Funding for healthy heart projects, & other good causes
Melanie May | 17 May 2023 | News
A round up of funding opportunities and news, including grants available for healthy hearts projects, young women’s mental health, and local Home-Start charities.
Young women’s mental health funding now available
The Pilgrim Trust has opened its Young Women’s Mental Health grants programme for 2023.
The Trust set up the young women’s mental health programme to help improve the mental health of women aged 16-25 in the UK. It has committed £5 million in funding over five years (2021-2026), with grants going to organisations that increase young women’s access to high quality, age and gender specific mental health services.
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Grants of £60,000 to £90,000 spread across three years are available. Charities need to be working in North East or North West of England, Yorkshire and Humber or Northern Ireland to be eligible, and further eligibility criteria can be found on its website.
Next steps:
1. Read more about the programme and check if it’s suitable for you.
2. If interested, book a conversation with the Grants Manager between 15 May to 7 July.
Home-Start UK launches Breathing Space Fund with £1mn funding from Pears Foundation
Home-Start UK, and the Pears Foundation have announced the launch of a new fund to help the sustainability of the local, independent charities in the Home-Start network, during the cost-of-living crisis.
Home-Start, which is celebrating 50 years of supporting families in 2023, has announced that the new £1 million Breathing Space Fund will be provided over the next two years and will be used to help provide ‘breathing space’ to look for long-term sustainability solutions while they continue to support families.
Sir Trevor Pears CMG, Executive Chair of Pears Foundation, said:
“We see Home-Start’s tried and tested volunteer model as an excellent example of how to mobilise community support to meet local need.
“We are delighted and proud to work with Home-Start UK and encourage other funders to join us in supporting the Breathing Space fund.”
£15,000 grants available for Healthy Heart community projects in England
Local charities in England that are helping local people look after their hearts can now apply for a grant of up to £15,000 from national charity Heart Research UK. Applications opened on 11 May.
Healthy Heart grants aim to work preventatively within communities that may be marginalised or not have much access to health resources, ultimately to reduce the amount of people living with or dying from heart diseases.
Projects should deliver health initiatives mainly focusing on one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as nutrition and healthy eating, physical activity, smoking, or alcohol.
The grants are available to small, registered charities or community interest companies with an annual income of less than £1mn. Grants will be awarded in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England.
Opening dates for applications for each region will be staggered, with England opening on 11 May and closing on 8 June.
The People’s Projects returns with over £4mn in funding available
95 community groups across the UK are in the running for a share of over £4 million in National Lottery funding in this year’s The People’s Projects.
Back after a three-year break, The National Lottery Community Fund, ITV, UTV and the Sunday Mail (in Scotland) have teamed up to give the public a chance to decide how National Lottery funding should be put to good use in their area.
Shortlisted projects will have the opportunity to showcase their work on ITV, UTV or in the Sunday Mail as they go head-to-head in a public vote.
In each region, the three projects with the most public votes will receive grants of up to £70,000. The runners up in each region will be offered up to £10,000 towards their project, bringing the total funding up for grabs for communities across the UK to over £4 million.
Voting opened at 9am on Monday 15 May and closes at noon on Friday 26 May. People can vote only once per region and will need an email address or mobile number to vote.
Welcome Break launches charitable fund
Welcome Break has announced new charity initiative – the Welcome Break Charitable Fund. With this fund, Welcome Break will be supporting local projects and has also introduced a new charity partner – Macmillan Cancer Support.
The Welcome Break Charitable Fund has been set up with a focus on both local and national charitable initiatives where they will be fundraising and volunteering to make a difference. In addition to volunteering their time in their local communities, Welcome Break have launched this new initiative to provide grants to projects in their local areas with the aim to support causes that hold significance for both their teams and customers.
The launch of the new partnership between Welcome Break and Macmillan Cancer Support coincided with the Eurovision Song Contest, where Welcome Break sites were decorated in Eurovision themed décor and money raised for the charity.
Co-op Local Community Fund open for applications from charities & community groups
Applications have opened for local community groups and charities in to apply to receive funding and support from Co-op’s Local Community Fund.
The Local Community Fund has supported over 30,000 local community projects across the UK since its launch in 2016, and Co-op is now looking for around 4,000 charities and organisations who have up until 11 June to apply to be considered for the next round of funding.
Co-op is looking to continue to support projects that make a difference locally, align with Co-op’s vision of co-operating for a fairer world and, with a focus on:
- Bringing people together to access food: Such as community fridges, allotments, and cookery classes
- Helping to improve people’s mental wellbeing: Including sporting activities and, clubs and societies that promote mental well-being and build social connections
- Creation of opportunities for young people to be heard and make a difference: For example, youth groups and forums that work to build confidence, employability and life skills
- Enabling communities to save and restore nature or tackle climate change: With examples including community gardens, tree planting, energy schemes, re-wilding, and sustainable transport
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.