helping those hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis with a £13mn boost. More on these stories, plus other funding news and opportunities below.
Up to £30mn for disadvantaged areas of UK
Up to £30 million in funding is being allocated to 27 disadvantaged areas across the country via the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, DCMS has announced.
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Youth clubs, mental health charities and social enterprises are among the organisations to receive funding to create volunteering opportunities and help reduce loneliness.
The Know Your Neighbourhood Fund has been launched by the Government working in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England and UK Community Foundations (UKCF).
Funding will help develop volunteering programmes, provide 1-1 support for vulnerable residents, fund new activities such as arts and crafts, sport and coffee sessions, and support social community events amongst other projects.
Examples of the beneficiaries include:
- Groundwork, which has received funding of £25,000 to create more volunteering opportunities in the garden, café, reception and library at its Grange Park Community Hub, Blackpool.
- Motive8 Youth C.I.C in Wolverhampton has used £20,000 to recruit 20 young people to undertake an eight-week challenge, including training to become an accredited sports coach, mentoring, undertaking volunteering sessions, and delivering a social action campaign.
- A Stitch Different CIC in Barrow-in-Furness has received a fund of nearly £4,000, and is working with older adults who have mental health issues, encouraging parent carers to volunteer to reduce feelings of isolation.
Elsewhere, the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund will create volunteering opportunities in local museums, voluntary arts groups such as community choirs, music and drama clubs, and connect communities through projects related to their high streets. This work will be supported by £5 million to creative arts and cultural organisations through Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England.
A number of projects will also be expanded following support from the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, supported by up to £10 million from The National Lottery Community Fund.
£13mn funding boost from National Lottery Community Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund has announced a £13 million cash injection to support those hit hardest by the rising cost-of-living. Buttle UK receives £10 million and Smallwood Trust £3 million in National Lottery funding as part of the £75 million cost-of-living commitment the funder made earlier this year.
With £10 million of National Lottery funding, Buttle UK will support more than 12,000 children and young people over the next five years to overcome crisis, by distributing grants to charities and organisations across England from The Chances for Children Crisis Fund. These Chances for Children grants, averaging around £1,500 per family, will pay for emergency essentials, as well as critical longer-term emotional and practical help.
The Women’s Urgent Support Fund, set up by Smallwood Trust with over £3.2 million of National Lottery funding, will enable 20,000 women across England to access specialist support services over the next five years, by distributing grants to 60 local community organisations led by and serving women.
These grants will enable women’s organisations to meet the spike in demand for basic needs from women who are most at risk of poverty. They will also enhance organisational capacity through longer-term funding to help shore up capacity for services – particularly those working with black and ethnic minority and/or disabled women – as organisations continue to support women through the ongoing cost-of-living challenges.
More funding news & opportunities
Miller Homes East Midlands to open second round of funding this spring
New homes builder, Miller Homes East Midlands, has donated £1,250 to Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, as part of its Community Fund Initiative.
The nationwide Community Fund initiative was set up by the new homes builder in September 2022, giving local community and charity groups the opportunity to apply for donations, with up to £10,000 available each year for East Midlands-based organisations.
A total of 32 applications were received in the first round of funding from the East Midlands area, and eight other organisations alongside Rainbows Hospice were chosen as beneficiaries of the Community Fund, worth a total of £5,000.
Over 400 applications were received across the UK, with almost 100 community groups receiving donations. The second round of funding is set to open in Spring 2023 and any interested charities can apply here.
Charities urged to bid for £25,000 prize pot offered by insurance firm
Charities across the UK have a chance to win a share of a £25,000 prize pot offered by charity insurer Ansvar as part of its Community Campaign.
The money will be split three ways: £15,000 for the overall winner with £5,000 each going to two additional charities.
Applications for funding can be submitted between Monday 6 March and Monday 17 April, with winners announced by Wednesday 31 May. Charities simply need to complete a short online form and explain in 500 words or less why their project deserves the prize.
Judges will be looking for projects that are about to start, or already running, which positively impact the local community.
A judging panel will meet to decide the winner – and entries need to be made online via the Ansvar website. Entrants must be a registered charity and their charity number will be needed to apply.
Funding Fayre to help boost fundraising prospect of not-for-profit organisations in Winchester District
Hampshire not-for-profit organisations are invited to attend a Funding Fayre in Winchester, where they will have the opportunity to network with funders and strengthen their bids.
The free event on Friday March 17 will be run by Community First, supported by Winchester City Council, and includes presentations from the National Lottery and Hampshire County Council.
The Fayre will feature presentations from national, regional and local funders in the morning and training workshops in the afternoon, all to help organisations maximise their funding potential. The presentations will include funding experts from the National Lottery, Hampshire Isle of Wight Community Foundation and Hampshire County Council. There will be Q&A sessions after each presentation.
There will also be networking opportunities, a voluntary sector market stall area and a free lunch courtesy of Winchester-based healthy eating café MUNCH CIC.
In addition, attendees can sign up to two online workshops in the lead up to the Fayre. The first workshop, took place on 8 March, exploring the topic of ‘Financial Stability’ while the second, on 14 March, will look at ‘Making use of Volunteers to help with Fundraising’.
Tickets to the Fayre are available via Eventbrite and bookings for the two online workshops can made via Community First’s website.
Harmony Energy Income Trust launches community fund
Harmony Energy Income Trust (‘HEIT’), an investment company that invests in commercial-scale energy storage and renewable energy generation projects, has launched a £10,000-per year programme to support the local community near its Pillswood battery project in Cottingham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
HEIT is inviting groups to apply to the Pillswood Battery Community Fund via BizGive, for grants starting from £1,000 per project, that positively impact the local area within a 5-mile radius of Cottingham. Applications are accepted until 31 July, with decisions made on an ongoing basis. For further details on the fund and how to apply, please click here.
Cambridge Building Society awards another £20k in charitable grants
The Cambridge Building Society has awarded nearly £20,000 this year to two local charities working with homelessness, as part of its Community Fund that uses money from dormant accounts.
New Meaning Foundation has received £10,000, to develop the skills, confidence, and work ethic of people who have been homeless, and to train them to build homes to house homeless people. A further £9,978 goes to Concrete Rose to extend its supported lodgings scheme beyond the city of Cambridge to take in Ely and St Ives.
The grants are awarded through The Cambridge Building Society Community Fund, a £600,000 fund established by The Cambridge to support local voluntary and community groups with a connection to homes or housing. The fund is administered through the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, which supports local community projects.
In December the Cambridge and Cambridgeshire Community Fund announced the launch of a further £100,000 Cost of Living Crisis Fund to provide funding for local charities to support families struggling with rising energy, food and other essential housing-related expenses. That crisis fund has already donated more than £50,000 to help local people weather the tough winter months.
Matthew Good Foundation increases funding pot
The Matthew Good Foundation has increased the amount it will award through its Grants for Good programme from £10,000 a quarter to £15,000. All shortlisted charities will receive higher amounts, and the award for the winning recipient each quarter will go up from £3,500 to £5,000.
For 2023, the Foundation has increased its annual Grants for Good fund by 50% to £60,000, with £15,000 awarded each quarter to five successful applicants. The winner of the members vote will now receive £5,000, second place £3,500, third place £2,500 and fourth and fifth place £2,000 each.
The Grants for Good fund is designed to be deliberately easy for very small charities or new community interest groups to apply for, with simple guidelines and a minimum amount of information needed to get started. Applicants do not necessarily need to be a registered charity, they could also be a local community group, voluntary group or social enterprise.
They must have a positive impact on people or the environment, and their annual income must be below £50,000. Shortlisting is performed each quarter, but applications are open all year round, so those looking to apply can do so whenever they are ready. Full details of the programme and an online application form can be found here.
Beatson Cancer Charity approves £1.36 million to fund research
Beatson Cancer Charity has approved grant applications from 23 cancer professionals to support the development of research and clinical services in the west of Scotland.
The Beatson Research and Development Fund was launched by Beatson Cancer Charity in June last year. Clinicians, researchers, radiographers, allied health professionals and nursing staff who work at The Beatson, Beatson Satellite Sites, CRUK Beatson Institute and University of Glasgow were invited to apply for grants. Applications were accepted until September and following assessment reviews, 23 of these have been approved, totalling to a £1.36 million spend – the largest open call grants programme delivered by Beatson Cancer Charity.
One of these grants includes £30,000 which is going towards maximising the effectiveness of using photodynamic therapy to treat glioblastoma. Professor Anthony Chalmers, Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow, and Dr Paul Brennan, Reader and Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at the University of Edinburgh, will be supporting and training PhD student and neurosurgeon Nazar Vasyliv from Ukraine, as part of this project.
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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.