Grants for small charities helping people with complex issues, & other funding opportunities
Melanie May | 27 October 2023 | News
Here’s our latest round up of funding news and opportunities for charities of all sizes, featuring grants from Lloyds Bank Foundation for small charities, a new programme for museums from the Art Fund, money to create or improve woodlands in Wales, extra funding to help fight fuel poverty this winter, and more.
Support & grants of £75,000 for small charities helping people facing complex issues
Charities can soon apply for the Lloyds Bank Foundation Specialist programme, with grants of £75,000 available.
The programme is for small, local, specialist charities supporting people facing complex issues.
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The foundation will support charities in strengthening their capacity and capabilities and becoming more resilient through tailored development support offers and a three-year unrestricted grant of £75,000.
The programme opens for applications from Wednesday, 1 November at 10am, and in total, the foundation will make 84 grants under this programme in 2024.
Last chance to apply for Modibodi 2024 Game Changer Grant
The Modibodi Game Changer Grant is a purpose-driven program created to foster talent, inspire innovation, and champion long-term social and environmental change which was initially launched last year. Each year, Modibodi funds an extraordinary person, project or organisation making their mark on menstrual equality, menopause awareness, sustainable textile innovation, climate action, textiles and biodiversity regenerative agriculture, and circular design.
This year’s grant is focused on supporting organisations making a significant impact to address period equality, where the grant will include a monetary donation along with professional knowledge from Modibodi.
Applications close on 29 October, 2023 and winners will be announced in December.
Art Fund seeks applications for new UK-wide programme for museums
The Art Fund is calling for applications for Going Places: a new UK-wide programme that will engage underrepresented audiences with museum collections through collaborative touring exhibitions.
Currently in development, Going Places will establish five networks of small to mid-sized museums, with each network producing two touring exhibitions over five years, from 2025-2030.
The Art Fund is currently seeking applications from individual museums or networks (including two or more museums) to participate in the development phase, ahead of Art Fund making an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the delivery phase in late 2024.
Applications close on Friday 24 November.
More funding available from The Woodland Investment Grant
10 more projects have received funding from The Woodland Investment Grant (TWIG), with more available.
The funding programme is delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with the Welsh Government, as part of the National Forest for Wales initiative. It offers grants between £40,000 and £250,000 to help organisations create or improve woodlands for local communities in Wales to use and enjoy.
Since the programme opened in 2022, over 20 projects have received £4mn in funding from TWIG. Some of the latest projects to receive funding are:
- Llyn Parc Mawr Community Woodland Group Ltd is receiving £201,300 to restore and enhance a woodland on Anglesey which is part of Newborough Forest.
- North Wales Wildlife Trust is receiving £86,100 to work with the Llanfair Fyw community group to improve the condition of the woodland at Graig Wyllt.
- Care and Repair North East Wales is receiving £249,126 to develop and manage Dee Park in Shotton and expand facilities for local people.
There is one remaining round of TWIG funding, and the deadline to submit expressions of interest is 7 December 2023.
Lord Mayor launches Green Bursary to support young Londoners in Net Zero vision
The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Nicholas Lyons has launched a new fund in collaboration with the City & Guilds Foundation and the Merchant Taylors’ Foundation, to support young Londoners gain green skills and help their communities to reach Net Zero.
A fund of £10,000 created by both foundations will support several young people each year.
The Lord Mayor’s Green Bursary will support the gaining of green and sustainable qualifications in courses like electric vehicle charging installation, smart metering and sustainable waste management, in turn helping London to build ‘green communities’ and reach its climate targets.
Identifying recipients for the bursary is currently underway with a deadline of 31 October.
£5mn now available for community organisations to fight fuel poverty this winter
After an overwhelming response to the launch of the latest National Grid Community Matters Fund on 9 October, and in acknowledgment of the challenges expected this winter, the fund total has now been increased to £5mn.
The deadline has also been extended to 10 November, and charities and community organisations across the Midlands, South West England, and South Wales are invited to apply for a share of the fund.
Working again in partnership with Localgiving, the National Grid’s Community Matters Fund has already supported more than 900 grassroots organisations since it was launched in 2021 as an urgent response to the cost-of-living crisis.
Charities, councils and community groups of all sizes can apply for fuel poverty support grants of up to £10,000. Grants will support grassroots organisations to tackle fuel poverty in their communities by helping people to save energy, keep their homes warm and access warm community spaces this winter.
Peter Sowerby Foundation launches new ‘Breakthrough in HealthCare’ Open Call
The Peter Sowerby Foundation has announced a £2.5million open call for charities across the health sector to tackle the most critical health issues in the UK.
The Foundation will grant five organisations up to £500,000 each to launch or expand existing initiatives that pioneer inventive approaches. This includes initiatives that seek innovations in process, patient care, as well as structural and systemic changes within primary healthcare.
This strand of funding will support projects that can deliver tangible and substantial impact (at individual, community, and sector-wide levels), with priority given to initiatives with the potential to benefit the largest number of people/patients. It specifically targets projects that demonstrate national scale, reach and impact in primary care or out-of- hospital provision.
Applicants must show a significant need for interventions in their proposed area, supported by concrete evidence. Successful projects must commence within three months, with initial impact expected within a twelve-month timeframe, with additional funding provided thereafter. This strand of funding will prioritise active delivery and will not fund research and development projects. Initiatives that are ready to launch or scale will be given preference.
Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy offers support for new training events, conferences, seminars & meetings
Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy is offering core financial support to fundraising groups and networks in England to contribute to the development of new training events, conferences, seminars and meetings. The aim is to strengthen arts fundraising skills and build partnerships across the sector.
Organisations and groups can apply for its Networks Funding to cover any relevant expenditure for an event or activity to take place between December 2023 and March 2024. Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy wants to support a range of events tackling key issues within the current fundraising environment, and is particularly interested in projects exploring practical approaches to the cost of living crisis; the wellbeing and resilience of arts fundraisers; place-based fundraising; green fundraising strategies; and diversifying fundraising teams.
Up to a maximum of £2,500 is available for any single event, or group of events, benefitting a community of people, who are either freelancers or staff from at least five different arts, cultural or heritage organisations. And in addition, up to £1,000 is on offer for entirely virtual activity, to cover the cost of software, administration or external training support. Virtual activity must benefit a minimum of ten people.
The deadline is 24 November.
Over £10 million allocated so far by UK Community Foundations for Know Your Neighbourhood Fund
Over £10 million has been allocated by UK Community Foundations (UKCF) to create volunteering opportunities and support people experiencing, or at risk of loneliness, in Wolverhampton, South Tyneside, Kingston-Upon-Hull, Blackpool, Stoke-On-Trent, Great Yarmouth, Fenland, County Durham, and Barrow-in-Furness. So far this is supporting 10,000 people with access to opportunities such as befriending services, parent and toddler groups, lunch clubs and gardening activities, with this figure expected to increase as more projects get underway.
Nine accredited community foundations from the UKCF network, situated in the selected funding areas, have been supporting a range of projects aimed at tackling loneliness and increasing volunteering. These have included community-led conservation activities in Barrow, a mobile volunteer information van in Stoke on Trent and volunteer training to provide outings for children with additional needs in Fenland.
The Know Your Neighbourhood Fund is being distributed within 27 areas identified as being disadvantaged. These are: Barnsley, Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Bolsover, Burnley, Cannock Chase, County Durham, Doncaster, Fenland, Great Yarmouth, Halton, Hartlepool, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Kingston upon Hull, Knowsley, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Sandwell, South Tyneside, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Tameside, Tendring, Thanet, Torridge, Wakefield, and Wolverhampton.
It was announced in March this year with DCMS saying up to £30 million in funding would be available for these areas. This includes £19 million of government investment, and over £1 million of match funding to support people living in disadvantaged areas, plus up to £10mn from the National Lottery Community Fund to support their existing projects working across the same target areas. £14 million of the total £19 million government funding is being delivered by UK Community Foundations.
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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.